Steady Eddy prevails - Sailing a consistent series

"I'm a high percentage sailor", "we didn't take big risks", "always went with the fleet". These are the typical after regatta comments of regatta winning teams who i have interviewed or talked to over the years in a wide variety of classes.

Racing these days is becoming more and more competitive across the board. Long gone are the days where pure talent was the only winning ingredient ! Teams these days have new sails, well prepared boats and are focused and practiced. To win you have to have it all. Rare is it to see a team win more than one race in a series in a competitive fleet. Very often the winning team doesn't win a race - they just stay in the top 5 every race and let the fleet make it's mistakes. You don't have to be a math major to know that 5 3rd places will beat 3 1st's a 12th and a 5th ! Occasionally a team is simply faster and blazes with all bullets - but that is becoming more and more of a rarity in most classes.

For the teams that don't win there is the inevitable curse of the "one bad race syndrome" - a score that otherwise blemishes an excellent scoresheet and drops then to 2nd or 3rd in the regatta, sometimes deeper.

First off - eliminating the mistakes that ultimately make the difference :

- Over early - don't be over and if you are - restart immediately !

- Fouling - Tacking too close or taking room at a leeward mark are common ones. Do a clean rounding and duck rather than lee bow which can risk a foul if it is close.

- Splitting with the fleet - this is risky as you stand to lose the world if you are wrong. Keep the leverage down and go with the bulk of the fleet. A corner banger may win the race but may also get 30th in the next for doing the same thing.

- Avoid early laylines, you can misjudge them and lose big on a subsequent windshift.

- Go for a high percentage start - avoid the mob scene at the favored end. Go for clear air and speed. Avoid jams that result in terrible starts and protests.

- If you foul - do your 720 and put it behind you.

- As the series progresses your risk / reward situation will become more apparent.

- When in a good position - top 5 or so around the weather mark - you want to cooperate with the other lead boats so that you pull away from the pack and solidify your position before going on the offensive when it is obvious you will not jeopardize your 5th place in the race. Of course there are times later in the series when your team needs a boost to get back in it ! This calls for a higher risk race in an effort to win the race and get back in the series. Our goal is typically not to have to resort to this !

Usually a bad race in a series contains one or more of these mistakes that we mentioned. If you can avoid these and stick to high percentage tactics then you will be pleasantly surprised at the end of the series how well you did!

Best of luck and good sailing.