Always sail the long tack first!

There is a rule of thumb in sailboat racing that states“sail the long tack first.” If this is not a fundamental premise for you and your team it needs to be. If you adhere to this rule religiously I guarantee that you will see a marked improvement in your results. To fully understand why this rule is so important you need a good grounding the geometry of a standard windward/leeward course and the factors of probability that come into play in most sailboat racing. Note that while the example here uses a windward/leeward course, the same principles can be applied to long distance racing. 

To start let’s take a look at a perfectly set course and starting line. In this course the line is perfectly square to the wind direction and the mark is directly to windward. Assume for now there will be no windshifts and there is no current advantaging either side. In this ideal (and unrealistic) scenario a boat starting at the pin on starboard and another boat starting at the boat on port, going the same speed, would arrive at the layline for the windward mark at exactly the same time.  (See fig. 1)

Figure 1.

Now add a dose of reality and shift the course axis left fifteen degrees. The same boat starting at the boat end would arrive at the starboard layline almost 5 minutes sooner! All good except we are not racing to the layline, we are racing to the windward mark! Once our starboard end starter is on the layline he has only one option to hope for—that the wind does not change from when he tacks until the time he gets to the first mark. If it holds steady he will incur no loss. If the wind shifts left he will overstand the windward mark and sail more distance. If the wind shifts right the boats ahead and to leeward of him will gain in the shift. I think you would agree that in real life the chances of the wind shifting once he tacks are almost 100%.

Fig 2. Boat on left has close to 5 more minutes to take advantage of any shift that comes along.

In order to prevent this situation and stay off the layline to the largest degree possible we “sail the long tack first”. Getting quickly onto the tack that points us as close as possible to the windward (or leeward) mark we practically guarantee that we will be in a position to gain no matter which way the wind shifts.  

When this rule does not apply:

 ·     When one side is CLEARLY and HEAVILY favored for either wind or current and the boats that get to that advantage first will have a gain an insurmountable amount. Race first to the favored side—then stay off layline.

Be sure to make this rule a major part of your team’s playbook.