Are you up to speed on WINDWARD OFFSET and LEEWARD GATE marks?
Just like at last Sunday’s Fall Schock Regatta, a windward offset mark, and leeward gate marks will be used for the Fleet 1 Championship Regatta. If you are not familiar with these marks, come to tonight’s ASK THE JUDGES event at NHYC at 7:00. Don’t go “in the dark” to the Championship! We hope to see you there!
I have a tactical question rather than a rules question: How do you cover boats behind you at a gate when you don’t know which mark they’ll round? I lost 5 boats on the last beat in race 2 last Sunday because I couldn’t figure out how to cover them.
after the judges discusssion more confused on gates than ever, and wondering if they are a good idea, or just a great idea for more protests.
The off set as used in the East/West was great. I did not miss the leeward gates
, we did not seem to need them. And we had 16 boats, not a small fleet.
First of all, I’m by no means an expert, but OK, I’ll bite.
re: How to cover at the leeward mark.
If there’s no gate, the conventional method is to spend a little less than half your lead on one tack, and then tack back.
This puts you back in the center of the of the course, directly to windward of the leeward mark as the boat behind you rounds, in position to cover either side of the course.
For a leeward gate, I’d modify this somewhat, say, tack after one third of your lead, to put you in a similar position between the two gate marks.
That said, I wouldn’t blindly try to cover everyone, as you’d waste your lead ping ponging back and forth between both sides of the course.
You obviously did something right to get a lead in the first place, so trust yourself, and don’t forget about strategy.
Pick a side, and try to win that side. Worse case, you’ll win that side, and beat at least half the fleet, and hopefully, some of the other boats that went the other way.
Also, unless you’re only worried about covering one boat, don’t blindly tack everytime the boat behind you tacks. Why are they tacking? Was there a wind shift, a difference is pressure or current,
First of all, I’m by no means an expert, but OK, I’ll bite.
re: How to cover at the leeward mark.
If there’s no gate, the conventional method is to spend a little less than half your lead on one tack, and then tack back.
This puts you back in the center of the of the course, directly to windward of the leeward mark as the boat behind you rounds, in position to cover either side of the course.
For a leeward gate, I’d modify this somewhat, say, tack after one third of your lead, to put you in a similar position between the two gate marks.
That said, I wouldn’t blindly try to cover everyone, as you’d waste your lead ping ponging back and forth between both sides of the course.
You obviously did something right to get a lead in the first place, so trust yourself, and don’t forget about strategy.
Pick a side, and try to win that side. Worse case, you’ll win that side, and beat at least half the fleet, and hopefully, some of the other boats that went the other way.
Also, unless it’s late in the regatta and you’re only worried about covering one boat, don’t blindly tack everytime the boat behind you tacks. Why are they tacking? Was there a wind shift, a difference is pressure or current, etc.
Hope that helps,
Ross