Getting better?

Do a 5,4,1-min start then sail 10 meters turn around and start again.

After that 100 tacks and 100 gybes before you get to the other side of the lake. hurts like hell, but damn we were quick after!

 

Thanks, i'm aware of Jon, problem is i'm Sydney based. Watched him winning a fair few races in the radial fleet which started one ahead of us at Sail Sydney whilst he was here though

 

Thanks for your answer, this is just the sort of reply i'd hoped i'd get. I think that racing for me has been all about getting comfortable with your racing surroundings. In a nutshell my conclusion is that i haven't done enough nationals in big fleets (maybe 10 in 20 years) so i feel comfortable in any club race, at 20 boat opens but not in 50 (or in solos case 100) boat starts. I frequently get beaten by sailors I beat every week in club racing and opens at nationals level

 

So by reinforcing your technique so it doesn't fall apart during big races gives better results in the long run i guess? 

By that do you mean taking more tactical risks in smaller fleets knowing you can recover most places on skill alone whereas in larger fleets accept that some races will be great some ok and some poor and that taking risks that pay off may get the odd good place but overall it's harder to recover?

We used to have sailors in the solos who would hit hard right banging the corners in EVERY race the whole week and end up with a win and 8 60ths!

Also there is a website called sailjuice.com which is basically there to help people like yourself get better. It is like 5 quid a month or something but is rammed with useful info and articles. The guy that runs it is great and a quick email to him telling him what you want to achieve would be a good idea as i am sure he will point you towards the best articles. 

I found the biggest jump in my starting was to think about time and distance. What i do before races on the way out to the start is work out in those conditions how fast my boat accelerates and moves. I will stop next to a boy and accelerate and check the second hand of a stop watch for 1 boat length, 2 BL, 3 BL etc. the more you do this the easier it gets and you will get to a point where a timed run pre race lasts all of 5 seconds. 

Then when you are lining up think of the distance in time. I find saying it helps. so instead of 2 boat lengths away, you are 6 seconds from stand-still or 3 seconds from half pace etc. that way you know you need to be 'pulling the trigger' at 6 seconds to go. 

I will sort a transit and know roughly where i want to start and then get other transits for say 1bl, 2, bl etc behind the line. 

Obviously this is sailing and it is NEVER that straight forward, but if you start doing this and knowing where your boat can be in X seconds, your starts will improve massively! I think thats the basics of starting, hitting the line at go, get the basics and build on them with holding position, line bias, first beat plans etc!

Sorry if that is confusing, it is a lot of dribble