Racing an A-Rater — When Everything Happens Faster

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

In a fast boat, the tactical decision may be the same — you simply have much less time to make it.

A gust moves across the Thames. Another boat is approaching on starboard. The riverbank is getting closer, and the next mark is already demanding attention.

Aboard Champagne, these are connected problems. Where we sail now determines whether we can cross the other boat, whether the crew has time to prepare a tack and whether we reach the mark with useful options.

That is what makes racing an A-Rater so absorbing.

The fundamentals remain familiar: find clear air, respond to the wind, understand the current and sail efficiently towards the next mark. But a powerful rig, a three-person crew and the confined space of a river make anticipation particularly valuable.

Champagne brings together everything this racing series has explored. The question becomes whether we can apply those lessons early enough, together enough and smoothly enough to turn potential speed into progress.

A Boat That Makes You Look Up

An A-Rater is an extraordinary sight on the Thames: a long, low hull beneath a towering rig.

Upper Thames Sailing Club describes typical boats as approximately 26 feet long, with masts around 43 feet tall. Its class information gives newer boats a sail area of around 350 square feet — approximately 32.5 square metres — and identifies the three-person crew as a defining feature. Those are class descriptions rather than individual measurements of Champagne.

The visual impression tells you something important about the sailing.

There is considerable power available, but using it well requires coordination. Sail trim, steering and crew movement all influence whether that power becomes forward motion or an awkward struggle.

For me, part of Champagne’s appeal is this combination of elegance and involvement. She is a boat that invites you to understand what is happening, rather than simply sit back and enjoy the ride.

“Everything Happens Faster” Really Means Less Thinking Time

An A-Rater does not race at one constant, spectacular speed. In light river winds, patience and delicate handling can matter more than anything else.

But when the breeze arrives, a familiar stretch of water can suddenly feel much smaller.

Consider a simple illustration:

Time available = distance remaining / speed towards the limit

Suppose there are 40 metres left before the point where you intend to turn:

• At 2 metres per second, you have 20 seconds.

• At 4 metres per second, you have 10 seconds.

These are illustrative figures, not recorded speeds for Champagne. They show why a decision that felt comfortably distant can become urgent.

And those seconds must accommodate more than a helm movement. The crew needs to hear the plan, check the space, prepare the sheets, move appropriately and complete the manoeuvre.

The faster the situation develops, the earlier preparation must begin.

Waiting until the boat reaches the turning point leaves the preparation unfinished.

Three People Must Build One Shared Picture

Three people aboard do not automatically produce three times the awareness.

If everyone watches the same telltale, another boat may approach unnoticed. If everyone offers a different instruction, useful information becomes noise.

Before racing Champagne, a valuable conversation is:

Who is watching what, and who is doing what?

A possible division is:

Responsibility	Main focus
Helm	Steering, immediate boat control and committing to manoeuvres
Sail-handling crew	Allocated sheets and controls, trim and preparation for manoeuvres
Crew member with an agreed lookout role	Approaching boats, gusts, marks and useful tactical information

These responsibilities overlap. The lookout role does not remove anyone else’s responsibility to remain aware, and the exact arrangement must suit Champagne’s fittings and the people aboard.

The essential point is ownership.

Who checks that a sheet will run freely? Who looks behind before a manoeuvre? Who calls the approaching gust? Who confirms that the crew is ready?

Unspoken assumptions become expensive when time is short.

Use Calls That Help Someone Act

Compare:

“There’s a boat!”

with:

“Starboard boat approaching — likely to meet us before the mark.”

The second call helps the helm make a decision.

Likewise, “Gust coming” becomes more useful when it includes direction and urgency:

“Gust from ahead, reaching us shortly.”

A simple manoeuvre sequence might be:

“Prepare to tack.”

“Ready.”

“Tacking.”

Agree the words beforehand. A readiness check should mean that the people and equipment are actually prepared.

For Champagne, I want communication to create a calmer boat. The aim is to make the important words arrive while they can still change the outcome.

The Big Rig Rewards Preparation

A large sail plan makes gust awareness particularly important.

A stronger patch of wind can increase heel, load the helm and change the boat’s balance. If the response comes late, the crew may end up correcting several problems together.

An earlier response gives more choices.

That might involve preparing to ease the appropriate sheet, adjusting trim or moving crew weight according to the conditions and the agreed handling plan. The precise response depends on wind strength, point of sailing and how Champagne is behaving.

The principle is straightforward:

Use the gust as information before it becomes a surprise.

A Practical Example: Pressure Near the Bank

Imagine Champagne approaching the edge of the usable sailing area when a stronger gust appears ahead.

An immediate reaction might be to keep driving towards the bank because the extra speed feels useful.

But ask what happens next:

• Is there room to tack?

• Is another boat occupying the exit?

• Is the crew ready?

• Will the gust reach us during the turn?

A slightly earlier tack may produce a better result than arriving quickly at a position with no comfortable escape.

Speed is valuable when we retain control of where it takes us.

The River Makes the Decision More Complicated

On open water, an extra few boat lengths may leave plenty of room for recovery. On the Thames, those lengths can put you close to a bank, beneath trees or into another boat’s wind shadow.

The route that looks attractive for one reason may be poor for another.

Sheltered water near the bank might offer less adverse current but weaker wind. More open water might provide better pressure while exposing the boat to stronger flow.

Aboard Champagne, the useful question is:

Where will we make the best progress over the next section of the river?

That requires looking beyond the nearest inviting patch of water.

For example, a route towards stronger pressure may be worthwhile if it also leaves space for the next tack. The same route may become unattractive if it leads into a crowded mark approach.

This is where the earlier lessons on current, clear air and fleet positioning come together. Each decision changes the choices available afterwards.

Closing Speeds Can Be Deceptive

When boats converge, the available time depends on how their paths are closing.

In the simple case of two boats heading directly towards one another, their closing speed is the sum of their speeds along that line.

If each is travelling at 3 metres per second, the gap closes at 6 metres per second. A separation of 60 metres disappears in 10 seconds if both maintain their courses and speeds.

Real crossings involve angles, changing speeds and changing wind. That makes early observation more valuable, not less.

Aboard Champagne, an approaching boat should trigger an early assessment:

Can we cross with a clear margin? Should we tack? Would an early duck preserve more speed and better options?

The decision should include where each choice leaves us afterwards. A duck that leads towards clear air can be better than a hurried tack into disturbed wind.

Racing decisions must also respect the applicable right-of-way, room and contact-avoidance obligations. The current World Sailing rules are the 2025–2028 edition; the race’s sailing instructions and relevant local requirements also need checking.

A manoeuvre should be chosen because it can be completed properly, with an adequate margin.

A Clean Tack Is a Team Achievement

A tack can lose ground through much more than slow steering.

A sheet catches. Someone moves late. The jib is trimmed hard before the boat has accelerated. The helm tries to point high while speed is still low.

Individually, these may seem small. Together, they can leave Champagne struggling to regain her rhythm while a rival sails away.

A useful sequence is:

1. Choose the space. Check traffic and the course available after the tack.

2. Prepare the crew and equipment. Make sure the required sheets and controls are ready.

3. Confirm readiness. Allow time for a real response.

4. Turn smoothly. Coordinate steering, sail handling and movement.

5. Rebuild speed. Let the boat accelerate before demanding her best upwind angle.

The exact technique needs practice aboard Champagne. The larger lesson applies widely:

The manoeuvre includes the approach and the acceleration afterwards.

This connects directly with the previous article on the leeward mark. A rounding is successful when the boat emerges ready to sail the next leg effectively.

Performance Amplifies Both Good and Bad Decisions

A powerful boat can make a good decision feel wonderfully rewarding.

Reach a gust with speed, complete a clean tack into clear air or leave a mark with the crew already organised, and the benefit can build quickly.

The reverse can happen too.

A rushed tack reduces speed. Reduced speed makes steering less effective. The helm uses more rudder. Extra drag slows the boat further. A nearby rival then leaves us in disturbed air.

The original mistake may have been small, but it starts a chain.

However, the cost of an error is not always greater simply because the boat is faster. What matters is the combination of speed, handling demands and available space. On a narrow river, that combination can make a late decision particularly costly.

My aim with Champagne is to recognise these chains earlier: preserve balance, maintain useful speed and avoid turning one untidy moment into three more.

Read the Tall Rig Without Ignoring the Water

Wind on the Thames is shaped by trees, buildings, bends and gaps.

Ripples on the water are useful clues, but they do not describe every part of the airflow reaching a tall rig. Wind direction and strength can vary with height, and disturbed air can make the picture complicated.

The crew therefore needs to combine observations:

• Water texture ahead.

• Telltales and sail shape.

• Changes in heel and helm load.

• What nearby boats are experiencing.

• What happens when boats pass a familiar gap or obstruction.

For Champagne, local knowledge becomes most useful when it helps us predict the next change.

“The wind often fills in beyond that gap” is valuable. Treating that expectation as a certainty is much less useful.

Look, predict, then check what actually happens.

Practise the Moments That Decide the Race

More racing gives experience. Focused practice helps turn that experience into repeatable skills.

For Champagne, I would build short sessions around three exercises.

1. Prepare Earlier

Practise tacks in clear water with enough space to separate preparation from execution.

Notice whether earlier calls produce smoother handling. After each attempt, discuss one improvement.

2. Give Someone the View Ahead

For a short practice leg, assign one crew member to make concise calls about pressure, traffic and the next mark.

The aim is useful information that reaches the helm in time.

3. Rehearse the Exit

Practise approaching a mark, preparing the sails and controls, rounding and accelerating onto the new course.

Judge the exercise several boat lengths after the mark. That is where the quality of the preparation becomes clear.

A securely mounted camera can help with the debrief. It may reveal a late call or a caught sheet that nobody noticed while concentrating on the race.

What Champagne Can Teach Us

For me, Champagne represents a particularly rewarding stage in learning to race.

She brings the theory into sharp focus. Clear air becomes something we must actively preserve. Crew coordination becomes something we can feel in the quality of a tack. Anticipation becomes the difference between choosing a manoeuvre and being forced into one.

The most useful question after a race may be:

What could we have noticed five seconds earlier?

That question gives us something practical to improve next time.

Fast Sailing Begins Before the Boat Accelerates

Racing an A-Rater rewards awareness, preparation and trust between the people aboard.

The big rig makes Champagne striking to watch. The real satisfaction comes when the crew makes good use of it: a timely call, a smooth manoeuvre, a clear exit and the boat accelerating into open water.

The lessons from this series still apply. Find pressure. Protect clear air. Understand the current. Plan the next leg. Give yourself choices.

Aboard Champagne, those lessons become a shared task.

The boat may move faster, but the best decisions begin earlier.

Follow Champagne’s progress and explore the Learning to Race series at pmrsailing.uk.

Return to sailing website https://pmrsailing.uk/Lessons.html

 

The Leeward Mark — Plan the Exit Before You Arrive

A mark rounding doesn't finish at the mark — it finishes when the boat is accelerating away from it.

You have sailed a good downwind leg. You have found some stronger breeze, stayed out of the worst wind shadows and closed the gap on the boats ahead.

Now comes the leeward mark.

Several boats converge. Someone begins turning. Another slows unexpectedly. Sheets need bringing in, controls need adjusting and the crew suddenly seem to need three hands each.

A few seconds later, the buoy is behind you.

Unfortunately, so are your speed and your opportunity to escape into clear air.

The leeward mark brings together almost everything we have explored in this racing series: positioning, anticipation, rules awareness, boat handling and teamwork. The challenge is to turn all those decisions into a smooth transition from sailing downwind to sailing upwind.

The objective is to leave the mark ready to race the next leg.

1. Start With the Water Beyond the Buoy

It is easy to become so focused on reaching the mark that you forget to look beyond it.

Before arriving, ask:

• Which way does the next leg go?

• Which tack would I prefer after rounding?

• Where are the boats ahead likely to sail?

• Where will I find clear air?

• How will the current affect the approach and exit?

You may want to continue on the rounding tack towards stronger pressure. Alternatively, the next beat may favour an early tack towards a different part of the river.

That decision affects your preparation.

If you expect to tack soon after rounding, the crew need to know. Sheets must be ready, everyone must understand the sequence and there must be sufficient speed and space to complete the manoeuvre.

“Round first and decide afterwards” can leave you following another boat into precisely the patch of disturbed air you wanted to avoid.

Choose a preferred exit early, then keep checking whether it remains available.

2. Inside Position: Valuable When You Establish It Properly

An inside position can be a considerable advantage at a leeward mark. It may let you sail a shorter rounding and emerge in a stronger position for the next beat.

However, being nearest the buoy at the last moment does not automatically entitle you to space.

For an ordinary fleet-racing leeward rounding where rule 18 applies, the relationship when the first of two boats reaches the zone is crucial. The zone extends three hull lengths of the nearer boat. If the boats are overlapped then, the outside boat must give the inside boat mark-room. If they are not overlapped, the boat that has not yet reached the zone must give the other boat mark-room. A late inside overlap does not automatically reverse that obligation. Mark-room is also distinct from right of way; other obligations, including avoiding contact, still matter. This is a practical summary, rather than every exception in rule 18.

The tactical lesson is straightforward:

Work for your position before the rounding becomes crowded.

Suppose two boats are approaching together and you can establish a legitimate inside overlap early. That may be worth pursuing.

But if you are clearly behind as the leading boat reaches the zone, trying to force your bow into a disappearing gap can turn a manageable rounding into an incident.

Sometimes the better decision is to follow closely, round cleanly and attack on the next beat.

3. Control Your Arrival When the Traffic Slows

A leeward mark often behaves like a narrowing road.

Boats approach from different angles, but all need to pass through a relatively small area. The leading boats turn and change speed. Those behind continue arriving.

The danger is watching only the boat immediately ahead.

Look further forward. Is the first boat struggling to complete its rounding? Are two boats coming round together? Is a crew still sorting out its sails?

If the queue is slowing, recognise it early.

Where space and your obligations allow, ease the sails to reduce drive before you reach the congestion. Leave enough separation to steer and retain control. Avoid making an abrupt course change into another boat’s path.

There is a useful distinction between:

• Choosing to arrive a little later, with room to make a controlled turn.

• Arriving at full speed and being forced almost to stop, with nowhere useful to go.

Imagine the boat ahead rounds wide and then slows. Following directly into its stern gives you little choice. Managing the gap earlier may allow you to follow through on a better line.

Deliberately slowing is not always a loss. Sometimes it protects the speed you need afterwards.

4. Prepare the Boat Before the Turn

The buoy should trigger the manoeuvre, not the discovery that nothing is ready.

Before the final approach:

• Check that the working sheets can run freely.

• Prepare the centreboard for the beat, as appropriate to the boat and depth.

• Set the upwind controls that can sensibly be adjusted early.

• Agree who will handle each task.

• Confirm whether a gybe is needed before the rounding.

• Check the route through the traffic.

In a spinnaker boat, the drop needs its own plan. Leave it too late and the sail can dictate the rounding rather than the helm.

For this discussion aboard Champagne, the useful focus is the coordination of the mainsail, jib, controls, crew movement and steering.

Not every adjustment needs to be perfect before the bow turns. Some controls can be refined once the boat is moving away. The priority is to complete the tasks that would otherwise prevent a clean rounding.

Prepare early enough that the helm can keep looking outside the boat.

5. “Wide In, Tight Out” Needs Room and Judgement

You will often hear the advice:

“Wide in, tight out.”

The idea is to allow room for a smooth turn, then finish close enough to the mark that you do not leave a large opening on the exit.

This is different from sailing directly at the buoy and trying to pivot around it.

A sudden turn can create excessive rudder drag, heel and loss of speed. The boat may slide sideways and finish farther from the mark than intended.

When sailing alone, with adequate room, a slightly wider entry can help you turn progressively and emerge on the intended upwind course.

In a crowd, your available space may be much smaller. A preferred tactical arc is not automatically space that another boat must give you. Mark-room does not necessarily include room for your ideal racing rounding.

The aim is therefore:

Make the smoothest effective turn that the space, conditions and rules allow.

“Tight out” should mean a controlled exit with a sensible clearance, rather than trying to brush the buoy.

6. Bring the Sails In With the Turn

A leeward rounding is a continuous change in sailing angle.

As the boat heads towards the wind, the sails need to come in progressively. Steering and trimming should work together.

If you sheet in too early, the sails may create unnecessary heel and resistance while the boat is still sailing downwind.

If you sheet in too late, the bow turns towards the beat while the sails remain too far out to drive effectively.

A useful sequence is:

1. Begin the planned turn.

2. Bring the sheets in as the sailing angle changes.

3. Move crew weight smoothly to maintain balance.

4. Settle onto a course that allows the boat to accelerate.

5. Refine pointing and final trim as speed builds.

Avoid immediately demanding maximum pointing from a boat that has lost speed.

In light air especially, sailing slightly freer for a short period can help restore flow over the foils and build momentum. Then you can bring the boat towards its effective upwind angle.

Speed first, then height — adjusted to the traffic and space available.

7. Aboard Champagne: Agree the Sequence

My aim aboard Champagne is to make the rounding something the crew prepare together, rather than a turn followed by a rush to catch up.

A useful practice briefing might sound like this:

Before the approach:
“Mark to port. We want to continue on this tack after rounding.”

As the traffic becomes clearer:
“Boat ahead is slowing. Keep a gap.”

Before the turn:
“Ready to bring the jib in? Controls ready?”

During the rounding:
“Turning now. Bring it in steadily.”

On the exit:
“Build speed. Boat ahead to windward. Keep looking for clear air.”

These are suggested calls for practice, rather than a report of a particular race. Their value is that each gives information someone can act upon.

Crew members should also report what they see:

“Sheet clear.”

“Boat approaching outside.”

“Ready.”

The best coordination does not require a continuous commentary. It requires the right information before the next decision.

For me, that is one of the attractions of learning to race Champagne: improving the result means improving how we sail together.

8. On the Thames, Allow for the Current

A rounding takes place relative to an anchored mark, but the boat is sailing through moving water.

That distinction becomes particularly noticeable when speed through the water falls.

If the current is carrying you towards the buoy, the final gap can close more quickly than expected. If it carries you sideways, your track may drift away from the exit you intended.

The direction of the bow alone will not tell you whether the rounding is working.

Watch how the mark moves relative to the boat. Look at your actual progress past it. Leave an allowance for drift, especially during the slowest part of the turn.

Avoid treating every leeward mark on the river as the same manoeuvre. The approach that worked in weak flow may need changing when the current strengthens.

9. Clear Air Makes the Exit Worthwhile

A neat rounding can still produce a poor result if it leaves you directly behind another boat.

The boat ahead may be disturbing the wind you need to accelerate. Your first few lengths of the beat then become a struggle to recover speed while following its course.

Look for a usable lane before you arrive.

Sometimes you can create separation through a better rounding. Sometimes continuing briefly will open space. Sometimes a tack is the sensible escape, once you have the speed, room and freedom to make it properly.

A wider route is not automatically faster, and an immediate tack is not automatically an escape. Assess the whole situation.

The useful exit combines speed, clear air and progress towards the next mark.

10. Practise the Rounding Beyond the Buoy

On a suitable training day, with space clear of other traffic, practise several approaches to the same mark.

For each attempt:

1. State the intended exit.

2. Prepare the boat before the final approach.

3. Make a controlled turn with progressive trimming.

4. Continue for several boat lengths before judging the result.

Compare a rushed approach with one planned earlier. Try different amounts of entry room. Notice how the boat responds when you head up sharply compared with building speed before asking for more height.

If you film the exercise, include the approach and departure. A close-up of the buoy alone will miss much of what matters.

Afterwards, ask:

• Were we ready?

• Did we retain steerage and speed?

• Did everyone understand the sequence?

• Did we leave in useful air?

• What one change would improve the next attempt?

Conclusion: Judge the Exit

The leeward mark rewards sailors who think ahead.

Inside position matters. So do approach angle, traffic, sail preparation and accurate steering. But these are all parts of the same objective: beginning the next beat in a position from which you can race effectively.

For Champagne, that means treating the rounding as a shared sequence. We need to know where we want to go, prepare the boat and coordinate the turn.

Next time you approach a leeward mark, look beyond the buoy and picture the boat several lengths farther on.

Is she balanced? Are the sails working? Is she accelerating into clear air?

That is where the rounding earns its value.

Follow Champagne and the Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results series at pmrsailing.uk.

Return to sailing website https://pmrsailing.uk/Lessons.html

 

Downwind Racing — It Isn’t Just Pointing at the Next Mark

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

Downwind, the straight line can sometimes be the slowest route.

You round the windward mark, ease the sheets and see the next buoy further down the river.

After the concentration of beating to windward, this ought to be the straightforward part. Point towards the mark, keep the sails full and enjoy the ride.

Then something puzzling happens.

A boat beside you turns away from the direct route. It appears to be sailing towards the wrong part of the river. A little later it gybes, comes back across and arrives at the leeward mark ahead.

Meanwhile, another boat seems to be catching you from behind, even though your sails are still drawing.

Downwind racing has its own decisions about wind, angles, clear air, current and positioning. Easing the sheets is the beginning of the next tactical problem.

1. The Shortest Distance Is Only Half the Calculation

A straight line is the shortest route between two points. It is not automatically the quickest sailing route.

The basic relationship is:

Time = distance / average speed

A longer course can win if it produces enough additional speed to compensate for the extra distance and manoeuvres.

Consider an illustrative example, using average speeds over the ground:

Route	Distance sailed	Average speed	Time
Direct route	600 metres	2 metres per second	300 seconds
Angled route	720 metres	3 metres per second	240 seconds

The angled route takes four minutes instead of five, before allowing for any additional gybing losses.

But suppose that longer route only produces an average speed of 2.2 metres per second:

720 / 2.2 = approximately 327 seconds

Now it loses.

These are teaching figures, not measured performance figures for Champagne. They illustrate the question that matters:

Have we gained enough speed to pay for the extra distance?

A boat can feel much faster while making slower progress towards the mark.

2. Sailing “Hotter” — What Does It Mean?

On a downwind leg, sailing hotter means turning closer towards the wind, usually from a deep running angle towards a broader reaching course.

The sails may become more effective, the boat may accelerate and the crew may feel an immediate improvement.

Sailing deeper means turning further away from the wind, towards a dead run.

The challenge is to find a productive balance between speed and direction.

Sail too deep and the sails may become unstable or the boat may lose drive. Sail too hot and you may travel impressively quickly across the course while making disappointing progress down it.

Apparent wind explains part of the difference

Apparent wind is the wind experienced on the moving boat. It combines the actual wind with the effect of the boat’s movement.

On a dead run, moving with the wind reduces the wind speed felt aboard. Changing angle alters both the direction and strength of the apparent wind.

In a fast asymmetric dinghy, boat speed and apparent wind can support a very effective angled downwind course. But this does not mean that every boat should copy the same angles.

Even asymmetric sails are designed for different wind strengths and sailing angles; there is no single ideal angle for all boats and conditions.

3. VMG — Progress That Actually Counts

Velocity made good, usually shortened to VMG, describes the useful component of your speed in a particular direction.

For this discussion, imagine the direction straight towards the mark:

Speed towards the mark = boat speed x cos(angle away from the direct route)

For this simple calculation, use speed and direction over the ground consistently.

At 30 degrees away from the direct route:

3 x cos(30 degrees) = approximately 2.60 metres per second towards the mark

At 45 degrees:

3 x cos(45 degrees) = approximately 2.12 metres per second towards the mark

The boat is travelling at the same speed in both examples, but its useful progress is different.

In practice, the mark’s bearing changes as you move, and current complicates the picture. You do not need to calculate trigonometry while helming. The useful habit is to ask:

Are we getting to the mark faster, or simply enjoying the sensation of speed?

4. Why Champagne Should Not Copy an Asymmetric Dinghy

This is where different boats make the subject particularly interesting.

A modern asymmetric dinghy may gain substantially by sailing an angled course, keeping its spinnaker working and, when conditions permit, maintaining planing speed.

Champagne presents a different problem.

Thames A-Raters have exceptionally tall rigs and substantial sail area. Upper Thames Sailing Club describes the class as typically having masts around 43 feet tall. Their proportions and river setting make them a distinctive sailing experience.

For me, the useful question aboard Champagne is:

What angle keeps her moving effectively in the wind we actually have?

That might mean sailing a little higher to restore drive. It might mean accepting a deeper course because the sails are working and the shorter distance is valuable.

There is no reason to assume that a dramatic zigzag will pay simply because it works for a different class.

The tall rig also gives us a reason to compare several clues. Ripples show what is happening near the surface; the upper sails may be experiencing something different. That is a practical inference from the rig’s height, rather than a guarantee that an A-Rater always finds better wind.

Learning Champagne means discovering her responses, rather than borrowing another boat’s answers.

5. Downwind Wind Shadows Can Come From Behind

Upwind, sailors quickly learn to avoid sitting behind another boat in disturbed air.

Downwind, the geometry changes.

When running broadly with the wind, a boat behind you may be upwind of you. Its sails can disturb the air before that air reaches your own rig.

The chasing boat can therefore become a threat to your wind supply.

Imagine two boats running towards a mark, with the wind coming from behind them. The trailing boat moves into a position directly upwind of the leader. The leader loses drive, slows and becomes easier to catch.

This is why looking ahead is not enough.

On a downwind leg, keep checking astern and towards the wind.

The disturbed air follows the airflow, rather than a fixed line directly behind a boat’s transom. Its position changes with wind direction and the boats’ headings.

Escape while you still have options

If another boat is moving into a threatening position, consider a modest course change before you lose speed.

You may be able to establish a lane of clear air without a large diversion. Alternatively, a gybe may open a better route.

The aim is to protect your progress towards the mark. A prolonged battle with one opponent can give the rest of the fleet an excellent opportunity.

6. Find Pressure — But Check That You Can Reach It

Sailors often use “pressure” to mean a patch of stronger wind.

On a river, it may appear as darker, more textured water. You might also notice boats heeling, accelerating or filling their sails more consistently.

Useful clues include:

• Moving patches of ripples.

• Changes in boats upwind of you.

• Flags and vegetation.

• Increasing sheet load.

• Changes in heel and the sound of water along the hull.

Dark water is not proof of stronger wind: reflections, shade and current can mislead.

Before chasing a promising patch, ask:

Is it moving towards us? Will it still be there when we arrive? What will it cost to reach it?

A small diversion into sustained wind can be valuable. Crossing the river after a patch that has already passed may achieve very little.

Aboard Champagne, I would want the crew looking for the next useful patch while the helm concentrates on keeping the boat moving towards it.

7. Hotter in the Lulls, Deeper in the Gusts?

A common downwind technique is to sail a little hotter when the boat loses drive, then sail deeper when additional pressure allows it.

UK Sailmakers describes this approach alongside close communication between helm and trimmer, while warning that excessive changes in either direction can damage VMG.

Treat it as something to test in your boat.

In a lull, a small change of heading may restore useful flow over the sails. Once speed builds or a gust arrives, you may be able to turn deeper while retaining drive.

However, an abrupt turn can stall the sails or waste the speed you have just gained. A fast asymmetric boat may also need to preserve its apparent wind rather than immediately bear away hard.

Make measured changes, trim with them and watch the result.

The question is whether the boat responds usefully, rather than whether the manoeuvre matches a slogan.

8. Gybe for a Reason

A gybe changes your route, sail positions and relationship with other boats.

Good reasons to gybe include:

• Reaching stronger wind.

• Escaping disturbed air.

• Responding to a wind shift.

• Avoiding an unfavourable bank or current.

• Setting up the leeward-mark approach.

“We have been on this gybe for a while” is less persuasive.

Every gybe carries a possible cost: disrupted sails, loss of speed, additional steering and the need to accelerate again.

On a short river leg, several unnecessary gybes can consume the gain from an otherwise clever route.

Prepare before turning

Agree the manoeuvre, check the space and other boats, clear sheets and confirm that everyone is ready for the boom to cross.

Then aim to settle promptly onto the new heading with the sails drawing.

In stronger winds, control and crew readiness become particularly important. A rushed gybe can cost far more than a few seconds.

9. On the Thames, Downwind Does Not Necessarily Mean Downstream

The wind determines whether a leg is downwind. The river determines whether you are sailing upstream or downstream.

You can therefore be sailing downwind against the current.

A direct route through stronger adverse flow may lose to a slightly longer route in weaker current. Conversely, when sailing with the flow, a faster stream may help.

But the bank offering weaker current may also have less wind.

This creates a familiar river-racing compromise:

Is the reduction in current worth the loss of wind?

Picture Champagne approaching a tree-lined section. Moving nearer the bank might reduce adverse flow, but if the sails lose drive there, the apparent advantage can disappear.

Judge wind and current together. Neither can make the decision alone.

10. Keep the Racing Rules in the Picture

Changing downwind angles can bring boats together quickly.

Under the 2025–2028 Racing Rules of Sailing:

• On opposite tacks, port keeps clear of starboard.

• On the same tack and overlapped, windward keeps clear of leeward.

• On the same tack without an overlap, clear astern keeps clear of clear ahead.

• A right-of-way boat changing course must give the other boat room to keep clear.

Rule 17 can restrict a leeward boat that establishes an overlap from clear astern within two of her hull lengths. Proper course is not automatically the straight line to the mark.

These are starting points, not a complete account: mark-room, obstructions and other limitations may also apply. Avoid contact whenever reasonably possible.

On the Thames, also watch for other river users. A tactical opportunity must fit the space and traffic available.

11. Start Planning the Leeward Mark Early

A downwind leg does not end when you reach the buoy. It ends with a transition onto the next leg.

Before arriving, establish:

• Which side of the mark you must leave clear.

• Which boats may affect your rounding.

• Whether you need another gybe.

• Where you want to exit.

• What the crew needs to adjust.

A small advantage down the run can disappear if you arrive on an awkward heading with the sheets tangled and nobody prepared.

A slightly less ambitious approach may produce a much better exit.

That matters particularly aboard a boat with substantial sail area: give the crew time to organise the transition.

Race towards the next leg, as well as towards the mark.

12. A Practical Exercise: Discover Your Boat’s Best Route

Choose a suitable practice area with room to manoeuvre and identifiable start and finish points.

Try three approaches:

1. Sail a relatively direct route with the sails working comfortably.

2. Sail a modestly hotter route with one planned gybe.

3. Repeat, choosing your route around pressure and clear air.

Record elapsed time, the number of gybes, any obvious losses of drive and the conditions.

Repeat the comparison. One gust can make a poor route look excellent, so a single run proves little.

For Champagne, this would be a useful crew exercise: one person helms, another trims, and another watches pressure, traffic and progress.

Video could help reveal whether a gain came from the angle, a cleaner gybe or simply better wind.

The Best Downwind Sailors Keep Making Decisions

Downwind sailing can look relaxed from the bank. The best crews are still working.

They are watching the wind behind them, protecting clear air, choosing angles, managing gybes and preparing for the next mark.

For me, that is part of the appeal of learning to race Champagne. A familiar stretch of the Thames can present a different puzzle every time.

Sometimes the direct route will win. Sometimes a modest change of angle will keep the boat moving while others struggle. Occasionally, a longer route through better wind will be decisively quicker.

On your next downwind leg, try one deliberate experiment: make a small change of angle and judge your progress towards the mark.

The buoy tells you where you need to finish. The wind, current and your boat help you decide how to get there.

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The Windward Mark — Where Good Beats Suddenly Go Wrong

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

You can sail a brilliant beat and lose five places in the final twenty metres.

You have read the shifts, found useful patches of wind and made sensible decisions about the current. The boat is moving well. Several competitors who were ahead at the start are now behind.

Then you approach the windward mark.

A line of starboard-tack boats blocks your route. The gap you expected disappears. You tack, struggle to accelerate and discover that you cannot quite clear the buoy.

Suddenly, all that good work begins to unravel.

The windward mark brings several different sailing skills together in a very small area: judging lay-lines, understanding the rules, managing traffic, maintaining speed and preparing for the next leg.

For those of us sailing on the Thames, there is another complication. The water is moving, the wind may be changing near the bank, and there may be remarkably little room for a second attempt.

A good rounding begins well before the bow reaches the buoy.

1. Stop Treating the Mark as the Finish Line

It is tempting to judge a beat by your position as you arrive at the windward mark.

However, arriving first and leaving slowly can be worse than arriving second and leaving with speed, clear air and a settled crew.

The mark is a transition between two legs. Your approach needs to serve both.

Before getting close, ask:

• Which side must we leave the mark?

• Can we actually fetch it on our present tack?

• Which boats will arrive at the same time?

• Where is the next mark?

• What course and sail settings will we need after turning?

That final question changes the way you see the rounding. Instead of aiming only at a buoy, you begin planning a continuous route through it and onwards.

For me, this is a useful way to think about developing our racing aboard Champagne: the beat is not complete simply because we have reached the mark. We still have to turn that position into a good start to the next leg.

2. The Layline Is an Estimate, Not a Promise

A layline is the course from which you expect to reach the mark without another tack.

It is not painted on the water.

Its position depends on wind direction, your boat’s pointing ability, leeway and current. It also depends on whether you can maintain normal speed in the air available.

A layline judged in clear air can become an optimistic guess when another boat tacks ahead and slows you down.

The classic mistake: tacking exactly where it looked right

Imagine approaching on port tack. You judge that one tack will put you on a perfect starboard layline.

You tack.

Another boat is now just ahead and to windward. The wind is disturbed, your acceleration is poor and you begin sliding sideways.

The buoy, which looked comfortably clear a moment ago, is now directly in your path.

The problem may not have been the original geometry. It may have been assuming that the boat would perform after the tack exactly as it had before it.

Judge the layline for the conditions you will sail into, including the traffic.

Allow a sensible margin

In steady wind and clear water, a small margin may be sufficient.

In light, variable river conditions, especially when a tack will put you into disturbed air, a little more allowance may be sensible.

That does not mean sailing far beyond every layline. It means recognising uncertainty before it becomes an emergency.

3. Getting Onto the Layline Too Early Can Trap You

There is something reassuring about a long final approach.

No more tacks. The mark ahead. Everything apparently under control.

But once committed to the layline, your options narrow.

Another boat can tack ahead and leave you in dirty air. A header can make the mark difficult to fetch. A lift can leave you having sailed unnecessary distance. Boats arriving from elsewhere may concentrate around the same final stretch.

On a river, an early commitment may also hold you in an unfavourable strip of current or a bank-side wind shadow.

The answer is not to avoid lay-lines altogether. Eventually, you must make your final approach.

The skill is choosing when to commit, while you still have enough space to make a controlled tack and accelerate.

4. Overstanding: Insurance That Can Become Expensive

You have overstood when you sail beyond the position needed to fetch the mark after tacking.

A modest allowance can protect against an uncertain wind or adverse cross-current. Excessive overstanding adds distance.

The frustrating part is that it can feel fast.

You may approach with eased sheets, good speed and an apparently comfortable rounding, while boats that sailed a shorter route arrive ahead.

A practical example

Two boats are approaching a mark in reasonably steady conditions.

Boat A tacks with enough clearance to maintain speed and round safely.

Boat B continues farther, wanting to be absolutely certain of making it.

After tacking, Boat B can reach towards the mark quickly. But that higher speed does not automatically recover the extra distance sailed.

The useful question is:

“How much margin do we need?”

Simply asking whether another few boat lengths would feel safer can lead to an unnecessarily long route.

On the Thames, current complicates the calculation. Judge your track over the ground, rather than relying only on where the bow points.

5. Port-Tack Approaches: Sometimes Effective, Often Demanding

Approaching on port tack can work well.

You may have better wind, less traffic or a favourable route through the current. If there is a clear gap and sufficient room to tack and accelerate, the approach can be efficient.

The difficulty comes when the plan depends on a gap remaining open until the final moment.

A row of starboard-tack boats is not obliged to make space simply because you have reached the mark.

The rules that matter

On a beat to windward, a port-tack boat must keep clear of a starboard-tack boat. Rule 18’s mark-room provisions do not apply between boats on opposite tacks on that beat. While tacking, a boat must keep clear from passing head to wind until reaching a close-hauled course. Being close to the buoy does not remove those obligations.

For a mark left to port, rule 18.3 adds restrictions when you tack from port to starboard inside the zone. Rule 18.2 then does not apply between you and another starboard-tack boat fetching the mark. If that boat has been on starboard since entering the zone, you must not force it above close-hauled to avoid contact, and must give it mark-room if it becomes overlapped inside you.

The practical lesson is straightforward:

Completing the tack does not automatically make a late arrival trouble-free.

Plan the alternative before you need it

Before committing, decide what you will do if the gap closes.

You might duck an approaching boat while there is still room, continue towards a later safe opening, or tack earlier into a usable lane.

Each option needs enough space and must comply with the rules.

Avoid arriving with only one plan: “Something will probably open up.”

6. The Three-Length Zone Is Not an Automatic Right to Room

The zone normally extends three hull lengths from the mark, measured using the hull length of the boat nearer to it.

Where rule 18 applies, the boats’ relationship as the first reaches the zone is important in determining mark-room. But entering the zone does not give every boat a general right to force a passage.

Calling “Water!” or “Room!” cannot create an entitlement. Right-of-way boats also remain subject to obligations, including avoiding contact when reasonably possible and allowing room to keep clear when changing course.

For crews, the useful habit is to establish the situation early.

Who is inside? Who is clear ahead? Is anyone tacking? Are the boats actually on the same tack?

Calm observation several lengths out is more useful than competing shouts beside the buoy.

These examples assume a conventional windward mark left to port. River courses can require starboard roundings, so check the course: the specific rule 18.3 situation described above does not apply to a starboard rounding.

7. Protect Speed Without Charging Into Trouble

A boat needs speed for effective steering and a controlled turn.

Lose too much speed before the mark and you may struggle to clear it, respond to traffic or accelerate afterwards.

However, “keep the speed on” is not an instruction to sail at maximum speed into a closing gap.

The aim is controlled speed with a clear route through the rounding.

Avoid pinching towards the buoy

When the mark looks just out of reach, the temptation is to point higher and higher.

The sails begin to stall. Speed falls. Leeway increases. The boat may become less able to clear the mark, even though the bow points closer to it.

Recognise the problem while there is still room for a lawful, controlled correction.

A planned extra manoeuvre can be far less costly than stopping beside the mark and obstructing your own escape.

Manage the gap ahead

If several boats are rounding slowly, consider your spacing before joining them.

Where conditions and your obligations allow, easing speed early can preserve room to steer and avoid arriving directly on another boat’s transom.

The important word is early. A last-second attempt to lose speed often creates another problem.

8. Current Moves the Boat Throughout the Turn

A buoy is fixed relative to the riverbed. Your boat is moving through water that is itself moving.

That matters both on the approach and while rounding.

An across-course current can carry you towards the mark. An opposing current can make the final few metres surprisingly slow. A following current can bring you into the rounding faster than expected.

As a simple illustration:

Drift distance = current speed x time

If a cross-current is 0.3 metres per second and a slow rounding takes 10 seconds, the water carries the boat 3 metres sideways during that time.

That is an example, not a measurement of the Thames on a particular day. But three metres can transform a comfortable clearance into a mark contact.

Watch your movement relative to the buoy and the bank. When speed through the water falls, the current continues carrying you.

A useful question aboard Champagne is:

“Where will the river put us while we are turning?”

That deserves as much attention as where we expect the bow to point.

9. Round for the Exit You Actually Need

There is no single ideal curve for every windward mark.

The next leg may be a reach, a run or an awkward river leg towards a mark that is partly hidden by a bend.

Traffic, current, available room and your rules obligations all affect the turn.

Avoid applying a stock phrase such as “wide in, tight out” without considering whether that route is appropriate and whether you are entitled to the space.

A useful rounding has three qualities:

1. You pass the mark correctly and with adequate clearance.

2. The boat remains balanced and under control.

3. You leave on a useful course with sails adjusted for it.

For a turn onto a reach, the crew should ease the sails progressively as the boat bears away. Holding the upwind settings throughout the turn can leave the boat heeling and resisting the helm.

Equally, throwing the sheets out without reference to the new course can leave the sails flapping and the boat slow.

The helm and trimmers need to work together.

10. Plan the Next Leg Before You Reach the Mark

The moment after rounding is a poor time to ask where the next buoy is.

Before the turn, establish:

• The next mark and approximate course.

• Whether the leg begins as a reach or a run.

• Which sheets or controls need attention.

• Whether any additional sail preparation is required.

• Where you expect clear air after rounding.

• Which boats may restrict your initial choices.

This preparation does not require a lengthy conversation.

A short call might be:

“Leave to port. Next mark towards the bend. Reach away. Ease together.”

The exact words matter less than everyone understanding the same plan.

With Champagne’s tall rig, several Raters approaching together would make wonderful photographs. From the cockpit, though, those overlapping sails can make it difficult to see both the mark and the boats beyond it.

Someone needs to keep looking outside the boat while everyone else is busy with the turn.

11. A Thames Example: The Temptation to Squeeze Through

Imagine Champagne approaching on port tack in light wind.

Three Raters are coming towards the mark on starboard. There appears to be a gap behind the first boat.

The temptation is to duck its stern, tack immediately and squeeze into the rounding.

But consider what has to happen:

• The gap must remain large enough.

• Champagne must have space to complete the tack.

• The boat must accelerate in the available wind.

• There must be sufficient clearance to fetch the mark.

• The approach must satisfy the applicable rules.

• The current must not carry the boat into trouble.

That is a lot to demand from a narrow opening.

An earlier decision to pass behind another boat and use a clearer approach may concede a place. It may also prevent a much greater loss through a stalled tack, mark contact or penalty.

This is one of the harder lessons in racing judgement: a small, deliberate loss can protect the result of a very good beat.

12. When the Approach Goes Wrong, Stop Making It Worse

Sometimes you misjudge it.

The wind heads. A boat slows unexpectedly. The gap disappears.

At that point, the priority is a controlled recovery.

Keep looking for traffic, maintain communication and choose a lawful way out. If you cannot clear the mark, recognise it early enough to manoeuvre safely. If you break a rule, deal with it under the applicable penalty procedure and sailing instructions.

What rarely helps is trying to recover every lost metre immediately.

Frustration narrows attention. You stare at the buoy, pull harder on the tiller and stop noticing the boats around you.

Take a breath. Solve the situation you now have.

13. Practise the Rounding, Not Just the Beat

Mark roundings are worth practising deliberately.

Drill one: approach, turn and accelerate

With suitable space and a practice mark, repeat the same rounding.

Concentrate on judging the final approach, keeping the boat moving and coordinating helm and sheets.

Assess the result several boat lengths after the mark. Did you leave settled and sailing efficiently?

Drill two: name the exit early

Before each approach, identify a different imaginary next mark.

This prevents the crew from learning only one familiar turn. It also develops the habit of preparing before arrival.

Drill three: review the video

A-Raters approaching a mark together would be excellent material for a short coaching film.

Use footage taken from a suitable position clear of the racing fleet, or from an onboard camera. Watch the sequence from several boat lengths before the mark until the boats are established on the next leg.

Look for:

• The first decision that restricted a boat’s options.

• Speed lost during the final tack.

• Sails remaining over-trimmed through the turn.

• Current carrying a slow boat sideways.

• The difference between rounding position and position after the exit.

For reviewing Champagne, I would particularly like to compare how tidy a rounding looks from outside with how controlled it felt aboard.

The interesting question is often not “What happened at the buoy?” but “Which earlier decision made that happen?”

Conclusion: Carry Your Good Beat Onto the Next Leg

The windward mark can undo several minutes of intelligent sailing in a few seconds.

It can also reward a crew who looks ahead, understands the traffic and arrives with a realistic plan.

Judge the layline for the wind and current you actually have. Avoid committing so early that you lose every alternative. Respect starboard-tack boats, maintain controlled speed and prepare the next leg before reaching the buoy.

Above all, remember what you are trying to achieve.

The mark is not the destination. It is the doorway to the next leg.

The best rounding carries your good work through that doorway with speed, space and a crew ready for what comes next.

Next time you race, judge your rounding several boat lengths after the mark. Are you moving well, in useful air and on the course you intended? That tells you far more than how close your hull passed to the buoy.

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Covering — How the Boat Ahead Protects Its Lead

The leader doesn’t necessarily need to sail the fastest route — sometimes they only need to sail the same route as you.

You are chasing another boat up the river.

There is a promising patch of breeze towards the opposite bank. You tack towards it.

A few seconds later, the boat ahead tacks too.

You try the other side. They follow again.

It begins to feel rather personal.

You are trying to find a way past. They are trying to make sure that whatever happens next happens to both of you.

Welcome to covering: one of the tactical skills that turns sailing quickly into racing intelligently.

For those of us developing our racing aboard Champagne at Upper Thames Sailing Club, it introduces an interesting question:

Once you have worked hard to get ahead, how much should you change your sailing to stay there?

The Leader and the Chaser Have Different Problems

Before taking the lead, your main concern may have been finding the quickest route to the next mark.

Once ahead, you have something to protect.

Imagine two boats beating towards a windward mark. The leader sails towards one side of the course while the chasing boat heads towards the other.

They are now exposed to different conditions.

A wind shift might favour one. A gust might reach the other first. On a river, they might encounter different amounts of current or very different wind near the banks.

The leader has allowed the chasing boat an opportunity to gain independently.

If both boats remain relatively close and sail through similar conditions, those opportunities become smaller.

A helpful starting point is:

The leader usually wants to reduce differences. The chaser usually wants to create a useful difference.

The word “useful” matters. Sailing into a windless corner simply because the leader is somewhere else is unlikely to produce a glorious comeback.

What Does Covering Actually Mean?

Covering means positioning your boat to limit an opponent’s opportunities to gain.

On a beat, this often involves staying ahead and towards the opponent’s side of the course, then responding if they tack away.

Sometimes the cover is close enough to interfere with their wind. Sometimes both boats have clear air, but the leader remains close enough to respond.

That gives us two broad approaches:

• Loose cover: maintain control while allowing separation and usually clear air.

• Tight cover: position more closely, often using disturbed air to make the opponent’s progress harder.

These are tactical descriptions, not fixed distances. The right spacing depends on boat speed, wind, waves, current, handling and the rest of the fleet.

Loose Cover — Protect the Lead Without Starting a Fight

A loose cover is often the sensible starting point in fleet racing.

You remain ahead, keep the opponent under observation and avoid letting them escape too far towards a different part of the course.

You are not necessarily trying to slow them down. You are trying to prevent a large gain from a shift, a gust or a better route.

A practical example

Imagine Champagne leading another Rater on an upwind leg.

Both boats are on the same tack. The chasing boat is far enough away to have reasonably clear air, but close enough for us to monitor its movements.

It tacks towards the other side of the river.

We now assess:

• Is it heading towards stronger breeze?

• Will it reach weaker adverse current?

• How much separation can develop before we respond?

• Can we tack cleanly without compromising our own route?

If the move threatens our position, we tack to remain ahead on that side.

We do not necessarily need to respond at the exact instant its bow turns. We need to respond before it gains enough separation to become dangerous.

Loose covering is about controlling opportunity while continuing to sail efficiently.

Tight Cover — Make the Chase More Difficult

A tight cover adds aerodynamic pressure.

On an upwind leg, the leader may position ahead and to windward so that the chasing boat sails in disturbed airflow from the leader’s sails.

The exact position depends on the wind and the boats’ relative headings. Simply being directly ahead does not guarantee that your wind shadow will fall on the other boat.

For the chaser, the effects can be frustrating:

• reduced speed;

• difficulty pointing as high;

• unsettled sail trim;

• pressure to tack away.

If the chasing boat escapes by tacking, the leader may tack again to re-establish the cover.

With an A-Rater’s large sail plan, disturbed air is an especially relevant consideration. But the leader must still sail the boat well. A poorly executed covering tack can give away the advantage it was intended to protect.

When might a tighter cover make sense?

Perhaps one particular boat is the main threat. Perhaps the finish is close. Perhaps the opponent is about to reach the only promising escape route.

Those situations can justify closer attention.

Early in a race, with several other boats nearby, an aggressive duel can be expensive.

While you are making life difficult for one opponent, somebody else may simply sail past both of you.

“Stay Between Them and the Mark” — A Guide, Not a Geometric Rule

One of the familiar pieces of racing advice is:

Stay between your opponent and the next mark.

It is useful because it encourages the leader to remain in a controlling position.

But it does not mean trying to keep your hull on an exact straight line connecting the opponent and the buoy.

On a beat, both boats must tack. Wind shifts change their opportunities. Current affects their tracks over the ground. Near a layline, one boat may have far fewer options than the other.

A more useful question is:

Am I positioned to respond before this boat can turn a different route into a passing opportunity?

Sometimes that means staying towards its side of the course. Sometimes it means preserving the inside of the beat. Sometimes it means letting it go a little farther because following immediately would take you into poor wind.

Position matters. So does judgement.

Why Separation Makes a Leader Nervous

Suppose two boats are close together and encounter much the same wind shift.

Their relative positions may change, but there is usually less opportunity for a dramatic reversal than if they are widely separated across the course.

Now imagine one boat near each bank.

A favourable shift, a narrow gust or a patch of stronger current can produce a much larger difference.

The leader cannot control when the wind changes. It can influence how much separation exists when that happens.

This is why a leading boat may appear to abandon a promising route to follow a rival.

It is accepting a possible small loss in sailing efficiency to reduce the chance of a much larger loss in position.

That is a calculated trade-off, provided the leader keeps checking whether the trade still makes sense.

On the Thames, Cover the Opportunity as Well as the Boat

River racing makes covering more complicated.

A pursuing boat may be heading towards:

• a strip of weaker adverse current;

• stronger breeze away from a tree-lined bank;

• an opening between buildings;

• a gust approaching along the reach;

• a better approach to the next mark.

Following the boat without understanding its purpose can be a mistake.

Imagine this situation aboard Champagne

We are leading another Rater upstream.

The other boat tacks towards the bank. We immediately follow, determined to protect our position.

Unfortunately, that bank also has a substantial wind shadow.

We have copied the manoeuvre but failed to assess the conditions.

Meanwhile, a third boat stays in stronger breeze and gains on both of us.

The lesson is straightforward:

A covering decision must account for the rival, the river and the rest of the race.

At Upper Thames, the next bend or patch of shelter may matter more than maintaining a textbook position relative to one opponent.

The Tack-for-Tack Trap

Every tack has a cost.

The boat turns, the sails cross, speed drops and the crew must help it accelerate again. In light wind and adverse current, that recovery can be particularly painful.

A leader that automatically copies every tack may allow the chasing boat to dictate the rhythm of the race.

Consider an illustrative calculation:

Extra manoeuvring loss = number of extra tacks x average loss per tack

If six unnecessary tacks each cost an average of three seconds, that is 18 seconds spent manoeuvring.

Those figures are examples, not measurements for Champagne. Real losses vary considerably.

The point is that covering has a price.

Before tacking, ask what the manoeuvre protects. If the opponent remains in similar conditions and poses little immediate threat, a few more seconds of fast sailing may be the better choice.

One Opponent Is Not the Whole Fleet

Imagine that you are leading, with second and third close behind.

Second place tacks away. You follow.

It tacks back. You follow again.

Third place continues sailing efficiently in clear air.

You may successfully prevent second from passing while handing the race to third.

This is the difference between defending against one opponent and managing a fleet race.

A leader should keep asking:

Who is the biggest threat now?

The answer can change during a leg.

There is another distinction in handicap racing: the nearest boat on the water may not be the boat threatening your result on corrected time. Sacrificing speed to cover it can damage your overall performance.

How the Chasing Boat Can Escape

Being covered is frustrating, but it does not remove every option.

The first task is to keep sailing well. Poor trim, anxious steering and rushed manoeuvres make the leader’s job easier.

1. Find clear air

Sometimes a modest change of lane is enough. At other times, a tack is needed.

Choose an escape that leads somewhere useful. Clear air in a strong adverse current may still be a poor bargain.

2. Make the leader choose

If another competitive boat is nearby, separating from it can make covering harder.

The leader may be able to control one route comfortably. Controlling two different routes is more difficult.

3. Look for a handling advantage

If your crew tacks cleanly and accelerates well, manoeuvring may create an opportunity.

But repeated tacking only helps if your gains outweigh your own losses. Exhausting the crew and slowing the boat is not a tactical breakthrough.

4. Use the conditions

A gust, a shift, a current boundary or traffic ahead may offer an opening.

Observe what is developing rather than tacking simply because being followed is irritating.

5. Accept a small loss to regain options

A short-term loss can sometimes buy clear air and tactical freedom.

That connects with our earlier discussion of ducking another boat: the immediate distance lost is only part of the decision. What matters is the position and speed you have afterwards.

The Psychology — Protecting a Lead Without Becoming Afraid

Leading can be surprisingly uncomfortable.

When chasing, you can see the target. When leading, you can become preoccupied with everything that might go wrong.

You look backwards too often.

You react to every movement.

You stop noticing the next gust because you are watching the boat behind.

Then the sails lose their best trim, the helm wanders and the gap shrinks.

The chasing boat has begun influencing your sailing without needing to pass you.

For me, this is one of the most interesting lessons in learning to race Champagne: there is a difference between being aware of an opponent and allowing that opponent to occupy the whole boat.

A useful crew arrangement is to assign someone to report the threat while the helm concentrates on steering.

Short reports help:

“They’ve tacked towards the bank.”

“They’re still in the same pressure.”

“Another boat is gaining in the middle.”

Those observations support a decision. A continuous commentary on how worrying everything looks rarely does.

The chaser needs similar discipline. A covering boat is doing its job. Getting annoyed with it usually makes your own decisions worse.

Covering Does Not Give You Extra Rights

Tactical intent does not override the racing rules.

Under the 2025–2028 Racing Rules of Sailing, a boat that has passed head to wind must keep clear until she reaches a close-hauled course. A right-of-way boat changing course must give the other boat room to keep clear. Acquiring right of way also normally brings an initial obligation to provide room. Boats must avoid contact when reasonably possible.

Rule 17 can restrict sailing above proper course when a boat establishes a leeward overlap from clear astern within two of her hull lengths. Mark and obstruction rules can also affect the manoeuvre.

The practical message is simple:

Plan a cover with room to execute it lawfully and safely.

On a narrow river, especially near other traffic or a bank, trying to squeeze an opponent into an uncomfortable situation can quickly become an uncomfortable situation for everyone.

A Simple Exercise for Your Next Training Session

Two similar boats can explore covering on a short windward leg in suitable conditions.

Begin with one boat a few lengths ahead.

1. Sail the leg using a loose cover.

2. Repeat with a closer cover, maintaining safe separation.

3. Swap roles.

4. Compare how much distance each boat lost through manoeuvring.

5. Discuss where the chasing boat had its best opportunity.

Ask three questions afterwards:

• Did the leader preserve the lead efficiently?

• Did the chaser create a worthwhile opportunity?

• Did either crew become so focused on the opponent that it stopped reading the wind?

The aim is to learn how position changes the choices available to both boats.

Conclusion: Stay Ahead Without Forgetting How You Got There

Covering is a powerful racing skill because it changes the question from “Where is the fastest route?” to “How do I protect my position?”

A loose cover can reduce risk while preserving speed. A tight cover can put pressure on a particular rival. Both can fail if they lead to unnecessary manoeuvres, poor wind or neglect of the rest of the fleet.

For us aboard Champagne, the challenge is to combine awareness of the chasing boat with everything the Thames is already asking us to notice.

The wind still matters. The current still matters. The next mark still matters.

The best cover leaves your opponent searching for an opportunity while your own boat continues sailing well.

Follow the Learning to Race series and Champagne’s progress at pmrsailing.uk.

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