Break into the top pack.

A good start puts you in clear air, wind no other boat has disturbed, with the fleet behind you. These four articles take you from your first starting sequence to a front-row start in a big fleet, with a plan for the day it goes wrong.

• Sailing the Race Course – Starting for Beginners: the starting sequence, step by step.
• Execute the Start with Four Key Skills: front row, a gap to leeward, distance to the line, full speed at the gun. Includes clips from the Roble/Shea Sailing series, produced by SailZing in partnership with the ILYA (Inland Lake Yachting Association).
• Big Fleet Starts: Challenges and Priorities: six challenges and eight priorities for crowded lines.
• Bad Start? Four Recovery Options: four ways to bail out and find clear air.

Also read: Starting Strategy and Tactics: Where to Start

Upwind is where races open up. Learn to spot the lifted tack (the tack that makes more upwind progress compared to the average wind direction) and to stay out of bad air. You'll also see why the boat with the best VMG (velocity made good: how fast you're making progress straight upwind) wins, not the one that points highest or sails fastest.

• Sailing the Race Course – Windward Leg for Beginners: the first beat, third by third.
• Recognizing the Lifted Tack – Cues to Use and Traps to Avoid: seven cues and five traps, no compass needed.
• Velocity Made Good (VMG) – Definition and Application: target speed and how to answer puffs and lulls.
• Beat the Shadow: How to Find, Use and Escape Bad Air: how far a sail's wind shadow reaches and how to get out of it.

Also read: Simplified Tacking Lines for Better Judgments

Marks are where the fleet bunches up, and where sharp racers pass boats. Nail your laylines (the line that takes you to the mark and lets you round it cleanly). Then learn who gets mark-room, the space to sail to and round the mark, once boats reach the zone, the area within three hull lengths of the mark.

• Windward Mark Approach: Six Traps to Avoid: plan the approach. Includes the Roble/Shea "Layline Games" clip (ILYA partnership).
• Windward Mark Laylines: Get them Right: common layline mistakes, with video examples.
• Rule 18.2 – Giving Mark-Room (RRS 2025-2028): the zone "snapshot" that decides who gives room, with animated scenarios.
• Leeward Gate Tactics: 8 Tactical IQ Scenarios: eight gate decisions, talked through with model boats.