Start Line Transits
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12516
Printed Date: 07 Jul 25 at 12:51pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Start Line Transits
Posted By: Oinks
Subject: Start Line Transits
Date Posted: 11 Sep 16 at 4:07pm
| Just been reading about the value of getting a transit for making a fixed-line start. I've read the same sort of thing in lots of other racing tomes. But in all my years of sailing (quite a lot), perhaps ok in small fleets but rubbish in big fleets unless you are at one end of the line or the other (otherwise every other boat obscures your transit). My starting has never been a particular problem for me but I'm not certain this regularly proffered advice is actually especially helpful. |
Replies:
Posted By: RS400atC
Date Posted: 11 Sep 16 at 5:05pm
|
It can be very helpful. On our fixed line there is a transit which as you say tends to get obscured. But if you look up at the landscape behind then the second window of the brick house and the streetlamp put you about 10ft one side of the line. It's not the answer to everything but it's a useful clue. I also look for transits on the far side of the ODM. It's not just approaching the line, it's about those 'was I over?' and 'have I got back yet?' questions. |
Posted By: Oinks
Date Posted: 11 Sep 16 at 6:05pm
Some good points RS400atC(for I am also an RS400!)(and I'll try and remember this if ever I race at Portchester!). But you only need one starter (maybe even OCS) to obscure the view. And I'm not even sure with my eyesight I could spot the second window brick 
|
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 11 Sep 16 at 6:24pm
|
I too have never managed to spot transits in the heat of the moment. Glad I'm not alone! ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 12 Sep 16 at 12:31pm
|
I'd never contemplate lining up for a start without one, especially in big fleets (100+) if the pin end is closed out there is virtually always line sag in the middle and if the committee boat is big enough and you've bothered to ask what the OOD is using at his end there's always a big hole most have missed.
The only time it's not worth bothering is when the line is so biased you have to beat up to the right end, then there isn't much point unless it's a dip the line scenario and your trying to scare off port enders, Got to say it's a bit trickier in these bloody boat things with so much out front that they can see, it's been my experience most RO's on windyplank courses go for the rig, not the nose of the board (fortunately), which is easier to judge. I must admit though since my conversion (almost) to this sat down lark I am often amazed at how little importance many do not attach to the start, where I come from, the start is everything and in One Design I'd say 60% important. yet you see lots of folk content to go off the line 2nd or 3rd rank and even at Olympic level is it something I'm missing is it no longer taught as important or is it because the fleets are so small and it doesn't matter as much, genuine question, I'm not much of a dinghy boat handler/sailor but when I do do well it's usually because I've creamed the start. ------------- https://www.corekite.co.uk/snow-accessories-11-c.asp" rel="nofollow - Snow Equipment Deals https://www.corekite.co.uk" rel="nofollow - New Core Kite website |
Posted By: Chris 249
Date Posted: 12 Sep 16 at 1:11pm
|
Starts are probably more important in dinghies than in non-pumping boards. Transits are much easier to get and more useful in boards and singlehanders than in crewed dinghies, IMHO. If you've been training with transits recently they are fantastic in singlehanders and boards......unless you get one of those regattas where the pin and startboat are moving around a lot, or there's no decent transits. At one time in Lasers I worked really hard on transits and found them fantastic - until the next championship was against a featureless shoreline and a tide-affected start line and I was too stupid to just revert to sticking my nose up with another fast boat and relying on having trained hard on acceleration and pre-start boathandling. In the crewed dinghy, the last time we had a reasonably big fleet (40+) we reverted to just sticking our nose up with the other fairly fast boats, because transits are so hard when there's a jib in the way. It seems reliably good, if not brilliant, and our bests were 2nd and 4th from good starts against the class' two last world champs. We do much less training on the crewed boats and I get the feeling that for transits, practise is surprisingly critical on such types. It's a useful weapon, sometimes devastating, but just working really hard on acceleration and close-quarters handling and then sticking your nose in with the other front-runners can perhaps be more reliable in big fleets and sloops.
------------- sailcraftblog.wordpress.com The history and design of the racing dinghy. |
Posted By: transient
Date Posted: 12 Sep 16 at 1:14pm
|
It's easy to lose sight of the ends on any start line. What have you been using as a start line up till now? |
Posted By: Oinks
Date Posted: 12 Sep 16 at 6:32pm
| I have had the most success using something similar to the "sticking your nose in with the fast boats" technique that Chris249 refers to, and I agree, having a jib in the way makes it much harder to use a transit. |
Posted By: NickM
Date Posted: 12 Sep 16 at 9:43pm
| I always try to get the transits if I can even if, in the heat of the moment, I ignore them. There are times when they are really useful, e.g. on a heavily port biased line and/or with adverse tide and the best approach is to keep to windward of the line and duck below it at the last moment. |