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Recovery after a Bad Start
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Telltale View Drop Down
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Posts: 169 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Telltale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Recovery after a Bad Start
    Posted: 28 May 13 at 9:49am
I'd appreciate some advice. I've been getting better results at club level recently, mainly because I’ve been more positive at starting. Boat speed has been good and sailing the beats has been fast. BUT why am I not as fast if I get a mid fleet start. I know clean air is key but the boat speed is the same, beats are the same. Shouldn’t I still make progress towards the front. How do I recover from a bad start?
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SoggyBadger View Drop Down
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Posts: 552 		Post Options Post Options   Quote SoggyBadger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 10:01am
I can only think of two ways:

a) just keep plugging away in the hope that your competitors will make mistakes

b) go out on flyer in the hope of getting a jammy shift

Tactic a will often bring dividends, especially if it's blowing. Tactic b will probably work once in a while but most of the time it will put you further back.

I suppose you could also try missing out a few marks and hope no-one notices Evil Smile
Best wishes from deep in the woods

SB

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Alistair426 View Drop Down
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Posts: 201 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Alistair426 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 10:24am
You've hit the nail on the head - Clear air is key. If you are bogged-down in the pack you have got to have exceptional boatspeed to just sail through all the bad air.

There are two realistic options - get your bow down and go fast'n'low to break free of the dirty air, albeit to leeward, so that you can start to climb back to windward one you are travelling fast again in clear air OR tack off, take some sterns and get out to windward.

Do something, don't just sit there. The good guys/girls who recover from indifferent starts tend not to do so simply by getting lucky, they make their own luck.
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GarethT View Drop Down
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Posts: 714 		Post Options Post Options   Quote GarethT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 10:54am
Start your recovery before the gun goes. 

You will normally know 10-20 seconds before the start if you're not on the front row. Tack off then and start heading for clear air. You'll still not have a great start, but you'll find a lane much sooner.
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fab100 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1005 		Post Options Post Options   Quote fab100 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 11:05am
Originally posted by Telltale

I'd appreciate some advice. I've been getting better results at club level recently, mainly because I’ve been more positive at starting. Boat speed has been good and sailing the beats has been fast. BUT why am I not as fast if I get a mid fleet start. I know clean air is key but the boat speed is the same, beats are the same. Shouldn’t I still make progress towards the front. How do I recover from a bad start?

Clean air is key as you say. But the leaders have the luxury of sailing their own race whereas back in the bunch, you are battling, among others, 
  • people who get the shift right and are where you want to be
  • those who like to 'race' just the nearest boat (you) rather than the fleet
  • bods who try extra hard when they are close to someone who usually beats them
  • muppets who go out of their way to sit on you. 
You also find you often have to sail further downwind, doing the great circle route as everyone both tries to keep their wind clear and roll over the boat ahead. Then there are those that sit on your windward shoulder up the beat, preventing you from tacking but who are incapable of spotting a header.

It is also worth bearing in mind that some of the people in mid-fleet could also stay near the front if they had a dream start and first beat.

There is the almost universal truth that many club racers sail really quite well for about 20 minutes but then fade badly.

So:
  • Keep your wind clear but be on the favoured shift
  • Sail your own race
  • Keep it flat flat flat
  • Be patient, don't ever get despondent or take fliers
  • relentlessly do the right thing, always
  • Manage your priorities, including changing gears and keeping the sail set-up right
  • Talk to them (politely) - it's amazing how complaint people can be if you confidently tell them its a header and time they went (but you do need to tack too or they won't listen next time)
  • If you have someone who seems to always tack on you, have a gentle chat after the race, pointing out that there is a time and a place for everything (the last beat) but if they keep doing that to you on the first lap you may have to return the compliment next time. They need to know it does no one any favours. Personally I will sail an extra boat length most times to avoid tacking on someones wind. And if a huge shift pushes me into a tack on someone I apologise at the time. What goes around comes around.
  • If you are on starboard and lifted, tell the crossing port takers to keep going and duck their transom
  • If there is the chance on a reach to break low and sail the rhumb line without getting rolled, take it. Work down in the gusts and up in the lulls. The muppets will plane high in the gusts and suffer later. You can take loads of boats like this sometimes
  • At the inevitable mark melees, communicate clearly, confidently, in good time and of course fairly. In the long term, asking if you are overlapped is often more efficacious than screaming and shouting
  • Talking of which, deliver real intensity in your sailing at the pinch points - like approaching the 3-lengths  circle, mark roundings, an important cross, kite hoists and drops, tide gates. Mid-fleet, rounding directly behind someone, you can usually gain their place with a spot-on rounding 
  • Remember your Inner Game of Tennis theory - let your muscle memory steer the boat etc, not have Mr Interfering-Brain have you pinching, over-sheeting, trying too hard or whatever. Keep him busy looking out for shifts, gusts, the tide etc
  • Remember there are shifts on runs too - analyse which is the lifted tack approaching the WW mark and then consider which gybe you should be on on the run accordingly (if you sail runs by the lee (eg Lasers), it's not what you might think at first
  • Keep pushing until the line is crossed. You can play some psychic games in the final stretch - pinch a bit whenever the helm ahead looks over his shoulder. If they are covering, tack when they are distracted. Plan the approach to the line so that at the last cross you are on starboard (so on their right) and make sure you finish at the correct end of the line
Great book for Club Sailors here
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Ruscoe View Drop Down
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Posts: 1514 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Ruscoe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 11:22am

Fab100, what a great post!!  It’s all common sense, which is something I like to think I have in abundance.  However seem to leave on the beach when I sail!

 

The key Salient point for me is the truth that many club sailors sail well for the first 20 minutes or so.  I have found this in the past.  I have been well on the pace as fast as the very top boys, however I faded away as the race/Day went on.  So I have concentrated on getting fitter, hard work on my bike and at the gym.  Making sure I am hydrated etc.  This hard work off the water has seen me improve and able to grind out results.  Working the boat harder and longer and staying mentally alert for the shifts/tactics.  Don't get me wrong I am now world beater and its true what they say about time in the boat.  However for me it’s been time out of the boat and actually looking at my diet, lifestyle choices and exercise.  So actually less time in the boat has seen vast improvements for me.

 

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2547 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1151 		Post Options Post Options   Quote 2547 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 11:37am
What Fab said ...

Note: don't hope for the best ... try and grind your way forwards. Taking a flyer sometimes works but usually if the fleet is going the other side that is for a reason ...
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Alistair426 View Drop Down
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Posts: 201 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Alistair426 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 12:00pm
Ruscoe said, 'So actually less time in the boat has seen vast improvements for me.' 

What is it about dinghy sailing that means so many (and I include myself at times) just go racing and make the same mistakes week-after-week without trying to iron them out through practice? Good golfers - even at club-level - spend hours practicing...they don't turn up at the last minute and stagger to the first tee still tying their shoes up.

Gareth T said that you will know in the last 10-20 secs before the start if it's going Pete Tong. It may have started to fall apart 30mins ago when you were late launching...one last cup of tea!

Oh yes...back on topic. I entirely agree with His Fabness's post and would add, 'get on the water earlier enough to get your race-head on'.
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Telltale View Drop Down
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Posts: 169 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Telltale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 12:02pm
Now that is exactly the kind of post I was hoping for. Brilliant advice, very true that concentration wains at 20 mins, I'll try that Wednesday night, trouble is knowing my luck I'll get a blinding start...... oh hang on thats what I want isn't it !! 
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tick View Drop Down
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Posts: 223 		Post Options Post Options   Quote tick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 13 at 12:02pm
This Sunday we had our annual 'sprint' day where we sail 12 one lap races. The courses consist of 3 or 4 short legs and take about 5 mins. If you make a bad start then it is very difficult to do anything about it but you can try! 2x Gp's, 4 Lightnings, 3x Supernovas, Phantom, 2x Byte c2,s, Topper, RS Q'ba. The 'boy' in his Lightning finished first in all races and won on py for ten of them. It goes to prove that recovery from a bad start even in a faster boat is all but impossible on a short course.

I do not know how many clubs have tried this racing format but it makes for a fun day and as the day wore on everybody's starting showed a marked improvement.
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