Pre-start strategy

Often the majority of your race is already determined ,or at least planned, before the five minute gun goes. Being able to make a plan is essential and will determine the rest of your race . This article will go through the different stages and thought process you should have before a race.

1.) Gathering and Analysing:

Firstly, gathering information is a key part to the lead up to any event. With 2-3 weeks left to a major event, or smaller event, you want to look up the venue on google maps. A great technique is to print off an image of the venue in roughly the area you will be sailing ( depending if the SI's have been posted yet) and label north , east, south and west. Then visualise the wind coming from that direction , write down what you predict will happen if the wind is coming from your selected direction. Think about any land features causing wind bends or shifts , wave conditions , wind stability and tidal features. With 1 week to go to the event i would start to look at the wind forecast as a rough idea of what may be happening , this is unpredictable and may change so always keep that in mind and check the forecast regularly as the event approaches. Secondly, analyse the data that you have collect , this really means to look at the information and see if it will affect the way you approach the regatta or how you sail during the regatta . Look at the predicted wind strength and direction , you can then correlate this information to the venue data gathering you did earlier . This enables you to know if you need to prioritise playing shifts and having a low risk strategy due to the unpredictability of the conditions or whether it will be a more consistent day where boatspeed and going to the pressure will be more important. Gathering and analysing this information is a proactive task that makes it easier to go into the event with an idea of what to do.

2.)Wind observation:

Wind strategy is a massive part of sailing and will ,if done well, enable sailors to gain an advantage over the rest of the fleet who do not understand it , wind observation also helps sailors become more consistent in lighter less predictable conditions. Going into a major regatta you should already understand the concepts that come with the clouds ( if not you can read another one of my blogs that talks more specifically on the topic , or purchase one of the wind strategy books in the 'sail to win' collection as i find it particularly good ).

On the day of the regatta you should ask yourself several questions.

What is the gradient wind doing?

Direction? speed? is it effected by topographic or heating?

What is the forecast doing?

Front approaching? persistent shift?

You can sometimes answer these question in the morning but more often than not it is better to ask yourself these questions when on the water so that you can fully understand what is happing from a perspective that will actually matter. A great time to do this is when you are sailing out to the start area. You should be observing the gust patterns , the movement of the clouds (how fast and in what direction), wave patterns( choppy or rolling) , shifts coming down( how frequent and big are they?).

When you arrive at the starting line you should have a good idea of what is happing with the wind and clouds and should then just focus on determining what the line bias is and if the line bias will change if a shift comes. This is where the observations on the way out pay off as you can tell what phase of shift the wind is in and use that to predict what shift phase will be present when the gun goes, this enables you to pick the end of the line you want to start at dependent on the bias due to the shift phase at go.

Finally once the race has gone and you have a clear lane you should start to look up the course to see any clouds or dark patches that may flow down onto your course,you should always be think as far aheazd as you can . Donty just try to look for the clouds try and predict what they will do ( more wind a shift , will it change the laylines?), as long as you are predicting what will happen it doesnt matter if it was wrong because