How to Sail on the Lifted Tack

Now it’s time for the big thing about sailing; the race. Sailboat racing is like chess, but a lot more physical, cooler, and strategic. But before you race, you have to understand how a race is set-up. First, sailboat races are usually grouped into series known as regattas. A race usually consists of a start, rounding of one or two windward marks, then a series of other marks.

The starting line consists of the committee boat and the pin. The committee boat is the boat that the race committee is on. It is usually at the starboard end of the line and is marked with a blue-flag with “RC” written in yellow. The pin is at the port end of the line and is usually a buoy and a flag. The start of the race is different for each regatta, but is usually a 3-minute start. But what does that mean? Do the boats just wait at the line for three minutes and then go? No. Think about it; if all of the boats are lined up, then leeward boats are going to be moving slower than windward boats. A leeward boat is one that is being blocked from the wind by a windward boat. A 3-min start fixes this problem, but also makes the race a lot more complicated. A 3-min start means that once the 3-min whistles are blown, then there is three minutes to the start. Usually, less advanced sailors sail back and forth until the race starts. At the start you can start late, not lined up, or anything. They won’t say that a boat “got a head-start” because it is your fault for not being at the line in time. That may be confusing, but the only way to practice starts is to do them. If you cross the line early, usually you have to dip back under the line. A 3-min start consists of the following whistle-sequence:

3 min- Three long whistles

2 min- Two long whistles

1.5 min- One long whistle, three short whistles

1 min- One long whistle

30 sec- Three short whistles

20 sec- Two short whistles

10 sec- One short whistle

5-4-3-2-1- Separate short whistles for each

0- One long whistle

Now that you’ve started, you have to go and round all the marks. Most races use courses called “windward leewards” or “Triangles”. I will be describing a triangle. On your first upwind leg, you will tack back and forth until you reach the mark. Then you fall off (head farther downwind) until you are headed to the jibe-mark. When you reach this, you will jibe and head toward the leeward mark. When you reach that, you will head-up and tack back and forth until you reach the starting line (which is the finish line). That was probably very confusing, so I made a drawing in paint of the different courses. Also, you could go to http://www.recgov.org/sail/racing/. It is most important that you study these courses and have them memorized before a regatta because technically the Race Committee can’t tell you how a course is run once you are out on the water. When you get to the regatta, there will probably be something called the “Race Instructions”. It will have the courses on it (probably). So study them.