The best way to start a comeback is by finding a lane of clear air going up the first beat. This is a very valuable resource when there are lots of boats ahead of you. The leaders can go almost anywhere they want, but if you’re stuck in the middle or back of the pack, you have to work much harder at getting and keeping clear air. There seem to be certain places on the course where this is easier than others.
A. Avoid the middle. It’s usually difficult to catch up by playing the middle of the course, especially in lighter air. The wind and water are very disturbed here and you often end up ping-ponging back and forth to avoid bad air from boats that tack on you. One time when this might work is on a windy day with oscillating shifts; otherwise try to pick the right or left before you get too far up the beat.
B. Avoid the corners and laylines. While it’s smart to avoid the middle, you also don’t want to sail too far toward the edges of the course. If you get to a layline early, other boats will tack on you and then you’ll have a choice of two bad options: sail slow in bad air or clear your air and overstand the mark. One time you should go to a corner is when that side is very favored and the gains you make are greater than the potential cost of overstanding or sailing in bad air.
C. Look for a lane before the layline. If you want to play one side of the course but avoid the layline, you have to look for a way to cross back toward the mark with clear air. Often there is a lane of clear air roughly 10 lengths to leeward of the layline. When you’re sailing in this area, boats that cross ahead of you will most likely keep going to the layline. And boats that tack on the layline are probably too far away to give you bad air.
D. Approach the mark on port tack. Though a port-tack approach has certain risks (under the rules), they may be worth taking if there is much congestion on the starboard layline. You can make huge gains here over boats that sail in bad air or overstand on the starboard layline. However, try to be at least four lengths from the mark when you hit the starboard layline so you can avoid tacking inside the zone.
E. Make a safe final approach. If you’re in a crowd at the top of the beat, it’s better to overstand the mark slightly (by one or two lengths) and avoid potential messes there. This is good, low-cost insurance.
F. Learn from the boats ahead.
One of the “silver linings” about being behind is that you can learn a lot by watching what happens to the boats ahead of you.
Changes in the wind – When you’re sailing upwind, the leading boats get puffs and shifts before you. They are like a bunch of helpful wind indicators spread across the course, so watch carefully.
Laylines – When you cross behind other boats, you can get a great view of whether or not they are on the layline. In addition, watch what happens at the windward mark to see if current may be a layline factor. If so, give it a wide berth.
Jibe set – When rounding onto a run, it’s often hard to know whether you should do a jibe set or not. To help make your decision, watch the boats ahead. How does it look for the boats that jibed at the mark? It makes your choice a lot easier when you can see a bunch of boats testing this move.
Gate mark – It’s difficult to know which gate mark is favored until you get very close to the gate, so watch the boats ahead. In particular, when a boat has an equal choice of going to either gate mark, which one does she choose?
Finish line – The ends of the finish line are like gate marks – it can be hard to know which is favored until you get very close. So, watch where the boats ahead finish, especially when they are very close with other boats. ■
