Symmetrical Spinnakers

Definition of non-tactical: does not employ identical tactics to the class I sail in.

The point of class racing is to get around the course faster than every body else.

To do this you need to maximise VMG.

Boatspeed gets you going quickly in a direction.

Tactics get you going in the right direction.

You won't win in any class unless you get both right (through luck or judgement ).

I think the fascinating thing is that everyone is so keen to say that their class is the most tactical.

Why?

Tactics are just ONE part of sailing, yet it's the one part of sailing that everyone clamours to claim to be the best in. Very strange.

You don't see Enterprise sailors saying that they are the best in the art of keeping a twitchy tippy boat like a skiff with the mast pointing up and the centreboard pointing down.

You don't see Dragon sailors demanding that they are the fittest.

You don't see windsurfers saying that they are the best at gybing spinnakers.

You don't see Laser sailors saying that they are the best at extracting the last knot when you're doing over 20 knots.

But everyone seems to want to say that their class is THE most tactical. It certainly seems rubbish to me. Every boat demands different things. It's just no use being the world's best tactician if you're sailing a Canoe in 20 knots if you can't keep the thing upright. It's no use being the world's best boathandler in a Flying 15 in 5 knots. Some classes stress speed or boathandling, some stress tactics.

I race one class against a multiple national champ in a hot dinghy classs. He's a great tactician on confined waters. I kick his butt almost every time there's a good breeze even in confined water in oscillating shifts, and I'm not a great tactician, especially in those conditions. Why? Because in this class it's hard to stay dry and upright, and he goes the right way and then goes slow or falls over. No matter his good tactics are, he gets creamed when he falls over and even if he doesn't you can just go the same way and burn him off with sheer pace.....so tactical skill is not what counts.  I spend less time worrying about windshifts than I would if I was sailing a Laser or Flying 15 or Tasar, more time worrying about staying up and going fast, and beat him (unless it's light, when I'm dumb AND slow).

There's an example of a class where tactics are LESS important than in other classes because having 50% better tactics will leave you well behind a guy with 10% better handling and speed. It's still a great class because it has many other attributes.

If we were all in Lasers, I'd have to worry more about tactics and less about staying up (because none of us will fall over much) and less about speed (because there's not much difference between fast and slow).

I'm sure that in the classes I sail, the slow boats are more tactical, the fast boats are more about extracting speed. To me, that doesn't make the slow boats any better because getting sort of OK at tactics isn't all that hard. Learning how to extract the last bit of speed in high performance boats, now that's an arcane ability I wish I had and I'm jealous of it.

I will now try an experiment.......

"I have sailed some classes/disciplines where tactics are not important, and some classes where tactics are less important than in many classes".

Sits.....watches.....listens......waits.

Phew, the world DIDN'T end.

'Scuse the rave.


Edited by CT249

Originally posted by CT249 I think the fascinating thing is that everyone is so keen to say that their class is the most tactical.

Who's saying that?

I think you just repeated me above ...

Just a quick question to Rick & CT249 - since when did tactics come down to simply tacking on a header?

Chris - thankyou for proving my original point.

Strategy = the big picture plan of how to sail the race.

Tactics = the small details that you employ to execute your plan no matter what boat you sail in.

In boat A above, the strategy is sail the shortest distance.  Your tactics are therefore to tack on the shifts and play the tide and the fleet.

In boat B your strategy is to eliminate boat handling errors.  Your tactics are therefore to minimise changes in direction, keep clear of other boats etc.  So maybe start on port, hit the right hand corner etc.

Do you have to pay the same attention to windshifts in each boat? Yes because in boat A you need to tack and in boat B you need to compensate for the change in direction to keep moving and not capsize.

Do you pay attention to tide in Boat A - yes, boat b no.

Do you pay attention to gusts in Boat A - not really, boat b yes. 

Do you pay attention to sail trim and tuning in Boat A - no, boat B - yes.

In my view each of these is a tactical decision - do I take time to adjust something about what I am doing in response to a change in the race situation.

In both cases you are making tactical decisions to ensure that you execute the strategy that will get you to end of the race first. BUT the tactics you employ and the frame of reference are different.