In this series of articles, we will introduce the key concepts of sailing a race from preparation to the starting sequence, buoy roundings and finishing. The target audience for this information is sailors that may have never competed in a…
Starting Strategy & Tactics
This category covers starting strategy and tactics, including where to start, approaching the line, creating a gap, judging the line, accelerating, and priorities immediately after the start.
-
-
If you rank racing skills by degree of difficulty and potential for gain/loss, big fleet starts are at or near the top. In small fleets, it’s easier to get a good start and if you don’t, it’s easy enough to…
-
Want to improve your starts? Take this short starting tactics quiz in a video from Roble/Shea Sailing. In the video, Steph and Maggie show eight boats near the starting line with 30 seconds remaining. They ask you to decide what…
-
You’ve done your pre-race routine, decided where to start, and made your starting line approach. Now it’s time to get aggressive and execute the start. Successful sailors use four key skills: they get to the front row, fight hard for…
-
This post covers the expert wisdom on where to start. We updated the post from the original version, incorporating some new key points and adding a video from Roble/Shea Sailing on the topic. Where to Start – A Balancing Act…
-
After a decent front row start, what’s the next priority? Answer: holding your lane and going fast, so you can break out of the pack and have strategic choices. For tips on lane management after the start, we turned to…
