Performance Sailing and Racing: All You Need to Know to Sail Faster and Smarter by STEVE COLGATE

Performance Sailing and Racing: All You Need to Know to Sail Faster and Smarter by STEVE COLGATE

Author:STEVE COLGATE
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: International Marine/McGraw-Hill
Published: 2012-05-13T16:00:00+00:00


Figure 6-3. Shooting head to the wind before the start can help determine the favored end. Here the buoy end is favored.

Most boats have a thwart or a traveler that runs directly across the boat, and this can facilitate sighting. If these aren’t available, lines painted on the deck perpendicular to the centerline will do the same thing. Note that in Figure 6-3 Boat A shoots the wind in the middle of the line, sights abeam, and concludes that the buoy end seems to be favored. But when Boat B shoots into the wind near the buoy, it is obvious which end is.

The recommended length of a starting line in heavy air is 125% of the aggregate length of all the boats crossing it. For example, if you had twenty 30-foot sailboats on a line, it should be 750 feet long. If the wind is 5° off a perfect 90° angle, a boat starting at the upwind end will be 65.6 feet ahead of a boat at the other end, right at the start! This is over two boat lengths! Imagine the penalty you would pay if you started at the wrong end if the wind were 15° off square.

If you have a boat with a steady compass, an accurate method is to compare the compass course of the starting line with the compass reading of wind direction. Sail away from the buoy end of the starting line. Then sail back toward it on the extension of the line, lining up the buoy with the white flag on the Committee Boat. When you are sailing that range, check the compass heading. (See Figure 6-4.)



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