The Current Changes Everything — Racing on a River

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

You can be sailing faster than another boat and still watch it move ahead.

Your sails are drawing. The boat feels lively. There is a reassuring ripple along the hull. Yet a nearby rival, apparently moving more slowly through the water, is making better progress towards the next mark.

Before blaming your sail trim, look at the riverbank.

On a river, the water beneath you is moving too. The race takes place between marks anchored to the riverbed, so success depends on how effectively you move past those fixed positions.

For those of us sailing at Upper Thames Sailing Club, this makes current part of the racecourse itself. Wind, stream, banks, trees and other boats all have to fit into the same decision.

Aboard Champagne, our A-Rater, that is a particularly absorbing challenge. Her tall sail plan makes the wind impossible to ignore. The quieter influence beneath the hull deserves just as much attention.

Two Speeds, Two Different Stories

Start by separating two ideas:

• Speed through the water: how fast the hull moves relative to the surrounding water.
• Speed over the ground: how fast the boat moves relative to the riverbed and banks.

A GPS normally reports the second. A conventional water-speed log measures the first, subject to its accuracy and calibration. The RYA makes this same distinction in its navigation terminology. rya-enavigation.org

The underlying relationship is:

Velocity over the ground = velocity through the water + current velocity

Velocity includes direction. When the boat and stream are aligned, simple addition or subtraction works. When they cross at an angle, you must combine the directions too.

Imagine two boats travelling directly upstream. These are illustrative figures, not measurements from the Thames:

Boat	Speed through water	Opposing current	Upstream speed over ground
A, in stronger stream	2.0 knots	0.8 knots	1.2 knots
B, in weaker stream	1.8 knots	0.3 knots	1.5 knots

Boat A is sailing faster through the water. Boat B is moving upstream faster.

Over five minutes, that 0.3-knot advantage amounts to roughly 46 metres.

Boat B has found a better combination of boat speed and current.

One important distinction: upstream and upwind are different directions. Depending on the wind, the upstream leg might be a beat, a reach or a run.

Weak Current Can Have a Strong Effect

A gentle stream is easy to dismiss, particularly when there are no obvious swirls around the marks.

But small speeds accumulate over time:

Distance carried by current = current speed x time

At 0.1 metres per second, the water travels 30 metres in five minutes.

That does not mean every boat loses 30 metres to its rivals. If two boats experience exactly the same current for the same time, both receive the same displacement. The competitive difference comes from different current, different routes, different travel times and different progress towards fixed marks.

Weak current also becomes proportionally more important as the wind fades.

If your upstream component of speed through the water falls to match the opposing stream, you stop making upstream progress. The sails may still be drawing and the rudder may still respond, yet the bank barely moves.

A boat can be sailing quite normally while going nowhere along the course.

Read the River as Carefully as the Wind

Current is rarely identical across the whole width of a river.

Friction from the banks and bed influences the flow. Vegetation and channel shape also affect its distribution; research on natural channels illustrates how bank conditions can change velocity patterns. U.S. Geological Survey

A useful starting expectation is weaker flow near some margins and stronger flow in parts of the main channel. Treat that as a question to investigate. Bends, shallows, structures and local eddies can complicate the picture.

Useful clues include:

• Naturally floating leaves passing a fixed bank feature.
• Water streaming past an anchored buoy.
• Swirls or changes in surface texture near structures.
• Your own progress against the bank.
• Repeated gains and losses by boats using different lanes.

Ripples also reveal wind, so a darker patch of water is not automatically stronger current. A drifting leaf can be affected by wind too. Look for agreement between several clues.

For me, one of the attractions of Thames sailing is that the river rewards this sort of attention. The sail tells one story; the bank tells another. Good decisions come from reading both.

Upstream: The Bank Can Help — Until the Wind Disappears

When sailing against the stream, a lane of weaker current can be extremely valuable.

However, the bank may also bring trees, buildings, disturbed wind, shallows and very little room to tack.

Imagine making 1.6 knots upstream through the water in the main channel, against 0.6 knots of current. Your net upstream progress is 1.0 knot.

Move towards the bank and reduce the opposing stream to 0.2 knots. If you retain 1.4 knots of upstream movement through the water, your progress improves to 1.2 knots.

But if shelter reduces that movement to 0.8 knots, you make only 0.6 knots over the ground.

The weaker stream no longer compensates for the lost wind.

On a beat, use the upstream component of your boat’s movement, rather than simply subtracting current from total boat speed.

The practical question is:

Does the reduction in current outweigh the loss of useful sailing speed?

Aboard Champagne, I want to keep that question beside the temptation to follow a promising strip of quieter water. A bank lane needs enough wind, depth and room to remain useful.

Downstream: Helpful Flow Must Repay the Detour

When travelling downstream, stronger favourable current can improve progress. That often makes the main stream attractive.

But reaching it may require a detour, additional manoeuvres or sailing into another boat’s wind shadow.

The quickest route depends on total time:

Leg time = distance travelled / average speed over the ground

For a simplified direct downstream leg:

• A 300-metre route at 1.5 metres per second takes 200 seconds.
• A 360-metre route at 1.7 metres per second takes about 212 seconds.

The second route is faster over the ground but still takes longer.

These figures assume constant average speeds. Real river racing adds shifts, gusts, traffic and acceleration, but the principle remains useful.

Helpful current has to repay the cost of reaching it.

This connects directly to our earlier discussion of fleet positioning. A route towards one side needs a reason, and that reason must remain valid as conditions change.

Your Bow Does Not Show Your Track

Current can carry the boat sideways while it sails forwards.

Suppose you sail directly across a river at 1.0 metre per second relative to the water. The crossing is 20 metres, so it takes 20 seconds.

If the river flows downstream at 0.3 metres per second, you also move 6 metres downstream during the crossing.

Your bow can point at a gap while your actual track passes well below it.

To arrive opposite your starting point, you need an upstream component to your heading. The required angle depends on your speed and the stream.

The racing habit is simple:

Check where the boat is actually going, not just where it is pointing.

Compare an approaching mark with a fixed feature beyond it. Watch whether that alignment changes as you close. One glance is rarely enough.

Mark Approaches: Pointing at It Is Not Making It

Current makes the final approach to an anchored mark especially revealing.

When the stream carries you away from the mark

You may need extra up-current allowance. If your speed falls during a tack or in disturbed air, that allowance can disappear.

A mark which looked comfortably reachable can become an emergency extra tack.

When the stream carries you towards the mark

The final distance can close faster than expected. Prepare the crew and sails early enough to round under control.

When current crosses the approach

Aim sufficiently up-current to produce the required track, while allowing for the rounding side and other boats.

The correct allowance depends on the actual geometry. There is no universal instruction to aim upstream by a fixed number of boat lengths.

This also changes laylines. A still-water layline is an unreliable guide when current materially changes the boat’s track. Changes in stream or boat speed can change the approach again.

A useful call aboard Champagne would be:

“Are we making the mark over the ground?”

That question invites the crew to check the track, rather than agree that the bow looks promising.

Tacking Decisions: Protect Momentum and Choose the Lane

A tack costs speed. Against current, the resulting reduction in upstream progress can be particularly painful.

There are two decisions to make:

1. Is this tack worth the speed and distance it will cost?
2. Will it put us in a better combination of wind, current and clear air?

Short tacks near a bank may keep you in weaker stream, but repeated manoeuvres can consume the benefit. One longer tack may preserve speed while taking you into stronger adverse flow.

Neither approach wins automatically.

For Champagne, the useful evidence is how much speed we retain and how quickly we accelerate again in the conditions of the day.

There is an important piece of physics here: in uniform current, every nearby boat is being carried by the stream. The current does not suddenly push only the boat that tacks.

The tacking boat loses relative distance primarily because its sailing velocity changes during the manoeuvre. A slower passage also leaves it exposed to adverse stream for longer before reaching the fixed mark.

For practical purposes, watch how much progress the manoeuvre actually costs against the bank, then judge whether the new lane repays it.

Current Can Change the Wind You Sail In

Airflow over the sails depends on the boat’s movement relative to the air.

A moving water mass changes the wind experienced in a frame travelling with that water. The boat’s own motion then contributes to its apparent wind.

That is why crossing into a different stream can alter the wind angle or strength experienced aboard, even without a change in the wind relative to the bank.

This deserves care: it does not mean simply putting current on one side of the bow creates a free lift.

In uniform current, an otherwise symmetrical boat has no magical advantage merely because the stream is described as being on its “lee bow”. Changes in current, real wind shifts, boat performance and the course geometry are what need examining.

For a developing racer, the practical response is to notice the change, adjust trim and reassess the track.

The Start Line Moves Past You Even While You Wait

A start line is fixed to its marks. Your waiting position is in moving water.

Stream carrying you towards the line can erase a carefully judged gap. Stream carrying you away can make an apparently well-timed acceleration leave you late.

A useful pre-start check is to sail the intended approach and watch how the line closes in the actual stream.

This brings us back to time-on-distance: judge the approach relative to the line, with enough room and time to accelerate.

A Simple River-Reading Exercise

Before racing, in suitable conditions and clear water:

1. Identify the stream direction using fixed objects and several surface clues.
2. Sail comparable short stretches in two lanes, as traffic and room allow.
3. Compare progress against the bank, wind quality and freedom to manoeuvre.
4. Approach a mark and observe the difference between bow direction and track.
5. Record one observation and one question for next time.

If using GPS, remember it measures movement over the ground; GPS alone cannot separate current from boat speed through the water. Use any device in accordance with the event’s equipment rules.

Check the Environment Agency’s Thames stream warnings and the club’s decisions before sailing. Strong stream is a reason to reassess whether to go afloat, not merely an extra tactical challenge. GOV.UK

Conclusion: Race the Water as Well as the Wind

River racing asks us to hold two pictures in mind.

One shows the boat moving through the water: sail trim, balance, speed and handling.

The other shows that moving water carrying the boat past banks, anchored marks and the start line.

At Upper Thames, that combination is part of what makes the racing so absorbing. A short stretch of river can contain several different opportunities, and the best one can change with the wind.

With Champagne, my aim is to keep asking better questions:

Where is the useful wind? What is the stream doing here? Are we actually making the mark? Will the next tack improve our position?

The river rewards those questions.

The next time another boat edges ahead, look beyond its sails. The answer may be underneath it.

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

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

 

The Middle or the Corners? Understanding Fleet Positioning

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

Winning the corner feels brilliant — until the wind shifts the other way.

You spot a promising patch of breeze near the bank. Most of the fleet stays further out, but you commit.

For a while, it looks inspired. Your sails fill, the boat accelerates and the opposition appears to slide backwards.

Then the breeze changes.

The boats in the middle tack towards the mark. You are still heading towards the bank, with little room left and an increasingly uncomfortable question:

How did such a good position become such a bad one?

Welcome to fleet positioning: deciding how far to separate from other boats, which opportunities justify that separation, and when to bring yourself back into the race.

On a narrow Thames reach, this becomes particularly interesting. “Going to the corner” might literally mean sailing towards the riverbank.

What Do We Mean by “The Corners”?

On an open-water beat, sailors often describe the far left and far right of the course as the corners. Going to a corner usually means committing heavily to one side before tacking back towards the windward mark.

On the river, the equivalent might be:

• Holding a tack almost to the bank.
• Following one bank while the fleet uses the other.
• Staying on the outside of a bend for a suspected wind advantage.
• Separating from the fleet to find less opposing current.

The important feature is commitment.

You are placing more of your race result in the hands of what happens on that particular side.

That can be a sound decision. But it deserves a better explanation than “I thought I might get lucky”.

Separation Makes Wind Shifts More Powerful

The sideways distance between boats creates what racing sailors call leverage.

Imagine two boats level with one another, both beating towards a mark. One is well to the left; the other is well to the right.

If the wind shifts left across the course, the boat on the left generally gains an upwind positional advantage. If it shifts right, the boat on the right benefits.

The greater their sideways separation, the larger the potential change in their relative positions.

UK Sailmakers describes this as an opportunity to make measured gains through separation, rather than always attempting one enormous move. UK Sailmakers News

A useful reminder is:

More separation means more exposure to being right — or wrong.

Neither boat has necessarily sailed faster. The wind has changed the value of where they are.

A simple practical example

Three boats begin a beat close together:

• Boat A works towards the left bank.
• Boat B stays in the central part of the fleet.
• Boat C works towards the right bank.

A favourable shift for the right arrives across the reach.

Boat C may make a substantial gain. Boat B experiences a smaller change relative to either extreme. Boat A suffers most.

If the next shift goes the other way, the picture may reverse — provided the boats still have enough course and manoeuvring room to respond.

That final condition matters. A shift returning later does not guarantee that it will rescue an earlier commitment.

The Middle Preserves Choices

The strongest argument for staying relatively central is flexibility.

With room on both sides, you can respond to a shift, move towards better pressure, avoid a wind shadow or adjust your approach to the mark.

At the edge, some of those choices disappear.

You might want to continue sailing on a favourable tack, but the bank prevents it. You might want to cross towards new pressure, but other boats block your route. You might reach the layline early and spend the rest of the beat watching opportunities develop somewhere you can no longer reach.

This connects directly with the previous article on laylines:

The earlier you commit to an edge, the sooner you may run out of useful decisions.

However, staying central does not mean repeatedly tacking for the sake of remaining in the middle. Every manoeuvre has a cost. Flexibility is valuable when you use it intelligently.

The Middle of the Course and the Middle of the Fleet Are Different

Suppose nearly every boat heads towards the right bank.

You remain in the geographical middle of the river. That sounds conservative, but you may now be substantially separated from your closest competitors.

Your position is central on the course and exposed relative to the fleet.

Conversely, you could be near one bank but surrounded by your principal rivals, all experiencing broadly similar conditions.

Ask two separate questions:

Where am I on the course?

Where am I relative to the boats I am racing?

The first concerns access to wind, current, marks and manoeuvring space. The second concerns how differently your race might develop from theirs.

You need both answers.

Staying in Touch Does Not Mean Following in Dirty Air

There is little comfort in remaining close to the fleet if you are sitting directly behind another boat with collapsing sails.

A useful position gives you:

• Clean enough air to maintain speed.
• Room to manoeuvre.
• A manageable separation from relevant competitors.
• Access to the next likely opportunity.

Sometimes that means taking a short tack away from the group and returning in a clearer lane. Sometimes it means accepting a slightly less attractive patch of water to keep the boat moving.

The aim is to remain connected to the race while sailing your own boat efficiently.

The RYA also highlights an important complication in mixed handicap fleets: nearby boats may have different ideal routes, and the boat beside you may not be your main rival on corrected time. Simply copying or covering it can distract you from sailing the fastest course. Racing

When Going to the Side Makes Sense

A central position is a useful response to uncertainty. It is not a universal answer.

Sometimes there is a clear reason to favour a side.

More reliable wind

You can see a band of pressure moving into one part of the reach. Boats already there are maintaining speed while those elsewhere struggle.

That is stronger evidence than one isolated dark patch on the water.

Look for confirmation: sail trim, heel, speed and whether the breeze appears likely to remain available when you arrive.

A developing wind trend

If observations suggest a persistent shift towards one side, positioning there may be justified.

But distinguish an established trend from a single change. One header does not prove that the wind will continue turning.

A current advantage

When sailing against the river’s flow, an area with less opposing current may offer a substantial benefit.

Near a bank, however, that advantage can come with weaker wind, shallower water, obstructions or extra manoeuvres. Around bends, the current pattern can become more complicated.

The relevant question is:

Will this route get me towards the mark faster overall?

A bend changes the next part of the race

On a river, the next stretch may present a different wind angle, shelter pattern or route to the mark.

A position that looks slightly inferior now could create a much better approach around the bend.

The RYA’s tactical guidance makes a useful distinction between decisions driven by wind shifts, advantageous areas of water and positioning relative to other boats. Identifying the dominant influence helps simplify the choice. Racing

A Thames Example: Less Current, Less Wind

Imagine an upstream beat on a narrow reach.

The main group is sailing in reasonable breeze further out. You notice an opportunity to use weaker opposing current nearer the bank.

You head across.

Initially, the choice works. Your progress over the ground improves.

Then you enter shelter from the trees. Boat speed falls, steering becomes less positive and you need to tack before reaching an obstruction.

Meanwhile, the boats further out continue making steady progress despite the stronger current.

Your original observation was correct: there was less flow near the bank.

The decision still failed because the loss of sailing speed outweighed the current advantage.

That is an important racing lesson:

Being right about one feature does not necessarily make the whole route right.

Try the comparison in reverse as well. A bank route with slightly weaker breeze may still win if the reduction in opposing current is large enough. The answer comes from observing the combined effect.

Your Position in the Race Changes the Risk

The same separation can be sensible in one situation and unnecessary in another.

Situation	A useful approach
Leading boats of similar performance	Limit unnecessary separation while maintaining speed and clean air.
Close to your main rivals	Look for small advantages without abandoning contact.
Behind, with plenty of racing remaining	Recover through clear air, good handling and evidence-based choices.
Behind near the finish	A larger split may be justified if following offers little chance to improve.
Uncertain about conditions	Preserve room to respond and gather more information.
Strong evidence of a better side	Move towards it deliberately, with a point at which you will reassess.

Being behind does not automatically make a corner gamble sensible.

There may be several places available through better tacks, a clean rounding and avoiding disturbed air. Those gains can disappear if frustration sends you towards a bank with no convincing advantage.

Equally, protecting a lead does not mean ignoring a clearly better route simply because nobody else has noticed it.

Take the Gain Before It Disappears

One of the hardest decisions is knowing when a successful move has done enough.

You separate towards a favourable side. The breeze arrives. You gain.

It is tempting to stay there and ask for more.

But if you keep extending away, you continue exposing yourself to the next change. Sometimes the better move is to tack back towards the fleet while your advantage is still available.

Think of it as converting an opportunity into a stronger position.

You have gained access to better air, moved ahead of a rival or created a useful crossing. You do not need to keep increasing the separation indefinitely.

A successful side move needs an exit plan as well as an entry plan.

What This Means Aboard Champagne

For me, this is one of the attractions of racing Champagne: the tactical decision has to become a practical decision for the whole crew.

A narrow opening on a sketch of the course may look less inviting when approaching it aboard a long A-Rater with a tall rig.

The questions become concrete:

• Have we room to complete the tack?
• What are the sails and boats ahead telling us about the breeze?
• Will we emerge in clear air?
• Are we approaching shelter?
• Where do we go if the expected advantage fails to appear?

I would rather have a clear reason for choosing a bank than an impressive explanation afterwards.

A useful crew conversation might be:

“There looks to be more pressure on the right. We’ll take a short move towards it, then reassess before we get committed to the bank.”

That gives everyone a purpose, an observation to check and a point at which the plan can change.

It also keeps the discussion focused on what happens next.

Try This in Your Next Race

Choose one beat and make fleet positioning your observation exercise.

1. Identify your reference boats.
Choose two or three boats of similar performance, or relevant handicap rivals.

2. State your reason before separating.
More pressure? Less opposing current? A developing shift? A clearer lane?

3. Identify the cost.
Extra distance, a tack, shelter, traffic or reduced freedom near the bank.

4. Set a reassessment point.
Use a visible feature, a change in pressure or a crossing opportunity. Avoid waiting until the bank makes the decision for you.

5. Review the decision afterwards.
Did the expected advantage appear? Did you use it? Could you have returned towards the fleet sooner?

Judge the reasoning as well as the result.

A sensible decision can lose to an unexpected change. A poor decision can occasionally win spectacularly. Looking only at finishing positions teaches the wrong lesson.

Conclusion: Choose How Much of Your Race to Commit

The middle and the corners offer different opportunities.

A central position preserves choices. A side position can exploit a real advantage. Greater separation increases how much you stand to gain or lose when conditions change.

The skill is deciding how much commitment the evidence deserves.

On the Thames, where a bank, a bend, a wind shadow and a patch of current may all influence the next hundred metres, that judgement becomes wonderfully absorbing.

Before your next move towards the edge, ask:

What am I expecting to gain, what could it cost, and how will I get back?

Winning the corner feels brilliant.

Learning when to leave it can produce a much better race.

Follow the Learning to Race series at pmrsailing.uk, alongside our continuing adventures aboard Champagne.

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

 

Laylines — Why Getting There Too Early Can Lose the Race

Reaching the layline feels reassuring — but you may have just run out of choices.

There is something wonderfully comforting about pointing towards a windward mark and thinking:

“We can make it from here.”

No more deciding when to tack. No more wondering which side to choose. Just sail towards the buoy and prepare to round.

Except racing rarely stays that simple.

The wind shifts. Another boat tacks ahead and takes your clean air. The current carries you sideways. Suddenly, what looked like a straightforward approach becomes a slow procession — or an awkward scramble to squeeze in two extra tacks.

Understanding laylines is about more than knowing when you can reach the mark.

It is about recognising when committing to that final approach will cost you the freedom to respond.

What Exactly Is a Layline?

Imagine a windward mark directly upwind.

You cannot sail straight towards it because that would mean sailing into the wind. Instead, you approach close-hauled on either port or starboard tack.

Now imagine extending those two possible final approaches backwards from the mark.

Those imaginary lines are the laylines.

A boat exactly on a layline can just reach and round the mark on that tack, assuming the conditions and its performance remain consistent. There are laylines downwind too, but this article concentrates on the windward mark.

A useful way to picture the arrangement is:

• Between the laylines: you still need some sailing on each tack before reaching the mark.

• On a layline: you can just make the final approach on one tack.

• Beyond a layline: you have gone farther to that side than you needed for the current conditions.

That last situation is called overstanding.

The layline is not a painted line on the water. It is your best estimate of where the final approach begins.

Why the Diagram Is Easier Than the Sailing

On paper, laylines look fixed and tidy.

On the water, their position depends on wind direction, the angle your boat can sail efficiently, leeway and current. Different boats need not share the same laylines.

This matters in mixed fleets.

A dinghy ahead might tack and comfortably make the mark. That does not prove that an A-Rater, another dinghy or a boat sailing in different current will make it from the same place.

Nor should you assume that the boat ahead has judged it correctly.

Perhaps its crew has overstood deliberately. Perhaps it is pinching and barely hanging on.

Another boat is evidence, rather than an answer.

For me, this is part of the attraction of learning to race Champagne. The challenge is to develop judgement about our own boat, rather than simply copy the track of somebody else.

The Trap: Committing While the Mark Is Still Far Away

Imagine two boats approaching the upper part of a beat.

Boat A heads all the way out to the starboard layline, tacks and settles onto a long final approach.

Boat B stays a little farther inside, with a short amount of sailing still required on the other tack.

Boat A’s crew feels reassured. Boat B’s crew still has a decision to make.

But that remaining decision is valuable.

Boat B has kept some freedom to respond to changing conditions. Boat A has committed much earlier.

An early layline approach exposes you to changes for longer: a shift may leave you overstanding or unable to fetch, while traffic can leave you sailing in disturbed air with an expensive escape route.

The problem is not reaching a layline.

The problem is reaching it so early that you spend a large part of the beat with fewer useful choices.

What Happens If the Wind Lifts?

Suppose Boat A is just able to make the mark on starboard tack.

Then the wind lifts it.

The boat can now point higher, and the mark lies below its new close-hauled course. It can ease sheets and sail towards the buoy.

That sounds pleasant — and it may feel fast.

But Boat B, still inside the old layline, may now be able to tack and fetch the mark too. It no longer needs to sail as far out as Boat A did.

Boat A’s earlier journey to the outside has become unnecessary distance.

The lift has helped both boats sail towards the mark, but Boat B retained the position to use it more efficiently.

Sailing faster towards a buoy does not prove that you took the fastest route to it.

What Happens If the Wind Heads?

Now imagine the opposite.

Boat A has committed to its final approach, but the wind heads it. It can no longer sail directly to the mark at a sustainable close-hauled angle.

The tempting response is to squeeze the tiller over and try to point higher.

For a few seconds, that may appear to work. Then speed falls, the foils become less effective and leeway increases.

The boat may end up making even less progress.

If the header persists, an extra pair of tacks may be necessary. Meanwhile, a boat inside the laylines may be better placed to tack and use the new wind direction.

This connects directly with our earlier discussion of oscillating and persistent shifts: you still need to interpret what the wind is doing. Reaching a layline does not make that question disappear.

It can simply make the answer harder to act on.

Dirty Air: When the Final Approach Becomes a Queue

There is another reason the reassuring layline can become uncomfortable.

Other boats want to use it too.

You tack onto what looks like a clean approach. A boat ahead then tacks into your lane. Your sails lose pressure and your speed drops.

You could tack away — but now you are heading away from the direct approach and will probably need another tack to return.

You could continue — but that may mean accepting disturbed air all the way to the mark.

This is why a slightly longer route with clear air can sometimes beat a geometrically tidy approach in a queue. The decision depends on the size of the detour and how badly the other boats are affecting you.

With an A-Rater’s large sail plan, the relationship between positioning and clean air deserves particular attention.

Aboard Champagne, I want the approach conversation to include:

“Will we still have usable wind?”

That is a different question from simply asking whether we can point at the buoy.

Overstanding: The Hidden Cost of “Just to Be Safe”

A small allowance can be sensible.

Repeatedly sailing a long way beyond the estimated layline “to be certain” can become expensive.

Consider a deliberately simplified example: flat water, no current, steady wind and close-hauled tracks at 45 degrees to the upwind direction.

A boat continues 20 metres beyond the correct tacking point. After tacking, it can reach directly towards the mark.

If the original tacking point was 100 metres from the mark, the new direct approach is approximately 102 metres long. The boat has sailed:

20 + 102 = 122 metres

instead of approximately 100 metres.

That is about 22 metres extra. At an illustrative speed of 2 metres per second:

Extra time = extra distance / speed

Extra time = 22 / 2 = approximately 11 seconds

The exact result changes with the geometry, speed and conditions. It is not a universal overstanding formula.

But it demonstrates why “only a little farther” can matter in a close race.

River Racing: Your Bow Can Point at the Mark While Your Track Misses It

On the Thames, the boat’s heading tells only part of the story.

Your movement over the ground combines movement through the water with the river’s flow.

In plain text:

Ground velocity = boat velocity through the water + current velocity

Those velocities have directions as well as speeds.

If current carries you away from the mark, you need to allow for it. If it carries you towards the mark, sailing to the position you would use in still water may cause you to overstand.

For an illustrative scale, a sideways current component of 0.3 metres per second produces:

Sideways displacement = 0.3 x 60 = 18 metres in one minute

That assumes a constant current component, but it shows why a short final approach can change substantially.

On a river, current may also vary across the course. A boat approaching through stronger flow cannot automatically use the judgement of one nearer the bank.

The useful question is:

“Are we tracking towards a successful rounding?”

Looking at the buoy over the bow is not enough.

When Getting There Early Can Be Sensible

“Stay off the layline” is a useful warning, but it is not an absolute rule.

An earlier commitment may be justified when:

• A reliable wind or current advantage makes that side worthwhile.

• A bank or obstruction limits your next move.

• A clear approach is available now, with congestion developing elsewhere.

• Conditions make another tack particularly costly.

• A modest margin gives a more reliable rounding.

For example, current setting boats away from the mark can justify allowing extra room rather than joining a group that is struggling to fetch.

The distinction is between a deliberate allowance and an unexamined habit.

Choose the margin for a reason.

Do Not Replace an Early Commitment with a Last-Second Gamble

There is a trap at the other extreme.

Trying to preserve every possible option until the final moment can leave you approaching on port tack, searching for a gap in a line of starboard-tack boats.

Tacking near the mark also brings additional rules considerations. Under the current rules, rule 18.3 places specific restrictions on a boat tacking from port to starboard in the zone at a mark to be left to port.

The aim is to leave enough room and time to complete a controlled, lawful approach.

Tactical flexibility is valuable only if you can turn it into a workable rounding.

A Better Conversation Aboard Champagne

I find it useful to turn a complicated idea into a few questions the crew can actually use.

Rather than asking only:

“Can we make it?”

I would like the conversation aboard Champagne to become:

1. Can we make it at normal speed, without pinching?

2. What is the current doing to our track?

3. Will we have clear air?

4. What happens if the wind changes?

5. Where is our escape route?

These questions encourage the crew to look beyond the immediate comfort of pointing towards the mark.

A useful call might be:

“We look close, but the current is setting us down. Allow a little more.”

Or:

“We can fetch, but that boat will cover us. Let’s protect our air.”

The purpose is to make an earlier, better-informed decision.

Try This Before Your Next Race

Choose a practice mark with plenty of room and little traffic.

Make an approach on each tack. Before the final tack, call whether you think you are short, exactly on the layline or comfortably beyond it.

Then test the judgement.

Sail at your normal close-hauled angle and speed. Avoid pinching to make your prediction appear correct.

Afterwards, ask:

• Did we fetch comfortably?

• Did we need to bear away significantly?

• Did current move us sideways?

• Did the wind change during the approach?

• What clue should we use next time?

Repeat in different conditions.

The aim is to build a feel for your boat and learn how much confidence to place in the estimate.

Conclusion: Aim for a Good Approach, Not an Early Promise

The layline offers an appealing promise:

From here, the decisions are over.

But the race continues. Wind changes, current varies and other boats interfere.

Commit too early and you may spend the final part of the beat defending a decision that has stopped working. Wait too long and you may create a rushed, congested rounding.

The skill is judging when the remaining flexibility is worth more than the certainty of the final approach.

For those of us developing our racing aboard Champagne, that is a useful lesson: look beyond whether the boat can reach the mark and consider the quality of the route.

Reach the layline with a plan — and before then, keep your choices working for you.

Follow the Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results series at pmrsailing.uk, as we explore the decisions that turn boat speed into better racing.

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

 

Dirty Air — Why Following Another Boat Can Feel Like Sailing Into a Hole

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

The boat ahead isn’t only blocking your route — it may be stealing your wind.

You are sailing towards the windward mark. The boat feels balanced, the sails are drawing and you seem to be keeping pace with the fleet.

Then another boat crosses ahead and tacks.

Nothing obvious changes on the river. There is still breeze on the water. Yet your boat suddenly feels lifeless. The jib telltales become restless, the mainsail loses pressure and the boat ahead begins to pull away.

You try pointing higher to follow it. That makes things worse.

You pull the sheets tighter. That does not help either.

It feels as though you have sailed into a hole.

You may have entered dirty air: airflow disturbed by another boat’s sails. Learning to recognise it — and deciding when and how to escape — is an important step from simply sailing the course to racing it effectively.

What Is Dirty Air?

Sails generate force by changing the movement of air around them. The air leaving a sail has therefore been affected by that sail.

For another boat nearby, this can mean:

• reduced wind speed;

• a different wind direction;

• turbulent, uneven airflow.

These effects overlap, but they are not identical. Sometimes your sails lose pressure. Sometimes they remain reasonably full, yet you can no longer point as high as a neighbouring boat.

A boat can therefore damage your performance before your sails visibly collapse. Upwind, slower and headed airflow can leave you sailing both lower and slower than your rival.

Dirty air is a problem with the wind reaching your boat. Good sail trim still matters, but it cannot restore the undisturbed airflow another boat has taken away.

A Wind Shadow Is Not Simply Behind the Transom

Imagine sheltering behind a building on a windy day. You may feel less wind, but also sudden swirls and changes in direction.

A sailboat produces a moving, more complicated version of that disturbance.

However, its wind shadow does not necessarily follow its track through the water.

That distinction matters:

A boat’s water wake follows its passage. Its disturbed airflow extends downwind from its rig.

The apparent wind — the wind experienced by the moving boat — provides a useful starting point for understanding where that disturbance travels. Sail deflection and turbulence complicate the exact shape.

Consequently, a boat ahead and to windward can be affecting you even though you are nowhere near its water wake.

There is no universal boundary measured in boat lengths. Rig size, wind strength, sailing angle and relative positions all matter.

The useful question is:

“Is the air reaching my sails passing through the influence of that boat first?”

Wind Shadows and Backwinding: What Is the Difference?

Racing conversations often use “dirty air”, “blanketing” and “backwinding” rather loosely. It helps to separate the main ideas.

Wind shadow or blanketing

Another boat lies between your rig and the incoming wind. Your sails receive weaker, disturbed airflow.

You may notice reduced heel, less pressure in the sheets and a loss of speed.

Backwinding and a local header

A nearby boat can also deflect the wind so that it reaches your sails from a less favourable direction.

On a beat, this can feel like a header: you need to bear away to keep the sails drawing.

A particularly frustrating position is close to windward and slightly behind another boat. The leeward boat’s influence can make it difficult to maintain your lane. Trying to hold its heading may leave your sails luffing and your speed falling.

Backwinding can also describe the front of a mainsail being pushed inward by airflow from its own jib. That is a separate interaction within one boat’s sail plan.

The practical lesson is straightforward:

Another boat can hurt your sailing angle as well as your speed.

Why “Just Behind” Can Become “Much Further Behind”

At first, staying close to the boat ahead feels sensible. You are following a successful route and keeping your opponent within reach.

But consider an illustrative example.

Two boats would otherwise make the same progress towards the windward mark. One enters disturbed air and loses 0.3 metres per second of progress towards it.

After one minute:

Additional distance lost = 0.3 x 60 = 18 metres

Those figures are an example, rather than a prediction for every boat. They show why a small, sustained disadvantage matters.

The loss may also become harder to reverse:

1. Reduced sail force slows the boat.

2. The slower boat has less effective steering and may make more leeway.

3. The helm tries to recover height by pointing higher.

4. The sails lose further drive.

5. The boat ahead continues towards the mark in better air.

A small initial gap becomes a substantial separation.

Meanwhile, a third boat sailing a slightly longer route in clear air may pass both your position and your expectations.

Close to the leader does not always mean close to matching the leader’s performance.

How to Recognise Dirty Air Before You Lose Too Much

No single symptom proves that another boat is responsible. River sailing includes genuine lulls, bank shelter, shifts and changes in current.

Look for several clues together.

Your boat changes as another boat moves into position

You were sailing comfortably. Another boat crosses, tacks or establishes itself ahead and to windward. Your performance then deteriorates.

The timing is a useful clue.

Nearby boats retain pressure

Your boat becomes upright and sluggish while boats outside the suspected shadow remain powered up.

They may have access to better air.

You cannot match the other boat’s heading

You can keep the jib drawing only by sailing lower, despite having held a better angle moments earlier.

The telltales become difficult to settle

Small steering or trimming adjustments no longer produce the response you expect.

The boat recovers after you create separation

Pressure returns, steering improves and the sails settle as you move away.

That recovery is valuable feedback. Remember the relative positions that caused the problem.

Escaping Upwind: Choose a Route Back to Useful Air

The answer is not automatically “tack immediately”.

An escape has a cost, and the new position needs to be better than the old one.

Option 1: Tack into an open lane

If you are losing steadily and the opposite tack offers clear air, tacking away may be the simplest solution.

Before committing, check:

• other boats and room to complete the manoeuvre;

• the bank, shallows and available water;

• current and wind pressure on the new route;

• whether you are exchanging one boat’s shadow for another.

Tack with enough speed to complete the manoeuvre cleanly, then allow the boat to accelerate.

Do not rush to tack back simply because the leader is still sailing the other way. First establish that you have recovered useful air.

Option 2: Bear away to build speed and separation

If you are near the edge of a disturbed area, bearing away slightly may help you accelerate and work clear.

This can be useful when you have open water to leeward and want to continue on the same tack.

But it is not a guaranteed escape. Sailing lower beneath a boat that remains directly to windward may leave you in its shadow for longer.

Judge the result by returning pressure and speed.

Option 3: Hold briefly for an opening

Sometimes the disruption will be short-lived.

A crossing boat may continue away. A boat ahead may be about to tack at the bank. You may be seconds from rounding a mark.

In those situations, a costly manoeuvre could lose more than a brief period of dirty air.

There is a difference between waiting for a specific opening and hoping that a persistent problem will disappear.

Ask:

“What is about to change that will give us better air?”

If there is no convincing answer, start planning an escape.

Do Not Try to Solve Everything With the Sheets

When a boat slows, pulling harder on the sheets is an understandable reaction.

But excessive sheeting can make an underpowered boat harder to accelerate.

Instead:

• steer to the airflow you actually have;

• adjust trim to keep the sails working;

• keep the boat balanced;

• minimise unnecessary rudder movement;

• identify a route to better air.

On emerging from the disturbance, rebuild speed before asking the boat to point at its highest useful angle.

Recover drive, then recover height.

Downwind: The Boat Behind Can Take Your Wind

On a beat, we tend to watch the boats ahead.

On a run, the threat may come from astern.

With the wind coming from behind, a following boat can place its sails between your rig and the incoming breeze. It may then gain as your sails lose pressure.

This is one reason a comfortable lead can begin shrinking unexpectedly on a downwind leg.

On reaches and faster downwind angles, the apparent wind may be well forward of directly astern. The dangerous position therefore changes with the boats and their sailing angles. Avoiding downwind wind shadows is a positioning skill in its own right.

Keep looking behind as well as ahead.

If another boat is moving into a position that could blanket you, consider creating separation while you still have speed. A course adjustment or a planned gybe may help, depending on the course, traffic and available water.

A late escape from a collapsed sail is usually harder than an early decision made while the boat is still moving well.

Why This Matters So Much Around an A-Rater

An A-Rater’s tall rig and substantial sail plan make airflow a particularly interesting part of river racing.

With Champagne, the lesson extends beyond the narrow hull visible on the water. The rig occupies a much larger space, and its influence on neighbouring boats deserves attention.

For a smaller boat nearby, that large sail plan is a good reason to anticipate possible disturbance rather than wait for a sudden loss of drive.

That does not give Champagne a fixed, invisible exclusion zone. The affected area changes with the conditions and relative positions.

Nor does a large rig make an A-Rater immune to dirty air. Champagne still needs access to useful airflow, and the crew still needs to recognise when another boat is compromising it.

For me, this is one of the most absorbing aspects of racing her: the contest takes place in the air above the river as well as on its surface.

The space between the hulls tells only part of the story.

On the Thames, Clear Air Must Fit the River

On open water, escaping may involve a relatively straightforward tack into space.

On the Thames, that space can be limited.

A tempting escape route may lead towards:

• shelter from trees or buildings;

• stronger adverse current;

• shallow water;

• another group of boats;

• a bank that forces an early tack.

Imagine following a boat along a sheltered bank to avoid stronger current in the middle.

You begin losing pressure in its dirty air. Tacking towards the centre might restore the breeze, but expose you to more stream. Continuing along the bank might protect you from the current while leaving you unable to sail efficiently.

There is no automatic answer.

You must compare the likely losses: dirty air, current, extra distance and manoeuvring.

This connects directly with the earlier distinction between strategy and tactics. Your preferred route along the bank is the strategy. Another boat compromising your airflow creates the tactical problem.

A good route still needs a workable sailing lane.

Do Not Mistake Another Boat’s Header for a Change Across the Course

In the previous articles, we explored headers, lifts and the difference between oscillating and persistent shifts.

Dirty air adds another question:

Has the wind changed across the course, or only where I am sailing?

If your apparent header begins when another boat settles close ahead, be cautious about treating it as evidence of a wider wind shift.

Look at boats in clear air. Are their headings changing too? Does your original angle return when you separate?

A local airflow problem may need a local escape. It does not necessarily justify abandoning your whole race plan.

A Simple Practice Exercise: Find the Edge

Two boats can explore this outside a race, in suitable open water.

Agree the exercise beforehand, keep ample separation and avoid other traffic.

1. Sail on the same tack with steady trim and reasonably consistent speed.

2. Position one boat ahead and to windward of the other.

3. Let the following crew note changes in pressure, telltales, heading and speed.

4. Gradually create separation and observe when the boat recovers.

5. Swap roles and repeat.

The aim is not to sail dangerously close or establish a universal distance.

It is to connect relative position with what the boat feels like.

Afterwards, discuss:

• Did pointing ability change before speed?

• How obvious was the loss of pressure?

• Which route restored useful air most efficiently?

• Did the result change when the breeze changed?

Those observations are far more useful than memorising an arbitrary number of boat lengths.

The Personal Lesson: Stop Following and Start Assessing

Following another boat is reassuring. It removes the need to choose a route and makes the next decision feel less urgent.

Yet racing requires us to question that comfort.

Am I following because this remains the best route, or because I have stopped assessing my own situation?

Aboard Champagne, the question I want us to keep asking is:

“Are we sailing in the air we need, or accepting the air another boat leaves us?”

That encourages the whole crew to contribute. One person may notice pressure returning farther out. Another may see a gap opening. The helm may feel the loss of steering response first.

Recognising the problem together makes an earlier, calmer decision possible.

Conclusion: Find the Wind That Lets Your Boat Work

Dirty air can be deceptive. Your sails may remain full, your course may look sensible and the boat ahead may seem only a little faster.

But weaker, deflected airflow can steadily turn a small gap into a large one.

Recognise the symptoms. Compare your boat with those in clear air. Decide whether to tack, create separation or wait briefly for a definite opening.

Above all, choose where you can sail effectively.

The next time your boat feels as though it has fallen into a hole, look beyond the sheets and tiller. The way out may be a better patch of air.

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

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

 

Oscillating or Persistent? Not Every Wind Shift Should Be Treated the Same Way

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

Sometimes a header tells you to tack. Sometimes it tells you to stay exactly where you are.

You are sailing towards the windward mark when the wind changes direction. The sails begin to lift, you bear away to keep the boat moving, and suddenly your bow points further from the mark.

You have been headed.

The familiar advice springs to mind: “Tack on a header.”

Often, that is a useful response. But sometimes it sends you towards the wrong side of the course, just as the wind is making that side increasingly unattractive.

The next step in learning to race is understanding that a wind shift has more than a direction and a size. It also has a pattern.

Is the wind swinging backwards and forwards? Or is it progressively turning one way?

That distinction can change your whole plan for the beat.

First, Remember What a Header Actually Means

On an upwind leg, a lift allows you to sail a heading closer to the windward mark. A header forces you to sail a heading further away.

For two boats on opposite tacks, the same change in wind direction generally lifts one and heads the other.

In the previous article, Headers and Lifts — Turning Wind Shifts Into Distance, we explored why this matters: two boats can sail at similar speeds yet make very different progress.

Now we need to add another question:

What is likely to happen after this shift?

The answer determines whether you should take the immediate improvement offered by a tack, or accept a less attractive heading while positioning for what comes next.

Oscillating Wind: The Swing That Comes Back

An oscillating breeze shifts backwards and forwards around a broadly stable average direction.

Imagine these illustrative wind-direction readings, taken at regular intervals:

270 degrees → 280 degrees → 270 degrees → 260 degrees → 270 degrees.

The wind swings right, returns, swings left and returns again.

Real wind is less tidy. The shifts may vary in size and duration, and you cannot assume that they arrive on schedule. Nevertheless, repeated returns towards a similar direction suggest an oscillating pattern.

In these conditions, sailing the lifted tack is often productive. When the wind crosses to the other side of its average direction, changing tack can let you take advantage of the new phase.

A practical example

Suppose you have established a normal close-hauled heading on each tack before the start.

On starboard, you are now sailing noticeably worse than your normal heading. Meanwhile, port would offer a better heading than its own normal value.

Provided you have room, clear air and a worthwhile shift, tacking makes sense.

You are responding to a meaningful change relative to the average—not simply to the fact that your bow moved a little.

That distinction matters. A boat can lose some of a generous lift and still remain on the favourable tack.

“We have been headed” does not always mean “we are now on the headed tack.”

Persistent Wind: The Shift That Keeps Going

A persistent shift moves predominantly in one direction over the period that matters to your race.

An illustrative sequence might be:

250 degrees → 260 degrees → 270 degrees → 280 degrees.

Instead of returning towards its earlier direction, the wind keeps turning clockwise.

“Persistent” does not mean forever. It means that you expect the change to continue, or the new direction to remain, long enough to influence your route to the mark.

A shift that reverses after fifteen minutes may be effectively persistent during a five-minute beat.

Here the strategic priority changes. You generally want to position towards the side from which you expect the new wind direction to arrive.

For a continuing right shift, that usually means favouring the right side of the beat, looking upwind. For a continuing left shift, it usually means favouring the left.

Why Staying on a Header Can Be the Right Decision

This is the part that can initially feel backwards.

Imagine an open-water beat with the mark initially straight upwind. You have credible evidence that the wind will continue shifting right.

Port tack takes you towards the right side of the course. As the wind turns right, port is headed.

Tacking immediately onto starboard would give you a lift—but would also send you back towards the left.

If the rightward trend continues, a boat that has stayed further right can gain an advantage. When it eventually tacks onto starboard, the changed wind direction gives it a better approach towards the mark.

In the simplified case:

Expected continuing right shift: favour the right, often sailing port first.

Expected continuing left shift: favour the left, often sailing starboard first.

This is why “tack on every header” can fail. It can repeatedly pull you away from the side that the developing wind favours.

However, this is a positioning principle, not an instruction to sail indefinitely away from the mark. Your starting position, remaining distance, current, wind strength and the course boundaries still matter.

There is no prize for predicting the shift correctly and sailing beyond the useful turning point.

How Can You Tell Which Pattern You Have?

One shift is an event. Several observations begin to reveal a pattern.

Before the start, spend some time sailing close-hauled on both tacks. Notice your normal headings and the range of variation.

During the race, ask:

• Does the wind repeatedly return towards its earlier direction?

• Are successive highs and lows moving progressively one way?

• Are boats elsewhere experiencing the same change?

• Does the change happen in the same place on each lap?

• How long remains before we reach the mark?

A compass helps, but useful observations are possible without one. Compare your bow with distant landmarks while sailing properly close-hauled, and watch the headings of boats in clear air.

Keep comparisons consistent. A course over the ground shown by GPS is affected by current; it is not the same thing as the direction in which the bow points.

Also check that the apparent header is really a direction change. Dirty air, a lull, poor trim or a change in boat speed can alter what you feel through the sails.

Do not build an entire strategy around a boat that has simply slowed down.

River Racing Adds Another Possibility: The Wind Changes with Place

On the Thames, trees, buildings and the shape of the river complicate the picture.

Imagine that you sail towards a particular stretch of bank and experience a header. On the next lap, it happens again in almost the same place.

That may be a geographical wind change rather than a breeze progressively turning across the whole course.

The distinction is:

Has the wind changed while we have been sailing, or have we sailed into different wind?

On a river, both can happen together.

Consider an illustrative choice between two routes. The right offers the expected favourable shift, but lies beneath trees in noticeably weaker wind. The left has a less attractive angle but stronger pressure.

In light conditions, the stronger wind may outweigh the directional advantage.

Current can change the calculation again. When beating against the flow, quieter water near a bank may help—but only if there is enough breeze to keep the boat moving.

River racing rewards a combined judgement:

Wind angle, wind strength and current must be considered together.

The Breeze Can Oscillate While Its Average Moves

The wind does not always fit neatly into one category.

Consider:

250 degrees → 265 degrees → 255 degrees → 275 degrees → 265 degrees → 285 degrees.

There are reversals, but the overall trend is towards the right.

Here you may still use the smaller oscillations to choose your moments to tack, while gradually working towards the right side.

That requires more thought than either “always tack” or “always stay”.

It also means updating your reference headings. A number that represented a good lift ten minutes ago may no longer be favourable if the average direction has changed.

Your observations should update your plan, not merely decorate it.

What This Means Aboard Champagne

Aboard an A-Rater such as Champagne, I would make this part of the conversation between the crew.

There is a useful difference between:

“Header—tack!”

and:

“Header again. Is this another swing, or are we still working towards the right?”

The second call gives the helm information about the decision, rather than just the latest symptom.

A simple division of attention could help: one person watches boats and approaching pressure, another keeps track of headings and the mark, while the helm concentrates on sailing the boat efficiently.

For me, the appeal of racing is increasingly this combination of observation, discussion and judgement. Boat handling remains essential, but the more interesting question becomes why we are choosing a particular route.

A well-executed tack is valuable. A well-executed tack made for a poor reason can still lose ground.

Try This During Your Next Club Race

Choose one beat as an observation exercise.

Before the start, establish a rough normal heading on each tack. During the beat, identify a few meaningful shifts and say what you think is happening:

“Swinging back.”

“Still trending right.”

“Different wind by the trees.”

Afterwards, compare your expectation with the result.

Did the wind return? Did the trend continue? Did another boat gain because it found more pressure rather than a better angle?

Avoid judging the decision solely by where you finished. You can make a sensible decision that loses to an unexpected change, just as a poor decision can occasionally be rescued by luck.

The aim is to improve the evidence behind your next choice.

Near the Mark, Time Changes the Answer

Even a normally oscillating breeze may need a different response near the end of the beat.

If the wind usually swings back after several minutes, but you are only forty seconds from the mark, the next reversal may arrive too late to matter.

Reaching the mark efficiently now becomes more important than positioning for a future swing.

Similarly, a persistent-shift strategy must stop short of overstanding: sailing further than necessary because you failed to account for how the changing wind moved the layline.

Keep asking:

Will the change I am waiting for happen before it can still help me?

Conclusion: Read the Pattern Before Choosing the Response

“Tack on a header” remains useful advice. Understanding when to apply it makes it more useful.

An oscillating breeze often rewards taking the favourable tack as the wind swings. A persistent shift often rewards positioning towards the expected new direction, even when the first part of that route feels uncomfortable.

On the river, pressure, current and local wind bends add further layers to the decision.

You will not predict every shift. Nobody does. But you can replace an automatic response with a reasoned one.

The next time your sails lift and the bow falls away from the mark, ask:

“Is this wind coming back—or am I watching the course change?”

That is a significant step from learning to sail a race to learning how to think your way around one.

Follow Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results at pmrsailing.uk, alongside the continuing story of A-Rater Champagne.

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