The steps to a correct buoy rounding are:

1. Line in to the buoy
2. Unhooking from the harness for control
3. Shift of body weight to manoeuvre around the buoy
4. Pumping to accelerate once the buoy is rounded

1. Line in to the Buoy

BOTTOM BUOY

Rounding the bottom buoy, whether a gate or a single mark, to start the next upwind leg, the line you take in to the buoy will determine your line out of the buoy (as you round it). Starting the next windward leg it is important to get to your maximum upwind angle as soon as possible to gain a safe-leeward position upwind. Sailors behind you will find it difficult to pass you to windward sailing in your dirty air, however if you round the buoy too tight and take longer to start pointing on the new leg you create a space where sailors behind you could get an advantage if they round the buoy tighter.

Figure 1A shows the RIGHT and WRONG lines you can take in to the bottom buoy. The RIGHT line is to head slightly deeper in the last 20-30m before the buoy travelling a few metres below the buoy and then aggressively turning upwind as you round the buoy to make a very tight angle around the buoy. The WRONG line is to head straight to the buoy and as formula boards turn much slower than waveboards it is very difficult to change direction so quickly and you will take a few metres after the buoy to get to your optimum upwind angle.

Figure 1B shows the WRONG line taken in to a buoy which creates a space upwind of the sailor and  the buoy which sailors behind who round the buoy correctly can use to their advantage to gain positions on the next upwind leg. To protect a lead you must take the RIGHT line around the buoy to keep all sailors behind and to leeward of you making it difficult for them to pass you in your dirty air or forcing them to tack away.

The actual distance in metres between the RIGHT and WRONG lines is only approx 4-5m difference. This is not an exact figure but merely an educated guess that the sailor will judge themselves on the water nearing the buoy. When other sailors are in close proximity you must obey all the normal sailing rules and choose the best line in to the buoy that is available given the circumstances.

TOP BUOY

Rounding the top buoy does not require a particular line in to the buoy. Techniques involved in rounding the top buoy will be discussed in Section 3.

In Figure 2A two sailors approach the bottom buoy. Sailor 2 will not likely get clear ahead before the buoy and will have to give Sailor 1 ‘mark-room’, which essentially allows Sailor 1 to pass him to round the buoy.

In this instance, the best option is for Sailor 2 to slow down dramatically, let Sailor 1 gain a distance of 10-15m ahead and then ‘ooch’ downwind as far as possible below the buoy to round extremely tight on the buoy. If you put a little pressure on Sailor 1 they will often take a very tight line in to the buoy and have to round the buoy very wide, creating a space for you to attack on the upwind like in Figure 1B.

Figure 2B shows the path Sailor 2 should take if given this opportunity by the mistake of Sailor 1.

2 & 3. Unhook for Control & Shift Weight Forward

BOTTOM BUOY

Rounding the bottom buoy in medium to strong wind conditions it is important that you UNHOOK FROM THE HARNESS. Distinct changes in direction on windsurfing boards with large fin sizes creates a large spike in load on the fin which usually causes the board to excessively rail, the nose of the board to lift and become unstable and the board to slow down very quickly. The stronger the wind gets the more this will have an effect and sailors can actually be at risk of crashing due to the behaviour of the board when the fin is maximum loaded.

To help with control, unhook from the harness and keep your legs slightly bent and body weight forward to keep the nose of the board down and keep the speed up. You should be unhooking from the harness 2-4 seconds before you reach the buoy.

As you round the buoy, tilt the rig back aggressively as in doing a tack to get the board to point as soon as you round the buoy.

In lighter winds or if your line in to the buoy is a little too tight, you can throw in a few pumps and ‘ooch’ the board downwind (losing a bit of speed) to get yourself deeper than the buoy to have a good line close to the buoy when you round it. These extra few pumps will mean you are already out of the harness and have your body weight forward for when you round the buoy.

TOP BUOY

Rounding the upwind buoy and heading to a downwind leg requires footwork and position of the rig to get the board to foot off aggressively downwind. With your front foot, pull up in the strap, lean the rig forward and shift your bodyweight forward for a few seconds while the board turns downwind.

This is the same technique as initiating a gybe, except that the back foot does not move from the back footstrap as in a gybe. This is a ‘sail by feel’ technique and requires the sailor to feel the movement of the board under their feet and apply more pressure when necessary needed to push the board.

4. Pumping to Accelerate

BOTTOM BUOY

In planing conditions it is important to put in a strong 3-6 pumps after rounding the buoy to get the best angle upwind after the buoy and help accelerate after the change in direction. By pumping and going for maximum height after the buoy, you will make it difficult for the sailors behind you who will usually have to foot-off to get out of your dirty air and lose considerable ground.

In very strong winds it may not always be beneficial to pump however sometimes making 1 pump as you hook yourself in to the harness is good for acceleration.

TRAINING DRILLS.

Training for bottom buoy roundings is very easy and requires little setup.

If you have access to a buoy, place one anywhere in the water.

DRILL 1

1-      Practice approaching the buoy from a normal downwind angle 50m from the buoy. As you get 20-30m from the buoy, head deeper to get 4-5m below the normal line in to the buoy then using the techniques discussed above, round the buoy.

2-      After rounding the buoy, sail upwind for 20 seconds to practice getting to maximum height and speed quickly after the buoy.

3- Repeat 10 roundings on one tack, then 10 roundings on the other tack. (Despite most courses having port rounding of the buoys, with gate courses you will inevitably need to be skilled in round buoys both directions).

DRILL 2

1- With a partner, repeat the same as Drill 1 but start the run to the buoy from 150m away. Run in close proximity with your partner, fighting to see who can get to the buoy first. 30m from the buoy make a decision about who will arrive at the buoy first.

2- If you have overlap nearing the buoy, force yourself downwind as in the techniques discussed and try and hold your height and position around the buoy.
If you are behind, practice the techniques in Section 1.

3- After rounding the buoy, sail upwind for 30 seconds to practice holding your position with a sailor behind or in front of you. 

4- Repeat 10 roundings on one tack, then 10 roundings on the other tack. (Despite most courses having port rounding of the buoys, with gate courses you will inevitably need to be skilled in round buoys both directions).

Final Notes:

If you do not have the ability to use a buoy, you can practice Drill 1 with an imaginary buoy; just pick a spot on the water to practice the techniques. Be conscious of starting the manoeuvre on the exact spot on the water you have chosen.

Also remember that in the Windsurfing Appendix B rules (which we use), we are ALLOWED to touch the buoys.

This article is adapted from a great article in the latest Australian Sailing Magazine (June/July 2009). The article was written by 1992 America’s Cup winning tactician David Dellenbaugh and originally published in Speed & Smarts, a newsletter by David on tactics, rules and boathandling. We have adapted it for Formula Windsurfers.

When your position on the race course suddenly goes pear-shaped, it’s time to change gears and re-adjust your game plan. It’s important not to throwaway your original race strategy, but consider making a few adjustments:

Take A Moment

Before you start punching holes in your sail or sailing back to the beach without so much as even attempting one upwind beat, take a moment to assess your current situation.

• Is this early or late in the race series?
• Do you already have a discard?
• How good is your boardspeed in relation to others on the course?
• How confident are you in your pre-race strategic plan?

Why you should ask yourself these questions is to do with how much “risk” you would want to be applying when you get back on the comeback trail in the race. If you already have a few bad discards, it’s probably not worth risking everything to get back the bullet in this race.

Evaluate Your Risk

In any moment in a race, especially when you’ve had a terrible start, you must decide how much risk to take. Are you willing to go out on a limb and take a flyer out to one far corner of the course? Sure, it might be a winner and you’re back with the leading pack at the top mark, but it could just as easily be a loser, and you’ve wasted a chance to get a solid recovery score which will help consolidate your regatta results sheet. As a rule of thumb, when it’s early in the event (depending on how many races will be run at this regatta), you should generally take fewer risks. If you are recovering from a bad start, try to sail to your strengths; if you have good boardspeed, use that with one-on-one tactics to pass each board in front of you at a time. Taking large risks early on in the race can sometimes be a disaster. When you get closer to the finish line (eg, Lap 2) it’s time to start taking more risks to get the points you need.

A good example of this is if after your bad start, you see most of the fleet heading left on starboard tack. There is a one in three chance (33%) the right side could pay off. These odds are probably not high enough to take the right side on the first beat, however, if you are still doing poorly on the second lap, it might be worth giving the right side a try.

Minimise The Damage

Not making simple tactical mistakes is always good, but it’s even more important when you are behind in a race. Usually, the leaders in a race are further spread apart, so taking risks to get from 3rd to 1st doesn’t have much damage associated with failing. When you are down the back of the fleet, there is much more traffic and dirty air; the boards are usually closer together so small mistakes can result in larger damages.

When you get behind in a start, resist the urge to get frustrated and go for impulsive tactics. Sure, a bit of frustration is great for getting your adrenaline up, but don’t let it put blinkers on your race strategy. When you are behind, be patient and always pay attention to the boards in front of you to see the mistakes they are making and avoid them. It’s very easy to pick the best areas of the course for wind when you are watching the boards in front of you sail in to a big hole or a gust. Avoid making mistakes by sticking to your strengths and pass the boards in front of you when they make mistakes.

Strategy or Tactics?

When you are playing catch up, another decision you will have to make is whether to focus on strategy (wind shifts) or tactics (other boards). Both are important, but which to favour depends mostly on whereabouts you are in the race. Immediately after a bad start, don’t worry about other boards, get as quickly as you can to the favoured side of the course and close the distance on the rest of the fleet.

As you get closer to the finish line, the boards are spread out and you begin to run out of time to make large strategic plans. The second lap is when you should switch into tactical mode and start racing the boards immediately around you.

Don’t Throw Your Plan Away!

Many sailors often spend a long time before the start of the day’s racing collecting information out on the course about the wind, current, startline etc to find out which side of the first beat is favoured. But if they get a bad start they often seem very willing to forget about this information and head to the other side of the course. This often doesn’t make sense. Unless something changed in the start, the side that was favoured before, should still be just as favoured afterwards; if you decide to go to the other side of the course – you might be putting yourself even further behind!

A common example of this is getting buried on starboard tack on the startline and then tacking on to port to get clear air – the sailor then usually sails to the right side of the course instead of tacking back on to starboard when he’s clear of the starting boards (see Figure 1a for a diagram of this). If the right side isn’t favoured – why sail to it? One tack should take you roughly 8 seconds, at 8m/sec speed (average planing speed for a FW board) you would only lose 64m. Be aware that on a normal 1200m windward/leeward course (taking 15-20 mins) you would lose MORE than 64m by sailing to the non-favoured side of the course.

If your pre-start race plan said to go left, you might consider changing your mind after a bad start and going right when:

• You only had a slight preference for the left;
• Going right is the only way to get clear air (but it’s usually a bad sign and a risky strategy, if everyone else is going left); or,
• Conditions changed after the pre-start.

End Note

Racing windsurfers is a very mental game. Very few sports place such a high value on sharp analytical thnking, so it is suprising that sailors don’t focus more on psychological training (we hope to get some more articles about ‘psychology’ on here in the future). A sailor can have the fastest gear and the best fin on the planet, but this doesn’t help you if you are ‘psyched out’ of the starts. It is difficult enough to remain focused when things are going right on the race course, let alone when they go wrong. Take a moment to read through this article again and hopefully having some more informed ideas about ‘what to do’ when it all goes pear-shaped, will give you that confidence boost you need to get back in to the race.

Photos by AllegroCup.pl & WindBrasil.com

When approaching the windward mark, always remember the three key rules:

• If you are lifted markedly heading to the mark on Starboard, gybe immediately on to port after the mark.
• If you are knocked markedly heading to the mark on Starboard, stay on the starboard tack to get the most out of the knock.
• The side of the course which is favoured on the upwind leg is generally the side to take on the downwind leg.

That shouldn’t be a “decision” on the racecourse; it should be a reflex. The only revision to the first two rules is if there is a favourable side of the course due to a geographic, tidal or other influence that creates this favoured side.

Knowing & Understanding Your Angles

The key to dramatically improving your downwindtime around the course: understanding what angles you can sail in what windstrengths. Simple huh?

Not exactly. Most sailors have a reference point on their boom, which is usually a perpindicular line to the mark (its easy to visual 90 degree angles) whereby when they see the leeward mark through their sail they will gybe when it lines up roughly with this boom reference point. I’m here to tell you that that isn’t specific enough and can allow boats in close proximity to gybe earlier/later than you and punish you into the leeward mark. A good way to combat this is to research the angles you can sail downwind in various windstrengths and then learn how to quickly gauge that particular angle by sight.

To do this accurately you are better off using a GPS unit to analyse tracks of your sailing in various windstrengths (something we will be writing about here very shortly). Here on the left is a chart I have made for angles that I can sail in relative windstrengths. Using about 3-4 months of GPS data from sailing FW in various windconditions, I have plotted the different downwindangles I have achieved against the wind speed on that particular day. Obviously, there are slight performance differences each session in the same windstrengthbut using a mean trend-line we can get a good estimate of what angle I can sail in what windstrength.

You only need to know a general group of angles, for example 8-12 knots, 15 knots, 20 knots etc. If you can learn what angles you sail in these windstrengths you can improve your downwind laylines immensely. For example, using my chart above, I see that I can usually sail downwind at 120 degrees with an 11m sail in 8-10 knots of breeze (see figure to the left for a visual representation of the Downwind Angles chart). I have a good idea of what 120 degrees (not to the nearest degree, but roughly enough that I can make an informed decision about where to gybe) looks like when I line the leeward mark up through my sail and I have a good idea of what 8-10 knots feels like when I sail my 11m. With that in information in mind, if you are the leading boat on the downwind, you can know that when you gybe it will be the perfect layline and that if the guys behind you have gybed any earlier, they are going to have to wipe off considerable speed to get down to the mark or to put in two extra gybes; you have protected your lead.

Protecting Your Lead

As Bethwaite states, a “boat with a small righting moment (like a Laser) cannot deflect wind too much, but a more powerful boat such as an 18ft skiff (or an FW board), deflects the wind an incredible amount”.

With this in mind, the most important weapon to protect a lead on the downwind run is to keep your pursuer always in your dirty air and disturbed water. If your pursuer attempts to pass you to leeward (that is, inside you), if possible you can bear off slightly and use your dirty air and wind-shadow to slow the passing boat. It is very difficult to pass on the inside unless the passing boat can sail significantly deeper than the lead boat as you have to sail through the worst of the air deflection from the leading boat, which harms downwind performance immensely. Should the pursuer try to pass to windward, it only requires the lead boat to luff him to windward and force him deeper in to the hopeless position.

In the case of several pursuers, as Manfred Curry would suggest: “one directs one’s chief attention, as on a beat to windward, to the one nearest”.

Know Your Competition / Force the Gybe:

The next tool in your downwind weaponry is your laylines. Get them correct and you’ve made it very difficult for the pursuing boat to pass you. Get them wrong andyou will find yourself sitting in someone’s dirty air at the leeward mark.

Everyone uses a different setup and may take a different fin and so it’s more than likely that in your fleet there will be some who are faster and can sail deeper than you on the downwind (if not, you have no excuses for not winning each race). To protect a lead it is important to have an idea of what angles the sailors behind you can sail. If you are in an unknown fleet, it should only take you one race or so to work this out. If your main competition can sail deeper than you at a similar speed, there are preventative steps you can take to protect your lead to the leeward mark.

Getting aroundthe windward mark first on the last lap, withonly the downwindto sail to the finish when the guy 10m behindyou is considerably faster than you downwind is a common and frustrating occurence (I’ve had my fair share). Despite the formentionedtactics above to protect your lead, withthe speeds an FW board travels at, blocking the sailor behind you is not always as easy as it would seem on paper as pursuing sailors can change positions from the hopeless position to a dominant position in less than a second in windy conditions and it is difficult to keep your eyes on the water ahead as well as on what your pursuer is doing. One of your few options to protect your lead in this instance is to play on your opponents mindset that he can sail deeper than you downwind…

The pursuing boat, knowing that he can sail deeper than you, most likely will gybe when the leading boat gybes and back his ability to sail deeper andfaster, hoping to use his better angle to pass on the windward side and use his wind-shadow on the leading boat as he controls the lead into the leeward mark. If you know your downwind angles in the particular windstrength, try gybing earlier than is possible to make the leeward mark. If the trailing boat is true to form, he may gybe when you do and both of you now will have to make an extra 2 gybes into the leeward mark. You know this before he does, so by heading a little higher out of the gybe you can put him into your dirty air and hold him in the hopeless position andforce him to have to gybe away to get clear air. This tactic is best when you are in a clear position with 1st/2nd together as it may allow the 3rd/4th boats an opportunity to gain if they are close enough and sail the layline correctly. If your pursuer does in fact gybe again to get away from your dirty air, you will both have the same amount of gybes to do however when you meet at the leeward mark you will be approaching on starboard to make your final gybe and will have right-of-way (provided you can fit your gybe in before he gets to you).

Gybing Strategy: 

Once you’ve practiced enough, you should be able to gybe and keep on the plane all the way through on to the next tack. In winds over 12 knots (ie, when you are able to consistently plane out of each gybe), a good gybe takes only 3-4 seconds to complete and regain full speed. This is considerably less time than a tack and usually you don’t lose much angle as when you are pumping out the gybe you can point downwind much further than you can actually sail to promote a quick gain back to full speed. In 10 seconds a FW board travels about 80m so you are only losing 25m or so in each gybe. That seems like a lot but in a normal course using a 1.3km rhumb line (shortest distance from windward to leeward mark), 25m is a small disadvantage compared to the advantages made in sailing the correct course downwind rather than the one with the least amount of gybes.

Sailing in onshore conditions in consistent winds, usually the bulk of the fleet sails the downwind run on starboard, taking one gybe to the leeward mark. This happens even in international fleets. In most cases (FW World Championship locations like Leba, Poland; Gangnueng, Korea; Forteleza, Brazil; Melbourne, Australia all had courses like this) the single-gybe run forces the sailors to sail right to the beach where they gybe on to port tack andfollow the beach into the leeward mark close to shore. 9/10 times there is considerably less wind close to the shore as breaking waves, sand dunes, trees, buildings or the land/water temperature differences creates turbulence for the wind andoften forces the clear wind into the air (away from your sails) thus creating light spots along the beach. A sailor who sails into the beach andtakes a little longer to get on to the plane out of the gybe, coupled with the tight angle he will have to sail to get out of the shore-zone and back into the clear air will lose far more than 40m versus a sailor who put in the extra gybes and stayed in the stronger winds out to sea.

3 Gybes? Make It Count:

One thing to note is when you do gybe on to port around the windward mark (you have a minimum of 3 gybes to complete on a standard windward/leeward course now) you should always complete your second gybe earlier than the starboard layline to head towards the leeward mark. This allows you to take advantage of any wind direction changes or gusts (see diagram to the left for a visual reference). The difference in downwind angle in 1-2 knot differences of wind is substantial compared to the same wind differences and upwind angle (which is minimal). Approaching the leeward mark on starboard with a final gybe to put you back on to port to round the mark it is important to not oversail the starboard layline as having to head up to make the leeward mark gybe wastes all your advantage in having sailed a different course to the other sailors. You are going to have to gybe back on to port anyhow, so does it make a difference whether its 2m from the leeward mark or 40m?? Better to be safe and always sailing a deep downwind angle than to overshoot and have to head up (crucifying your downwind VMG).

Attacking From Behind:

Assuming two boats are equal in downwind speed, it is difficult but not impossible to pass the leading boat on the downwind leg. Your two options are to sail a better layline (gybe earlier/later) and get the advantage into the leeward mark or to pass the leading boat either to windward or leeward with superior speed.

Passing to Windward:

The generally accepted better side to pass on is the windward side, as passing on the leeward side you have to sail through the very disturbed air and wind-shadow of the leading boat which is difficult to do unless you have a fairly big advantage in board speed over the lead boat. Assuming you are always sailing as deep as possible on the downwind run, luffing a little will increase your board speed at the expense of angle. Often times, the increase in board speed allows you to keep your downwind VMG the same and can help you pass the leading boat on the downwind as he may be sailing slower to go the deepest angle possible. He may luff you to try and defend this attack but within reason you can continue to luff higher and higher and increase your speed to overtake; its very rare for a leading boat to luff you all the way to a beam reach; and this allows you an opportunity to try to scoot through on the leeward side while he is not watching. This tactic works best for heavier sailors as they are usually faster on a broad reach angle.

Passing to Leeward:

Although more difficult, there are times when this tactic should be applied. The main instance in when you are pursuing a group of sailors. Often times, many in the group will be sailing a slightly luffed course to keep themselves out of the dirty air of the boats around them. Provided you are at a safe enough distance to not be affected by their dirty air too much, sailing a very deep course allows you to get into a controlling position leading into the gybe, as you will be closer to the leeward mark if you gybe at the same time as the leading boats. Despite the obvious disadvantages in sailing in someone’s dirty air, if you can sail inside the leading boats you will get the cleanest air when you gybe on to the new tack and if you have sailed deep enough to leeward, you are actually closer to the leeward mark than the leading boats.  

This technique of passing on the second tack rather than the first of the downwind leg is one of the best ways to pass a boat in front of you. The key for it to work is to gybe at the SAME TIME as the lead boat and to make sure you are on or close to the layline. If you make a good gybe you can quickly put yourself in front of the lead boat spilling your dirty air on them and they have no ability to do the same trick to you as you are already on the layline; sailing deeper will not help the former lead boat.

This technique allows lighter sailors to do this more effectively as they are able to sail deeper angles than heavier sailors on the same equipment.

Sail A Better Layline:

The easiest way to pass someone on a downwind leg is to sail the perfect laylines when they don’t. Easier said than done, but using the above techniques for understanding and knowing your downwind angles there is usually always an opportunity to do this in most races as a combination of nerves and pressure had by the leading boat can often times provoke them to sail a safe-layline (that is, to sail over the layline to make sure the leeward mark is made without an extra gybe). As the pursuing boat, you have nothing to lose by sailing an aggressive layline (gybing so early it is a tight run to make the leeward mark, and hoping for a slight wind heading to allow you to make the mark easier) and the lead boat has EVERYTHING to lose by messing up their laylines. Getting yourself into a good leeward position before you make the gybe will dramatically increase the chances of success in this instance.

End Note…

As always, there is nothing more beneficial to improving your racing than by GOING racing. The more courses you sail the more your laylines and tactics will become a reflex instead of a response and you will begin to assimilate the important sailing rules into your long-term memory, instead of your short-term one. Good luck.

Since this will be a long article, I’ve decided to break it up into two parts. The first will be a tutorial on how to create a GPSAR (GPS Action Replay is a program designed to replay GPS tracks simultaneously for review) to review any race you have competed in. The second part will be how to analyse this data more efficiently and some tips on the easiest things to improve, now that you have a way of reviewing your racing.

For the record, GPSAR was brought to the forefront of the Formula Windsurfing public eye by Devon Boulon and Ian Fox at the 2005 FW Worlds in Australia. Unbeknownst to many at that event, a few of us in Sydney, Australia, had already be doing these replays for over 2 seasons and felt quite robbed by Devon taking the glory. In fact, some of what was done in Australia with the help of Jan (creator of GPSAR) has paved the way for the new version of GPSAR Pro.

To give you some examples of what I am talking about here, please visit the site below. This is a windsurfing club in Sydney, Australia, at which we have run our races for many years with the top riders using GPS units while they race. (You will require only Java Runtime Environment to view these files, see below for a download):

• www.storm-riders.com.au/gpsar/

GPSAR allows you to upload any number of GPS tracks simultaneously onto one screen, and even underlay that screen with a map of the location. With this program, you can change the speed and view of the race whilst you watch and then very easily see how everyone got to the finish line in the positions they did (whereas in reality, you can only see who’s within earshot of you on the racecourse). All you need to do is next time you go sailing, take your GPS unit and make sure a couple of rivals also have theirs. Record the tracks at the end of the day onto one computer then follow this tutorial…

So let’s begin the tutorial.

Please note, the pictures in this gallery are named accordingly with the STEPS in this tutorial to help you understand better. I have also included a link to each figure within the title of each step, to help us lazy people who hate scrolling back up anytime.

GPSAR TUTORIAL

To be able to make the GPSAR’s you will require the following software. I have done this by using FREE software rather than programs you need to pay for:

• GPSAR ver 3.3.3 (old “classic” version) – the new version is paid for.
• Java Runtime Environment
• G7toWin (used to cut the tracks into separate days etc, GPSAR can only work on tracks used for one day, G7towin can do +2 days. It can also handle various file formats and is needed to create the waypoints that sync the maps)
• Google Earth (used to create maps and it gives you the coordinates to place your maps)
• Microsoft Notepad (used as a html editor) – any text editor will work here. I actually use Dreamweaver MX but its paid for.
• Microsoft Picture Manager (used as a photo editor) – any photo editor will work here. I use Photoshop but again, this is paid for and I’m aiming to do this for free.
• NAVi users: GPS Results, GPSAR Pro, or RealSpeed. (please note, these are all PAID FOR programs and are required to convert the .sbn files to .gpx format. Sorry guys, why don’t you just buy a Garmin?)

For the record, I prefer Garmin GPS units for FW analysis. I apologise to all the avid NAVi GPS fans out there but in the time I’ve edited tracks of FW races to put into GPSAR’s, I’m yet to see a clean NAVi track. They seem to be more vulnerable to losing the signal in patches; despite what version software is used. The Garmin Edge/Forerunner series are flawless, everytime.

To begin, you require all the tracks from everyone who sailed that day who you wish to include in the replay. About 4-8 people is best, as more than this and the screen becomes cluttered and more difficult to view the tactics. Take the best 4-8 people in your fleet who wear GPS units.

STEP 1 (Edit the Files into One Day) [Figure 1]

GPSAR has a 24 hour clock inbedded and cannot handle multiple days of data. If someone gives you a track with 3 days of data (as everyone who owns a NAVi seems to do!), you need to use G7toWin to split the track into 3 separate days. The aim is to create files that have 1 day on them.

To edit, highlight the first line of the track to be removed, then scroll down until you find the next day of data and highlight the last of the first day. Right-click and select DELETE SELECTED TRACK ELEMENTS. Save this file as a new file with a name like ‘day1_aus120.gpx’.

STEP 2 (Manage the Files) [Figure 2]

Make a directory with each day’s racing and put the edited tracks into this directory.

• I suggest you come up with a nice and unified way of naming your files to keep it organised and clean. Something like day1_aus120.gpx (where I’ve used the sail number of who’s track it is and the date).

Open GPSAR and open each sailor’s edited track and give them a name (ie, SAIL NUMBER) and then a unique colour (think about what colour map you are going to use to pick colours, so that they stand out), then save the individual tracks again with this new information. To change the name and colour, click the NAME and COLOR buttons on the right hand sidebar underneath the Trajectories.

STEP 3 (Start/Finish Times) [Figure 3]

Pick someone who is in the top of the fleet (easiest to do with the winner). Open his track in GPSAR and using the scroll bar at the bottom, scroll through his track and find the times (roughly) where he starts the race and finishes. GPSAR can only cut the tracks to the nearest 5:00 mins so write on a piece of paper the nearest 5:00 mins before the start and roughly 10-15 mins after he finishes (depending on the level of your fleet who’s tracks you are using – ie, you want everyone to have finished within that 10-15 min window).

STEP 4 (Let’s do Race 1) [Figure 4.1] [Figure 4.2]

Clear GPSAR and then load everyone’s track one by one so all the data is on the screen. I suggest you load them in numerical order (just to be consistent and keep everyone in the same spot each race). Set the start time and finish time by using the appropriate items on the VIRTUAL RUN & STATS menu, then cut it using CUT TRACKS (WITHIN TIME SETTINGS) on the FILE menu. Save that as Race1.gpx. You are basically saving the entire race now.

If you want a shortcut to this step and you have a LOT of ram in your computer: load everyone in and then save all the tracks as one file called DAY1.gpx. Then using the start and finish times, cut it and save it as Race1.gpx. So next time you open it you can just open DAY1 instead of the individual tracks each time. This is quicker, but you would need at least 3-4GB of RAM to be able to handle this, otherwise your computer may explode!

Repeat this step for as many races as you want replays for. ie, Race1, Race2, Race3, Race4, Race5 etc etc…

STEP 5 (Create a Pirate’s Treasure Map) [Figure 5]

To create a map, take your original sailor who’s track you used to define the start/finish times. Take his FIRST race and save it as a file. Go into GoogleEarth and find the location of where you have been sailing, then do a screen dump [Print Screen button] of this location. Then take the coordinates (using your mouse hovering over the screen, you will be given longitude/latitude coordinates on the taskbar) from the very top left corner and bottom right corner of the screen.

Use any photoeditor (I like Photoshop) to edit the picture so you only can see the map, not the control panel of GoogleEarth. Save the edited map file as a .jpg file.

• TIP: put the grid on in GoogleEarth, to help you get your bearings, then take it off before you do the screendump.

Put the .jpg file of your map into a directory called /maps/ within the directory you have all your tracks in(needs to be smallcase).

STEP 6 (Calibrating the Map) [Figure 6.1] [Figure 6.2]

Open up the original sailor’s track you used in Step 6 in G7toWin and insert waypoints for the top left and bottom right corners of the track by using CREATE on the WAYPOINTS menu. [See Figure 6 in the gallery to make sure you've entered the coordinates correctly]. Save this file.

Open GPSAR and load the track (now with waypoints) and switch waypoints on (tick box on right sidebar) and load the .jpg map file using FILE ~ CREATE A NEW MAP. Zoom the scale out so you can see the map in its entirety and the waypoints (WP1, WP2) and then hold down the SHIFT and CONTROL keys and using your mouse you drag the waypoints over the map. This is explained on pages 65-70 on the GPSAR Pro Full Manual. Then save the map: FILE ~ SAVE MAPS.

The map is now calibrated.

STEP 7 (Setup the Applet) [Figure 7]

You need to make a new folder with these 9 files in it (for 4 races); the extra file is the gpsar.jar file. Here’s one I prepared earlier (download mine, because you MUST have all these files included):

• DOWNLOAD GPSAR Sample Folder (1.12 MB zip file)

I have included in their all the race files called race1.html etc. Use these standard files and edit it with your HTML Editor, making note of the screen resolution (you can put a nice heading in it as well) and then save it, like “Race 1 – Champion of the Universe Grand Prix”. In Figure 7 you can see highlighted in pink what parts of the .html file need to be edited.

Open the HTML file in your web browser. It should load the maps (it may ask for cookies or an ActiveX application, select yes). Make sure you remembered to install the Java Runtime Environment, otherwise this could get ugly…

STEP 8 (Optimising for Better Analysis)

You’ve actually finished by this stage, but to help you better analyse the racing here’s a few tips on setting up GPSAR to look nice and clean…

A) Compare Side-by-Side Performance:

Pick on the fastest guy on the course, centre to him by right-clicking your mouse on him. Select FOOTPRINTS on the View Settings panel on the right side. Wind the speed up to around x6 on the top bar and adjust the zoom scale to maximum.

B) Identify Tactics:

If you want to analyse the tactics, tide influences, wind shifts and course differences, adjust the scale to fit the entire race into the screen. Wind the speed up to around x10-15 and select NEIGHBOURHOOD on the View Settings Panel.

If you want, you can get fancy with Photoshop and put the buoys in… But I’ve noticed doing this that buoys actually drift further than you think over a day’s racing!!

That’s it.

Dr. Manfred Curry wrote a famous book in 1928 about yacht racing and the aerodynamics of sails. Thankfully, things have come a long way in terms of boat design since then but nearly everything he wrote about racing tactics are as true today, as they were in 1928. Curry talks a lot about the importance of sailing the ‘next’ tack, rather than the tack you are currently on; thinking ahead and positioning yourself for an advantage on the next tack. To take a line from his book:

“…racing; it is a game of chess of the highest order…It is a game, in which you must reckon out every move beforehand and not only anticipate but also be prepared for the numberless attacks that can or may be made, but with the disadvantage, that you do not have as much time as you may like for your next move…”

This article is focusing on the second tack of a windward leg – which generally speaking should be bringing you to the layline close to the windward mark or to the windward mark on starboard (depending on how you have sailed the course). To get started, a few terms need to be explained and also why this tack should be focused on in a race.

Hopeless Position:

It sounds hopeless. Mainly because it is. Generally speaking, this position refers to anytime you are in someone’s “dirty air”, that is, directly behind them, behind and downwind of them, or behind and upwind of them. Take a look at the photo on the left for a fantastic diagram of the hopeless position. To explain the diagram, Boat II is in the hopeless position. The curved lines (a) refer to the wind. See how it curves almost 15 degrees as it displaces off the sail of the Boat I – that’s why you get punished sailing behind someone in their dirty air. If you are in the zone of (b), you are really in a hopeless position and most likely need to tack out of there as you are sheltered from the wind and likely to be sailing slow and at a poor angle. The line (c) is the bad air displacement coming from Boat I upwind. Notice how even upwind of Boat I, Boat II is still getting dirty air. He needs to be almost five boat-lengths upwind of Boat I to reach the safe leeward position and get out of jail (his options are to follow course 1  or 2)…

Safe Leeward Position:

This is where you want to be. The position of dreams (and of race winners). Have a look at a few more diagrams from Manfred Curry in the gallery below, showing you the safe leeward position. His diagrams are a little vague, but give you the general idea. The safe leeward position refers to the boat who is either in front (spilling dirty air on the boats behind him) or upwind and out of the (c) zone and dirty air of the boat in front – as shown in the above image. The safe leeward position is the white boat in [Diagram A,B,C,D] and the black boat in [Diagram E,F,G] to further explain. This position allows you to control the boats behind you and start to dictate the race – instead of just “sailing” it. It’s what top sailors do all the time.

Close Hauling:

I merely use this term to go along with Manfred Curry’s lingo (in case you have his book and would like to study up). It’s a sailing term and doesn’t really relate to windsurfing in that sense, but just think of it as sheeting in really hard, squeezing with your body and sail trim to pinch as high as you can. You know what I’m talking about…dropping your speed down to 12 knots upwind and really going for a super tight angle. The guys using the uphaul rope technique upwind seem to be able to do this well.

Ok, now we know the terms lets get to work on how you can apply it…

Imagine you come off the startline on starboard with clear air and good speed. Your main competitor is directly behind you, upwind about 2 boatlengths but still in the hopeless position (the black boat in [Diagram C]). You are in the safe leeward position and controlling the race by controlling your main opponent behind you. Two things can happen here: you can close-haul really hard, going slow to out-point him and push him into a very hopeless position (like the black boat in [Diagram B]), forcing him to tack off to get out of your dirty air; or you can go about your race casually and let him force YOU into the hopeless position (white boat in [Diagram E]).

Attacking From The Hopeless Position:

Let’s imagine you are the black boat in [Diagram C]. Currently you are in the hopeless position on starboard coming out of the startline. If you are a comparable speed to the boat in front and you are sailing to the favoured side of the course it’s important not to give up and tack away early but focus on the NEXT tack on port toward the layline. If you can hold your angle (you will likely be going slower) and stay within a few boatlengths of this leading sailor then you can tack at the same time as him, pump aggressively to get upwind a few metres (every metre is important here) and instantly put HIM into the hopeless position. Does this make sense?

A quick tack and initiation of planing at the moment the leading boat tacks is important here. Since you are a few boatlengths behind but upwind of this leading boat it is only natural that if you tack at the same time then you are now in front but downwind of him. With an intense focus on making sure the first few pumps out of the tack are heading you aggressively to windward you can begin to spill dirty air on him and push him into the hopeless position, before he has time to sail over the top of you. If you have sailed all the way to the starboard layline than he will really be in trouble because he can not tack away from your dirty air (he is already on the layline). Now YOU control the race.

That is a quick and simple explanation of how to attack from the hopeless position on the second tack of a race. Lets imagine this another way. It’s the second lap of a windward return course and you are currently rounding the bottom mark in 2nd, only 20m behind the leading boat. If you can close-haul super hard and keep upwind of him (still in the hopeless position, unless you are more than 10% faster/higher than this sailor, in which case you can just sail right over the top of him) you should focus on the SECOND tack of this lap, rather than the awful position you are currently in. When sailing to the layline (to tack on to starboard to run to the mark) you can tack fractionally earlier than him, and squeeze to put him in the same position you were in only a moment ago. He can’t tack away because you are already on the layline and if you are a similar speed he most likely can’t overrun you into the mark if you’ve put him into the hopeless position. Once around the mark ahead of him you are well on your way to winning that race … This idea only works if you are withing 5 boatlengths of the leading boat. Any further back and he will have time to run over the top of you from his higher position after the tack.

Defending From the Safe Leeward Position:

These last two examples I have talked about coming from the hopeless position into the safe leeward position by means of a faster and more efficient tack than the leading boat (focusing on thinking about the next leg, rather than the leg you are on). Thats all good and well but it is certainly easier to defend from the safe leeward position than attack from the hopeless position.

Positioning on the first upwind leg of a race is one of the most important aspects of your racing (once you have got your gear tuned and starts perfected). You should always be aiming to get into the safe leeward position to the boats around you, especially if one of these boats is your main competitor. It allows you to control the race, rather than just sail it. Once in the safe leeward position, you can then wipe off your speed and point super high. The boat behind you won’t be able to sail over you if you are comparable in speed and will be forced to tack away or sail under you at a terrible angle. That being said, never be complacent in the safe leeward position as a good sailor will be always thinking of the NEXT tack and getting ready to put YOU into the hopeless position if you are sloppy in your tack.

The key to defending from the safe leeward position on starboard tack out of the start is remembering these points:

• You must NOT sail over the layline to tack on to port. Doing this will allow the hopeless sailor to tack earlier and put you in the hopeless position on the second leg.
• Depending on the course, it is usually best to tack earlier than the starboard layline if your main competitor is in the hopeless position (even if this means you have to dip below him after the tack, when he is still on starboard). That way you can take advantage of any lifts into the mark on port and also helps you to avoid sailing OVER the layline.
• If you are close to the layline, tack when your competitor tacks. Keep him in the hopeless position and continue to spill dirty air. If he goes too early, let him go, you are in clean air and heading to the favoured side – right?

Hopefully this gets everyone thinking about their tactics more than just thinking “oh, I’m in this guy’s dirty wind, I may as well give up on this race!”

A great way to analyse your tactics is by using a GPS unit to record the tracks of your race. Having the other competitor’s tracks is also a good way to analyse and criticise (improve) your tactics… but that’s a whole other article…

• Boat-end starboard start
• 1/4 way, middle and 3/4 down the line starboard start
• Pin-end starboard start
• Pin-end port start
• Boat-end port start

That last one might shock some people, but in actual fact its a very important start tactic to have in your toolbox as Devon Boulon proved, taking the first race of the 2005 Formula Worlds in Australia with this type of start. Now that you know there are different places to start on a line, lets look at why you would want to start in these places:

• Starboard; boat-end: courses with the top-mark to the right side of the course, and when the line is favoured at the boat-end.
• Starboard; pin-end: courses with the top-mark to the centre of the course or the left side, when the line is favoured at the pin end (usually, this means more sailors will try starting on port) or if there is light winds and you want to use the full length of the line to get clear from other sailors.
• Starboard; 1/4; middle; 3/4: when the top-mark is to the centre of the course and in larger fleets this can be a more effective place to start as you can cover sailors on all sides of the course as well as use the “transit-sag” to your advantage.
• Port; pin-end: courses with the top mark to the right side of the course, in larger fleets to get clear air, when the line is favoured at the pin end, if the wind shifts to the left in the pre-start.
• Port; boat-end: courses with the top mark markedly to the right side of the course, in light winds when the line is pin-end favoured you can get clear air and one less tack by starting at the boat (this is the most difficult start to do effectively).

Now that we have a few different start options in your mind, lets look at some other important factors to think about before starting. One of the most important factors is knowing the speed/angle of your opponents. The secret to a clean start is to not have better sailors in close proximity to you who can take your clean air and/or force you to tack early. If you sail in a regular fleet you should have a good idea of who the better sailors are and know their strongpoints. You might beat them around the course, but if someone can point higher than you off the startline, its important not to start directly behind them on the line. If you are sailing in an unknown international fleet, do some line-ups with some sailors before the pre-starts to get an idea of who the WORST sailors are – they are your targets on the startline.

The next factor is transits. Before the start, sit at the boat-end and line yourself up with the pin-end mark, looking through the flagpole on the boat. Imagine a piece of string between each end of the line and then extend this mental-string all the way to a clearly visible landmark on the horizon (not a moving cloud!). This is your transit line and will help you judge where you are on the line when you are starting. Now that you have that landmark, drift upwind/downwind a few metres and see where that landmark is in relation to your mental piece of string to get an idea of how far you are away from the line, this is important if you need to sail underneath (or over) someone on the line and want to get back to the startline level as you sail down it. Sometimes you will sail in the ocean on a cloudless day and there is nothing to line you up with on the horizon. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to wing-it in that case…

The transit is VERY important because in large fleets there is always a “transit-sag” which is that the sailors in the middle of the line will drop 3-4m below the level of the line because they think they are over. This is what makes a middle of the line, starboard start quite famous as you can sail over the top of these sailors by 3-4m, taking their clean air and giving you a gap to accelerate into.

Make sure you are at the boat when the first time signal goes so you can sync your startwatch and prepare your starting tactic. Whether you sail under the ISAF 5-4-1 system or another combination of starttimes you will never get a good start if you don’t have a perfectly sync’d watch. I always like to have a pre-defined starting position in my mind but its important to watch out for changes in the wind and be in a position where you can change your start tactic quickly. If you are sailing on a course with other divisions who have already started, watch the leaders go around the top mark and see what side of the course appears to be favoured (that’s what end of the line you should start on). Look at visual indicators such as flags on boats, flags on the beach or rising smoke, cloud movements to see if the wind has changed direction during the pre-start. A 20 degree shift in breeze to the left noticed early could mean you have enough time to blast to the pin-end, tack onto port, clear the fleet and with one less tack go around the top mark in a clear first position!

Now, the start itself comes down to practice. The above information can serve as a guide and basic theory, but the start is really a test of mental ability and not being afraid of sailing in close proximity to other sailors.

Worried about getting OCS (on the ‘course-side’ of the line, before the start)?? A good international event will have race-directors who know how to apply the ISAF starting procedures. One of the ‘ideas’ that is used with pinging people for OCS is the mentality that the race-directors won’t get everyone for OCS in each race, but sooner or later, sometime in the event they will get that person who was OCS in the first race that they missed. To make sense of that, an example is on the international racing circuit, with +100 boards on the startline they will usually do general recalls if there is a large number of sailors OCS. They’ll be able to pick 4-5 sailors, who will be disqualified instantly (if its run under Black Flag) but there may have been a lot more that they missed, so they re-run the start (still under Black Flag) and again if there are a lot of people over, they will general recall again and ping more people for OCS. I have been to events where we have had up to 7-8 general recalls in a row – and about 25 sailors in total have been disqualified!

Formula Windsurfing boards travel at roughly 8m/second down a startline in medium winds so as you can imagine, at that speed it is incredibly difficult for people on the startboat to pick you as being OCS if you are over a few tenths of a second before the start. For that reason it’s good to make sure you start heading to windward at the 1-second to go mark on your watch (making sure its sync’d perfectly!). Despite what you might think, Formula Windsurfing boards aren’t very responsive to go from a broad reach to a tight upwind angle as you do when you are running the startline on starboard. It might take you as long as 3 seconds to get up to a good upwind angle out of the start and as long as 8 seconds to reach full speed. Don’t waste those precious few seconds as getting off the line right on 0 instead of +1 could be the difference between getting your nose in front of the guy behind you and giving him dirty air instead of him doing it to you!

There’s a few ideas to get you started on your starts. They are without a doubt, the most important aspect of your racing and a shiny new fin won’t help you beat the other sailors if you are simply starting terribly. There’s more to starts than just the points I’ve made (especially on the psychological and emotional side) but hopefully this will help get you started.

Let’s discuss some more ideas and make this article even more useful! See below to post a comment.