Keys to good starting
What is a good start….90% is to start with clear air & moving at full speed. This is usually better than being next to the committee boat & in the middle of lots of other boats, bumping (Protest….do your turns) & getting off the line with dirty air.
Get to the starting area before the starting sequence begins:
When the committee gets the line set, do a couple of practice starts on port & starboard (this will help you decide which tack & end of the line is favored. It also helps you know where to begin your “run” to the line from.
Typically the starting lines are set up to favor a starboard start with the committee boat end favored. But you need to check
Make a couple of tacks & jibes to be sure everything works & the skipper & crew are together.
If you have a spinnaker…put it up do a jibe & take down (to be sure you have the chute set up right & the crew understands what needs to be done)
“Park” your boat & relax for a couple of minutes but don’t get to far from the line as you need to be able to see and hear the flags/horns.
Have your watch set to catch the horn. Of course you have already decided who will watch the watch & tell the time remaining to the start. If it’s light air you can often listen to the other boats around you for the time
Get the boat set up for the wind. Down haul, out haul, traveler… are you boards and rudders clear of any weeds?
You are wearing your life jacket…. and harness is adjusted-comfortable?
Decide where you want to start & where to be when the 1 minute flag/horn sounds…don’t be too far up wind.
Know where both ends of the starting line are. Sometimes you can’t see because of other boats blocking your view.
The 2 most important rules to remember on the starting line:
- The overtaking boat has no rights
- The leeward boat can head you up (slowly) into the wind…i.e. they can push you over the line early. This is one of my favorite things to do to Craig.
There is another rule called barging. Basically if a boat is sailing close to the wind there is no room for another boat between that boat and the committee boat. Trying to squeeze into this space is not a good idea…you cannot hit the committee boat or the barging buoy. We need people to let us use their boats for the committee and they don’t like them getting hit.
Learn where & when your competition & the rest of the fleet likes to start. You can often find an opening with clear air just down from the committee boat (if every one is early you can block the line by making them over early. Or if the fleet is typically early it may be best to come in ~ 10 seconds after the group and tack over to port to get clean air.
If you are going to get pushed over the line early, accelerate and get around the committee boat or pin end quickly.
Be careful to not get to windward of a boat that can out point you or sail higher into the wind. (the leeward boat has the right of way)
After the start if there are lots of boats in front of you, giving you bad air, try to tack over and get out into clean air. Be careful as you will typically be on port and have no rights on any starboard boat.
Watch how the fleet starts. It’s pretty typical for a pattern to develop. They maybe early and down the line before the start (come in late up to speed and be prepared to tack if you are being back winded.
Or more commonly the fleet will bunch up at the committee boat and be stalled at the start. If you are ~ ¼ to 1/3 of the way down the line and moving at the start you will have clean air and on your way to A mark.
Like anything it takes practice to make consistent starts, being on time and moving at full speed. If you’re making good starts you should be over the line early once in a while. I think it’s better to be looking back at the fleet vs looking at their sterns.
Go Fast…. and have fun
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