CRUISER RACING - TACKING

[matelot]

Following on from yesterday's debacle (4th /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif) which is the best way to get to an upwind mark. Two tacks or several?

Imagine a turning mark well upwind and with tide running across the lay line. Do you do just two tacks and sail further, or do you do several tacks keeping nearer to the lay line and if so, how many?

My habit has always been to do two tacks and even then to be a bit late on the tack to make sure I am maybe 5 degrees free of hard on the wind. Reasoning that I always lose time in tacks so the fewer the better.

What do you do?

 

[ebbtide]

Practice, practice and more practice until your tacking is up to speed - literally!

 

[Cerddinen]

All the text books, and the RYA coaching manuals, recommend longest tack first, then tacks of diminishing length. This give four tacks if you are rounding the mark to port with wind on starboard. The logic of this technique is that you have plenty of time to correct for any wind/tide changes on the first tack so this can be long. When approaching the mark you want to be able to react quickly to any wind/tide shifts or tactically to the position of other boats. You certainly do not want to be caught trying to lay the line from far out after your second tack with continual pinching to fight against a header. I say textbook, because this does not take account of any local conditions.

 

[flaming]

Totally depends.

What side of the beat is favoured? Is there a persistent shift or oscillating breeze? Is there a wind bend anywhere on the course? Is there tide affecting the course? Is there any tidal wind anywhere on the course? Am I being covered by someone in the fleet? Do I need to cover someone? Did I get a clean start and can sail my preferred course? Am I buried in the pack and need to clear my air? Am I the fastest tacking boat on the course or the slowest? How long is the beat? Was one end of the startline favoured? Did I start at that end?

These are just some of the questions that you should be asking yourself as you plan your upwind stratergy.
Saying that you always plan to do 2 tacks, or always several is madness and an easy ticket to the back of the fleet.

Can I suggest that you ask Santa for North U tactics and North U sailtrim and attempt to devour them over the winter!?

 

[awol]

What a simple piece of water you seem to have! If you do indeed have water with constant tide, no shores to give wind shifts, no shallows to kick up waves, no shipping movements to provide obstacles, or any other variables, then the minimum number of tacks must be good, ideally ending on the reaching tack so the pole can be up and ready for the spinnaker hoist right on the mark.

Yesterday I short tacked against an ebbing tide with about a metre of water under me, 20kts wind, full No1, knackering the crew and then made a total arse on the 2nd round by slipping out into the tide when the wind dropped and wallowing while half the fleet sailed inshore of me. It always seems to be a balancing act between wind, sea, tide and number of tacks + shipping and the other boats. On the odd occasion I get it right, it is most satisfying!

 

[snowleopard]

I'm a little confused by your terminology. I use the term lay line to mean the course which just allows you to lay the mark without tacking. You seem to be implying it's the direct course between the marks, or am I misinterpreting?

If the tide is running across the course you should hear up-tide, i.e. lee-bowing but you need to remember that when you tack down-tide towards the mark you won't be as close-winded as you were going up-tide.

 

[bbg]

As usual when it comes to racing advice, flaming is spot on.

However, if you are new to racing I think I would not try to make it too complicated to begin with. I think you want to ensure you have clear air after the start, and you want to know if you lose more or less ground compared with other boats when tacking.

Beyond that, a good rule of thumb for your first few races would be to make four to eight tacks to get around the windward mark. Two long tacks to get close to the lay line, followed by two shorter tacks to get you to, and then tack onto, the layline. If you had to tack to get clear air after the start that might make 6 tacks in all, or if it is a long windward leg, maybe eight.

As you race more, look around and try to understand why you are gaining or losing on other boats, and then add elements to your tactics. All of the issues that flaming raises are completely valid, but if you try to think of them all at once you might find it is information overload.

Buy the books, try to understand them, then build pieces of tactics to your repertoire as you become more familiar with them. In time you will know, without even thinking about it, which side of the course to go to if you expect a persistent shift (as opposed to oscillating shifts).

 

[dt4134]

Flaming has mentioned a lot of the factors affecting your choices.

The first thing to realise is how much each tack costs you. Check your boat speed throughout a tack. Cruisers and inexperienced racers have a tendency to keep losing speed after they think the tack has been completed. And they lose a lot of speed. So the first thing is to learn how to tack properly.

The lines should always be ready for the tack. The crew should come in off the rail in sufficient time to complete the tack and no sooner. They are not all equal so train them to come off the rail in the right order to get to their positions just in time. You need to have confidence to start the tack whilst they are heading for their tacking positions and they need the confidence that you'll tack at the right time and not embarrass them by tacking too early (or slow the boat down by tacking too late). Only way to get that mutual confidence is lots of practice.

Your rudder is a brake so use it sparingly. Coast the boat through the tack to keep on the most way you can and to get as far as to windward as possible without losing out on speed. The main sail loses drive first. Main trimmer should yank it on as hard as poss to give you extra turning motion with less use of the rudder (brake). Needless to say the main trimmer should be also set up to adjust the traveller during the tack and afterwards.

Genny trimmer should throw off the sheet as the headsail starts to lose drive (and I really mean throw off) and the other trimmer should pull in as hard as possible. (Beware pulling too hard too soon can cause a lot of friction as the sail is pulled around the mast and shrouds. Timing is very important.)

Don't even think of using self-tailers if you've got them. One trimmer tails (weight as far as to windward as poss) whilst the other grinds.

Many inexperienced boats will still be losing speed at this stage. First of all the genny shouldn't come in the last inch or two until you're up to speed. The helm should sail to the genny trim. The main trimmer should trim to the boat's course. Sails should have appropriate twist to accelerate out of the tack. Once the genny is most of the way in the sheet can be put in the self-tailer before being trimmed the last inch or two.

Hiking into the tack and hiking out of the tack is important for the other crew. Again if they have confidence you won't soak them they won't jump off the rail too early.

If it all goes wrong it's usually the helmsman's fault.

Tactically, decide what you want to do on the beat before the start. As you learn the intricacies of the local waters you'll improve at planning. Tide, wind shifts, obstructions etc. etc will all affect your planning. Often you learn a lot by learning your plan was wrong. But you must have one to reach that stage.

There is a tendency for boats to tack too soon on a skewed beat and lose out. Hang on until you get at least close to dead downwind of the mark before tacking. Once you're on the layline you are at the mercy of windshifts or misjudgements of the layline.

Going to the corners is usually to be avoided, but not always. If the tide or wind say going to the corner is best consider that option. It's worked for me a few times but it is not routinely a good tactic.

Play the windshifts. The wind is never totally steady. Keep an eye on the course you're getting on each beat and if you're headed tack. It is very easy to get out of sync and tack too late on each windshift. Learn to anticipate them. Your crew should be watching for other boats being lifted or headed and should also be reading the wind on the sea.

You should plan your start to implement your plan for the beat but it doesn't always work that way. You may be in dirty air or trapped and so you have to make the most of it. Therefore you might have to tack when you don't want to.

Remember each tack costs boatlengths. If you're very very good about two boat lengths. If you're very very bad...

Occasionally it is better to hang in in dirty air rather than tacking. Consider that option even if you decide to tack anyway.

Final thing (otherwise I'll be going on for hours) you don't have to tack when you're on port and getting close to a starboard tacker. If port tack is what suits you best stay on port tack and avoid the starboard tacker.

How many boatlengths will ducking a starboard tacker cost you compared to two tacks and the disadvantage of being tacken the wrong way tactically?

I can endorse the recommendation of the North Sails books. There's a lot of info in there so it'll take a while to understand it all. Buy the Trim book first then the Tactics book once you've inwardly digested the first.

 

[flaming]

[ QUOTE ]


If it all goes wrong it's usually the helmsman's fault.


[/ QUOTE ]

As a racing helm I utterly endorse this statement.

(and the rest of that great post)

Realising this is the first step to good crew work. Far too often you see a helmsman standing and shouting at his crew whilst the spinnaker drags in the water or the genoa flogs itself silly after a tack, when everyone else watching knows it was the helm's fault.

 

[flaming]

[ QUOTE ]

If the tide is running across the course you should hear up-tide, i.e. lee-bowing but you need to remember that when you tack down-tide towards the mark you won't be as close-winded as you were going up-tide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, not always. And very often not.

Reason being that comittee boats, by their very nature, usually anchor in relatively shallow water. And the course then heads out into deeper water to a windward mark. If this very common scenario occurs, then with all other things equal (unlikely but we'll go with it..) you should start by heading on the downtide tack. This is because as the tide builds (in the deeper water where it will run stronger) the tidal wind will increase and with wind at approx 90 degrees to tide will appear to shift the wind to lift you on the uptide tack.

This is then a predictable wind shift. (Or more likely wind bend as the increase in tidal flow will probably be gradual as the depth increases) You should always aim to be inside wind bends so starting off by heading downtide then tacking upon reaching deeper water will get you inside the rest of the fleet.

If the course (as so often in the solent) crosses all the way over a channel to the shallow water on the other side then you should start off on the downtide tack, tack as you get into the deeper water, hold that tack until you're into the shallow water on the other side and then tack for the mark as the tide reduces and appears to lift you on the downtide tack. Of course the relative lengths of these stages are never right, and other factors will come into play.....

The big skill of the tactician is being able to look at this, and all other things to consider, work out which are themost important at the start of the leg, the middle of the leg and the approach to the mark, and pick the best course. This is immensely difficult, and people who can do this better than 2 times in 3 can make large amounts of money out of racing.

 

[Judders]

Is 4th a debacle? How big is the field? Where do you expect to be at this stage?

 

[matelot]

Yes it was a debacle. I totally fouled up on one mark having to throw in two extra tacks through misjudgement, and we lost time on several tacks through attempts to alter genoa cars after tacking /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ! Given that it was just a 2hr race across HW and with a triangular 2 lap course we should have beaten the fast boats on handicap by a mile. Instead we lost to the third by 25 secs.

Fleet on this occasion was down to 10 boats through weather

 

[matelot]

I must thank all you guys for your help and patience. There's been a huge amount of information given which I wouldnt otherwsie have had. Its not easy to learn racing when you start to do it on your own boat and with a novice (or almost) crew. Much easier if you crew on another boat for a few years.

So thanks to all who have responded.

 

[flaming]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes it was a debacle. I totally fouled up on one mark having to throw in two extra tacks through misjudgement, and we lost time on several tacks through attempts to alter genoa cars after tacking /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ! Given that it was just a 2hr race across HW and with a triangular 2 lap course we should have beaten the fast boats on handicap by a mile. Instead we lost to the third by 25 secs.

Fleet on this occasion was down to 10 boats through weather

[/ QUOTE ]

I like how high you're setting your standards!

I rather suspect those cruiser racer ads are going to get well thumbed over the coming months!

 

[dt4134]

[ QUOTE ]
Its not easy to learn racing when you start to do it on your own boat and with a novice (or almost) crew. Much easier if you crew on another boat for a few years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Spot on.

When you decide to switch to IRC racing - I suspect it is almost inevitable now, it would be worthwhile considering blagging your way onto a pretty good IRC boat for a year or two before buying your own. That'll give you the opportunity to see how such boats are managed. And you can then think about how you want to run your own boat.

It is pretty likely that you are going to have to train your own crew so seeing how such boats are run will give you a picture of what you want to achieve. It takes time and patience to improve, and lots of practice.

 

[dt4134]

[ QUOTE ]
I totally fouled up on one mark having to throw in two extra tacks through misjudgement, and we lost time on several tacks through attempts to alter genoa cars after tacking.

Instead we lost to the third by 25 secs.

[/ QUOTE ]

25 seconds is about eight boat lengths for you at about six knots. Say you're losing five boat lengths per tack then that unnecessary double tack probably explains it.

Don't look at it negatively, you now know one thing you need to do better next time.

When you're starting out it is worthwhile considering carrying a few cans of beer (won't lose you too many seconds) and having a debrief afterwards. Some of your crew must've seen where the genny cars were before the tack. If everyone talks it through they'll know next time that they should tell the genny trimmer when they're all sitting together on the rail and the genny trimmer can decide whether something should be done about it. And once your crew are properly trained and working as a team you don't even need to be distracted by such things.

 

[matelot]

Your long post above highlighted one of the areas I've been failing in - organisation. Having clear allocations of responsibility. Easy to duck when its you and three pals sailing the boat - you just let people "get on with it", but there was no-one responsible for doing a job like adjusting the track before the tacks. Lesson learned.

Sadly cant do a couple of years crewing on an IRC boat. Fell off my motorbike and cannot now move about well enough on deck so I'm stuck behind the wheel.