Downwind Tactics
Downwind, your tactics as the lead boat are usually heavily dictated by the boat behind you. Often it is simpler to try and keep your air clean and sail as fast as you can! Where possible, encourage those boats around you to work with you to get away
Wind
- Windward mark
- 7.3a When rounding marks avoid sailing through the fleet.
from the fleet. Try and avoid getting caught in silly luffing battles (as you may end up sailing back to the windward mark), unless you are trying to slow the other boat down (and are not worried about slowing yourself down).
Wind
Windward mark
- If there are lots of boats here (causing dirty wind and water) avoid this area.
7.3a (continued)
Often the best opportunity to overtake comes at a mark, where you can possibly gain water or slow down and capitalise on someone else's bad mark rounding. As the attacker you always need to think about whether you are going to overtake to windward or leeward. Remember, in an effort to stay in front, the defending boat may well end up slowing you both down. As a defending boat you want to keep your wind clean and also stay in phase with the shifts.
Tactics for each leg of the course should be decided on the previous leg (although you are, of course, allowed to change your mind). This way you know if you are going to attack or defend your position prior to getting to the mark. If there are lots of boats just in front and a gap behind, you should be attacking, going as fast as you can. If the situation is the other way round, with boats close behind and not many places to be gained, a more conservative approach may be required. Also, on races of more than one lap, remember what you did (whether it worked or not) on the previous round. For example, did it work just staying to the right of the group?
You need to attend as many regattas as you possibly can so as to learn from real racing experience. That way, when you encounter a situation, you instinctively know how to react: to go high or low downwind, or duck or tack underneath the approaching boat on starboard tack upwind.
It is far harder to control the race from downwind as the sailors behind you will always get the new wind first! Being fast downwind (see Chapters 12 and 13) can turn you into a tactical genius. In relation to a group of boats you can always place yourself in the best tactical position: keeping on the inside of a shift; being on the side of the run which is getting the breeze first (this corresponds to going high or low on the reach depending on where there is more wind); and, of course, (just like upwind) keeping your air clean!
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