Club Starts

A lot of information can be found about how to start a race.  An issue I was struggling with when I started racing was that most of this information isn't applicable to club racing -- it's more focused on competitive level racing where the start lines are packed with boats, all of which know exactly what they're doing.

At the club level (especially the "beer league") the racing tends to be more laid back.  You have folks who just learned (or are learning) to sail, folks who have been doing it for 30 years and have 30 years of bad habits, folks who are just there to have a bit of fun before sharing a pint, folks out with their kids on the water, and occasional competitive jerk screwing it up for everyone else.  The expected behaviour and etiquette in these situations is different from a "real" regatta, and the start strategies usually employed are a bit different.

The goal is the same -- you want to be across the start line (usually between some marker, like a bouy, and a flag on the committee boat) with as much speed as possible, right at the start sound.  But, in my experience, the way people achieve this is a little bit processional than most of the youtube videos you'll see.  You won't see people luffing their opponents or defending their position as much as in a competitive regatta.  Heck, lots of people don't even form a plan to pick a favoured end of the start line!

During the start sequence, most boats will broad reach (it's fun!) on port tack and see how far away from the commitee boat the get after 30 seconds.  The theory is that if you start on a starboard tack from this point 30 seconds or so before the gun, you should be at the committee end of start line with full speed right at the start of the race.  45 seconds or so before the start, a line of boats will form around this point, with each boat judging the ideal place to be.  The line of boats starts heading toward the line.

About 10-20 seconds before the start, the first of the boats pass the committee boat.  Each boat must judge if it's going too-fast, too-soon and may potentially have to luff to avoid overshooting the port-side mark.

As the gun goes, the boats head up to a close-hauled course and the race is underway!

In the diagram above, the blue boat is "too-fast, too-soon" and is approaching the port mark 10 seconds before the start.  It has to head up, and almost stop to avoid going past.  As a result, it's boat speed is very slow as it crosses the start.

The green and yellow boats do a good job.  They're probably taking the lead.

The red boat has left it too late.  They'll pass the start line with good speed, but probably 5 or 10 seconds behind green and yellow.