Starting strategy in big OD fleet - advice please!

[MissFitz]

I've rashly agreed to helm for a team from our yacht club in the British Keelboat League this weekend. We'll be in J70s and the format is lots of very short (15 mins) races, so good starts will be key. There will be 24 boats in total, which will make for a much busier start line that I've ever been on in a keelboat. (Dinghies are different, can be more gung-ho because it's not an absolute disaster if you hit something!) Not looking to get the best start in the fleet but would like to avoid complete balls ups. Any suggestions on reliable starting strategies for cautious sailors?

 

[flaming]

If you go for an end the odds of you being the boat that gets that great start, rather than the 6 that get messed up seem slim.

I would think of starting just to leeward of the boat end bunch, and concentrating on being in clear air. If you're in clear air then it doesn't matter if you aren't in the exact best place on the line, you'll be doing better than the half of the fleet that are sailing in dirt.
If the format of the racing is multiple short races, the plan has to be to avoid bad results more than to get good ones. So be conservative. Watch carefully what's going on in the first couple of starts and adjust your start plan accordingly. Is this fleet setting up in an unbroken line that you need to be in? Or are they quite fragmented allowing the tack in approach to work well?

But... If the races are short then the opportunity to get across the fleet from the pin end is small. So also consider a deliberately slightly late start at the boat and tack off quick in order to be able to approach the windward mark on Starboard. In a big OD fleet with a short windward leg the port layline is a very risky place to be.
Unless of course the whole fleet are doing that... In which case watch for the PRO to dial in more pin end bias to encourage a better start line spread and consider starting in the bottom third of the line and getting onto port asap in clear air and seeing how many you can cross...

On timing... Go with the fleet. If the fleet pulls the trigger but you think they're early, go with them anyway. Either they're all wrong and it will be a general, or they're right and you're wrong. For every time I've been sat in dirt saying "they're all over" and they were, there have been 10 times I'm sat in dirt whilst the PRO calls "line clear".

 

[lpdsn]

Get clear air.

And keep it once you've got it - i.e don't get in a situation where you have to tack back in too soon because you're going to the wrong side.

Which means deciding whether you want to be on the left or the right of the beat before the start and planning your start on the basis of that.

And I'm afraid you're going to have to go in there at the start. No point getting marled up at the favoured end so keep a little clear of it, but don't hold back. A boat length or two late will kill you in the dirty air from the better starters and by the time you're clear of it it'll be too late to do anything in the race.

 

[lw395]

Read your rules and be prepared to protest.
Expect a lot of barging around the committee boat.

Are you sailing in big fleets or is it lots of flights in some kind of league?
Some of these sprint events are more like match racing, the race is over before the start.

 

[Keen_Ed]

There won't be 24 boats. Like the qualifiers, a small fleet - the Thames's 6 J70s - swapping crews in and out as needed. Probably like the qualifiers : a round robin and then maybe a short final series. They might be using the Thames and Squadron's boats, so 12 in total.

Short course racing, so worry less about getting the absolute best position on the line, and go far more for a good enough position, but right on the line at full speed at the gun.

Fully umpaired racing. You'll need a Yankee flag - red and yellow stripes - for on the water protests of a breach of Part 2. Put it on a short stick and stuff it into your buoyancy aid.

http://www.rya.org.uk/racing/keelboat-racing/Pages/british-keelboat-league.aspx

 

[MissFitz]

There won't be 24 boats. Like the qualifiers, a small fleet - the Thames's 6 J70s - swapping crews in and out as needed. Probably like the qualifiers : a round robin and then maybe a short final series.

Fully umpaired racing. You'll need a Yankee flag - red and yellow stripes - for on the water protests of a breach of Part 2. Put it on a short stick and stuff it into your buoyancy aid.

http://www.rya.org.uk/racing/keelboat-racing/Pages/british-keelboat-league.aspx

You're right, I'm talking through my hat. It's 24 races, not boats. Doh! That's what comes of trying to work out racing plans in the middle of a very busy working week. Think it may be more than six though, someone said there were RYS boats as well. Still need to know how to negotiate the starts without making a numpty of myself though!

 

[Keen_Ed]

Delegate somebody to always be able to tell you time to the pin and time to burn pre-start. If 4 up, easiest if no 2 does it (behind bow, in front of mainsheet). Bow does jib trim and time, mainsheet does input on tactics.

Then you know when to turn for the line, and how you're placed wrt the bulk of the fleet. I.e. are the first to turn too early, so no chance of turning in front, or too late, in which case you can?

 

[lpdsn]

And have someone telling you if anyone is trying to get an overlap to leeward. Someone should also remind you of the tide if necessary if that's going to make you early, late, or clunk the committee boat.

Also make sure you and the trimmers know exactly how you're going to tell them when to power up and take power off and exactly what that means when you manouvre i.e when you want full trim maintained as you manouvre to clear and protect your space and when you don't.

 

[MissFitz]

Lots of really great advice as always, thanks guys.

Particularly like this from Flaming, as it's what I've always used as a fall-back plan in dinghy races when feeling less confident. Had assumed it would be viewed with derision by proper racers, very comforting to have it (partially) endorsed by one!

So also consider a deliberately slightly late start at the boat and tack off quick in order to be able to approach the windward mark on Starboard.

 

[Foolish Muse]

Clear air above all else. Remember that you don't need to win a single race to win the entire regatta. While all the other boats are fighting each other at the pin, you can sail in clear air for the entire race. With a large number of boats, a collection of seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths in that fleet will give you FIRST OVERALL!

 

[Keen_Ed]

How did you get on?

 

[MissFitz]

Damn, I knew someone was going to ask that! Let's just say the standard was extremely high & it was a very learning experience in many ways, expected & unexpected......

Starts were interesting as we were regularly being swapped in & out of boats, the turn-around times were extremely short, & the start sequence was only three minutes. Someone commented recently in series I was crewing in that every time we had a rush to the start, we had a bad one, & I'd say that was my experience here. When not rushed, I managed a few decent starts around the middle of the line or a bit to the left of it, & was starting to get the hang of picking a lane & defending it. But have to admit our very best starts were probably the last two, when I went back to my old standby (as per previous post) of hanging around upwind of the committee boat & coming in fast just after the gun. Which just goes to show - well, I'm not sure what, except that I need a lot more practice. Still, the crew seem keen to try again next year, so it can't have been all bad!