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.

 

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.

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

 

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.

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

 

Crossing Another Boat — Tack, Duck or Keep Going?

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

Sometimes the fastest tactical move is deliberately sailing behind somebody.

You are sailing upwind, the boat feels settled, and there is a promising patch of wind ahead. Then another boat appears on the opposite tack.

The distance between you begins to close.

Can you cross ahead? Should you tack? Or would it be better to bear away slightly and pass behind?

For a developing racing sailor, this can feel like a test of nerve. Passing ahead seems like winning; passing behind seems like losing.

But a crossing is really a decision about where your boat will be sailing next.

A small duck behind another boat might preserve your speed, keep you heading towards stronger wind and avoid two unnecessary tacks. An apparently successful crossing might take you straight into a wind shadow beside the bank.

The aim is to make the crossing serve your race strategy.

First, Understand Who Must Keep Clear

For ordinary crossings between racing boats, the essential starting points in the 2025–2028 Racing Rules of Sailing are:

• Opposite tacks: port keeps clear of starboard — Rule 10.

• Same tack, overlapped: windward keeps clear of leeward — Rule 11.

• Same tack, no overlap: the boat astern keeps clear — Rule 12.

• While tacking: after passing head to wind, a boat keeps clear until reaching a close-hauled course — Rule 13.

Right of way has limits. Rule 14 requires avoiding contact when reasonably possible. Under Rule 16.1, a right-of-way boat changing course must give the other boat room to keep clear. Rule 15 generally requires room initially when acquiring right of way.

On a beat, Rule 16.2 also restricts a starboard boat bearing away when port is already keeping clear by passing to leeward, if that would force port to change course immediately.

These are summaries; marks and obstructions introduce further rules.

For the tactical examples below, imagine an ordinary upwind crossing, away from marks and obstructions, with your boat on port tack.

Spot the Crossing Before It Becomes Urgent

The best crossing decisions begin while the boats are still comfortably separated.

Look beyond your own bow. Where is the other boat heading? Is she accelerating in a gust? Will your own boat soon enter lighter wind?

A useful warning sign is another boat remaining in roughly the same direction relative to you while getting closer. That suggests a possible collision course.

However, this is an observation to keep updating, rather than a guarantee. Sailing boats change speed and heading, particularly on a sheltered river.

A gap that looked comfortable can disappear when:

• Your boat enters a lull.

• The other boat receives a gust.

• A wind shift changes the crossing angle.

• One crew sails through a patch of disturbed air.

On Champagne, looking around the large sail plan is part of the job. A crew member who watches approaching boats can give the helm valuable time.

“Starboard boat approaching; crossing looks doubtful” is useful information while there is still space to choose a sensible response.

Option One: Keep Going When the Crossing Is Clearly Safe

If you can pass comfortably ahead while keeping clear, continuing may be the best choice.

You preserve your speed, avoid a manoeuvre and stay with your plan.

The important word is comfortably.

A crossing should have enough margin for the conditions and the boats involved. A smooth-water judgement between evenly paced dinghies may be inappropriate when boats differ greatly in length, speed or handling.

Think about the whole boat, too. Your bow passing ahead does not mean your stern has cleared.

A Thames example

Imagine Champagne approaching on port tack. There is useful pressure towards the part of the reach you want to sail, and the approaching starboard boat will pass clearly behind your stern.

Continuing makes sense.

Now imagine the same crossing with Champagne losing speed in a lull. The original judgement needs revisiting immediately.

A good decision made ten seconds ago can become a poor decision if you stop looking.

There is also a strategic question: once you have crossed, are you still sailing towards somewhere useful?

Passing ahead is satisfying. Sailing into a long patch of weak wind immediately afterwards is less so.

Option Two: Duck Behind and Preserve Your Plan

A duck is a controlled alteration away from the wind to pass behind another boat, followed by a return towards your intended course once safely clear.

It can be one of the most useful manoeuvres in fleet racing.

You accept a small, immediate loss in order to preserve something more valuable:

• Boat speed.

• Access to stronger wind.

• A favourable current lane.

• Separation from the fleet.

• Freedom to choose your next tack.

Why passing behind can be faster

Imagine you want to continue towards a visible patch of stronger wind. A starboard boat is approaching, and you cannot cross safely ahead.

You could tack. But that sends you away from the pressure. To return to your original plan, you may soon need to tack again.

Alternatively, a modest duck may let you continue towards the wind you wanted.

You have passed behind one boat, but you may have improved your prospects against several others.

A local loss can buy a larger strategic gain.

Half a Boat Length Versus Two Tacks

Suppose, purely as an illustration, a smooth duck costs about half a boat length of progress compared with an unobstructed course.

Now suppose tacking away and then tacking back costs roughly one boat length per tack through turning and rebuilding speed.

The comparison becomes:

Duck: about 0.5 boat lengths lost.

Two tacks: about 2 boat lengths lost, before considering where they take you.

Those figures are deliberately illustrative. Actual losses depend on the boat, crew, wind, water and execution. A deep duck can be expensive; an excellent tack can be economical.

The lesson is to compare the whole sequence.

Do not compare one duck with one tack if the tack will force another manoeuvre shortly afterwards.

For Champagne, this is a particularly useful question in light winds: how much speed will we retain, and how much will we have to rebuild?

How to Make a Duck Work

A good duck begins with a decision made early enough to execute smoothly.

Check the space beyond the first boat

Before bearing away, look behind and to leeward of the approaching boat.

There may be another competitor following her. There may also be a moored boat, shallow water or a bank limiting your route.

A gap behind the first boat is only useful if it leads somewhere safe.

Bear away enough to make the intention clear

Allow a sensible margin behind the stern. Avoid turning the manoeuvre into a last-second attempt to squeeze through.

The helm and crew should coordinate sail trim with the altered heading. Depending on the boat and the size of the alteration, some easing may help the boat turn and keep moving efficiently.

Keep watching the other boat

Do not stare only at the water immediately ahead of your bow.

Watch the other boat’s stern, speed and heading, while maintaining awareness of the surrounding fleet.

Return smoothly once safely clear

An abrupt turn back towards the wind can waste the speed you worked to preserve.

Allow for the whole of both boats, then return smoothly towards your intended heading and trim accordingly.

You may briefly encounter disturbed air during the manoeuvre. Avoid assuming that passing behind automatically gives you clear wind.

The objective is a safe crossing followed by an efficient exit.

Option Three: Tack When the New Tack Helps You

Ducking is useful, but it should not become an automatic response.

Sometimes the approaching boat gives you a good reason to make a tack that already suits your strategy.

Tacking may be attractive when:

• The new tack leads towards better pressure.

• You are approaching the useful limit of the reach.

• Continuing would take you towards a wind shadow.

• A duck would require a large diversion.

• Several boats make the route behind difficult.

• The new tack offers a good lane of clear air.

A different Thames example

Imagine you are approaching the bank. The wind ahead looks weak beneath the trees, while the centre of the river has more pressure.

A starboard boat approaches.

Ducking would allow you to continue, but towards somewhere you no longer want to go. A timely tack could take you towards the better wind instead.

Here, tacking combines traffic management with a useful change of direction.

Before committing, picture the position after the tack. Will you emerge with clear air and room to accelerate, or directly underneath another boat’s sails?

A tack that resolves the crossing but leaves you trapped in disturbed wind can carry a continuing cost.

Why Champagne Makes This Decision Interesting

Sailing an A-Rater on the Thames makes it difficult to separate boat handling from tactics.

With Champagne’s long hull and large sail plan, I want to think beyond whether there is just enough space to get through.

The more useful questions are:

• Can we make the manoeuvre smoothly?

• Will we retain enough speed?

• Where will we emerge?

• What happens at the bank or bend ahead?

• Will we immediately need another manoeuvre?

That is one of the aspects of river racing I find most interesting. A small area of water can contain several different tactical problems at once.

There may be stronger wind farther across, less adverse current nearer one bank, and a substantial wind shadow behind another boat. The crossing sits inside that larger picture.

Champagne also makes a useful reminder that boat lengths are not interchangeable units across a mixed fleet. A gap that looks generous from one cockpit may feel very different from another.

Current Can Change the Value of the Manoeuvre

On a river, the direction your bow points and your movement over the ground are different things.

For boats close together in similar current, their relative motion remains central to judging the crossing. But the bank, moorings and marks are fixed to the ground, and current can vary across the reach.

That matters when choosing where to go afterwards.

For example, while racing upstream, a shallow duck might allow you to remain in a useful lane of weaker adverse current. Tacking away could send you towards a faster stream in the middle.

In another situation, the bank offers less current but so little wind that staying there is costly.

The question is therefore broader than “Which manoeuvre loses less distance?”

Which manoeuvre leaves us making better progress over the next minute?

When You Are the Starboard Boat

The crossing looks different when you have right of way.

You may wish to continue on your existing tack and let the other boat resolve the situation. You may also have tactical reasons to change direction, within the rules.

Either way, give the situation your attention.

A clear “Starboard!” can alert a crew who have not seen you. It should be communication, rather than an invitation to turn a manageable crossing into an argument.

Watch what the port boat is actually doing. Be ready to avoid contact if the situation deteriorates.

A shouted “Go ahead” is also a poor substitute for a sound crossing judgement. Do not assume that an informal exchange settles every rules consequence or accounts for other nearby boats.

For club racing, calm and predictable handling helps everyone make better decisions.

Do Not Let One Crossing Take Over the Race

One of the easiest tactical mistakes is becoming determined to beat the boat directly in front of you.

You tack to avoid passing behind. Then tack again to escape her disturbed air. Then defend a position that takes you away from the stronger wind.

Meanwhile, several boats elsewhere make steady progress.

The original crossing has consumed your attention and dismantled your plan.

A useful question is:

“If this boat were not here, where would I want to sail?”

Then ask which safe, legal option gets you closest to that intention.

Sometimes the answer will be to cross ahead. Sometimes it will be to tack. Quite often, it will be to accept a modest duck and carry on.

A Simple Crossing Checklist

As the boats converge, work through five questions:

1. Who must keep clear?

2. Can we cross with a comfortable margin?

3. Where do we want to sail next?

4. What lies beyond the tack or duck?

5. Can we act now, smoothly and clearly?

The final question matters enormously.

A modest manoeuvre made early usually leaves more options than a desperate manoeuvre made late.

Practise the Decision as Well as the Manoeuvre

With another willing crew, practise crossings in open water with generous separation.

Begin with comfortable ducks and well-spaced tacks. Gradually explore how speed, angle and timing affect the outcome.

After each attempt, discuss:

• When did we first identify the crossing?

• Was our intention clear?

• How much speed did we retain?

• Did we emerge where we wanted?

• Would the same choice have helped during a race?

Use the exercise to improve judgement and coordination. Close margins are unnecessary.

Conclusion: Think Beyond the Other Boat’s Stern

Crossing another boat is a small moment with consequences that can last much longer.

The apparently bold choice may cost two tacks. The apparently cautious choice may preserve speed, clear a traffic problem and keep you sailing towards the best wind.

On the Thames, aboard Champagne, that wider view matters. Trees, bends, current and the next approaching boat all remain part of the decision.

Know your obligations. Look early. Leave a sensible margin. Then choose the manoeuvre that supports the next part of your race.

Sometimes the quickest way ahead is to go behind.

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

 

Which Side of the River? Turning Local Knowledge Into Race Strategy

Learning to Race — From First Start to Better Results

The shortest route up a river is frequently not the fastest route.

Two boats round a mark together. One takes a direct route towards the next mark. The other moves towards the bank, makes an apparently unnecessary tack and sails further.

A few minutes later, the boat that travelled further is ahead.

Was it better sail trim? A faster boat? A fortunate gust?

Possibly. But on a river, the answer may lie in something more interesting: one crew recognised where the useful wind and water were, while the other simply aimed at the destination.

At Upper Thames Sailing Club, trees, buildings, bends, stream and other boats all influence the route. The challenge is to turn those observations into decisions before the opportunity has passed.

For me, learning to race Champagne is partly about learning the boat. It is also about learning to see the river differently.

The important question becomes:

Which route will get us to the next mark soonest—and what evidence supports that choice?

1. The River Is a Changing Racecourse

On a diagram, a sailing course looks reassuringly tidy: a start line, some marks and straight lines between them.

The river adds another layer.

One stretch may have relatively open wind. Further along, trees interrupt it. A building may create a patch of disturbed air. A bend changes the relationship between the river and the wind. Meanwhile, the strength and direction of the stream vary across the available water.

Upper Thames Sailing Club describes its sailing reach as extending between Bourne End and the islands below Marlow Lock. That setting provides plenty of opportunity to experience these interacting effects.

However, local knowledge should be more useful than a collection of instructions such as:

“Always go towards that bank.”

A better version is:

“That bank can work when the wind comes from this direction, provided there is still enough breeze beneath the trees.”

The first is a habit. The second is a strategy you can test.

Good local knowledge explains when a route works, why it works and when to abandon it.

2. Read the Windward Shore Before Choosing Your Side

Before looking for the best patch of water, look at what the wind has travelled over to reach it.

Has it crossed open ground? A line of mature trees? Houses? A gap between buildings?

Trees and buildings can reduce wind speed and create turbulence downwind. Their effects depend on their height, shape, spacing and the wind direction. The disturbed area does not necessarily end at the shoreline.

That produces a familiar river-sailing trap: the boat moves towards apparently sheltered water to escape the current, then loses the wind needed to make progress.

There is another complication. The bank closest to you is not necessarily the bank causing the problem. If the wind crosses the river, obstructions on the opposite shore may affect the air reaching your sails.

What to watch

Look for agreement between several clues:

• Ripples fading as they approach a particular stretch.

• Boats repeatedly slowing in the same area.

• Sails losing their shape or telltales becoming unsettled.

• Tree movement that differs from what you feel aboard.

• Better progress by boats sailing slightly further offshore.

One boat slowing could be poor handling. Several boats slowing in the same place are stronger evidence.

Choose your lane by the wind reaching the boat, rather than by how inviting the bank looks.

3. Pressure Can Matter More Than Pointing

In racing conversation, “pressure” usually means stronger wind.

When the breeze is light and uneven, a patch of useful pressure can be more valuable than a small improvement in sailing angle.

Imagine two boats beating towards a mark.

Boat A points a little higher but repeatedly enters weak, disturbed air.

Boat B sails a slightly less direct heading while keeping its sails drawing and its hull moving.

Boat B may arrive first because its average progress is better.

This does not mean sailing towards every gust. A gust has to be reachable, useful and worth the distance required to intercept it.

Ask:

1. Is that darker patch actually wind?

2. Is it moving towards us or away from us?

3. Can we reach it before it passes?

4. Will reaching it leave us with a useful route afterwards?

Darker water can also result from reflections, current or viewing angle. Treat a visible gust line as a clue, then check the response of boats within it.

A useful crew call

“More wind on the other side” is an observation.

“More wind approaching from the other side; one short tack could put us into it before the trees” is a possible plan.

The second gives the helm something to assess.

4. The Bank Can Save Current—and Cost the Race

Our earlier article, The Current Changes Everything, explored the difference between speed through the water and progress over the ground.

Choosing a side means applying that distinction.

Against the stream, a lane of weaker current can help. But a bank route must also provide enough wind, sufficient depth and room to manoeuvre.

Consider these simplified figures. They describe movement along an upstream leg, rather than total boat speed:

Lane	Upstream component through the water	Opposing stream	Net upstream progress
Open water	1.8 knots	0.7 knots	1.1 knots
Bank with useful wind	1.5 knots	0.2 knots	1.3 knots
Bank in a wind shadow	0.8 knots	0.2 knots	0.6 knots

The bank wins in the second situation and loses badly in the third.

For this aligned example:

Upstream progress = upstream component through the water - opposing current

The figures are illustrative, not measurements from a Champagne race.

The practical lesson is straightforward:

Weaker current helps only while you retain enough useful sailing speed.

Also remember that upstream is not necessarily upwind. An upstream leg might be a beat, reach or run, depending on the wind.

5. Downstream, Change the Question

When sailing downstream, stronger favourable current may become an advantage.

The route you avoided on the upstream leg could be worth seeking on the return.

But stronger stream does not automatically justify a long diversion. You still have to consider the distance, wind, traffic and cost of manoeuvres.

For a simplified route comparison:

Time taken = distance travelled / average speed over the ground

A 300-metre route averaging 1.5 metres per second takes 200 seconds.

A 360-metre route averaging 1.7 metres per second takes about 212 seconds.

The second route is faster over the ground but takes longer because the extra distance outweighs the gain.

There is a useful racing habit here: reassess the river after rounding the mark. The conditions that favoured one lane in one direction may favour another on the return.

6. Bends Change the Problem Ahead

A river bend changes the orientation of the sailing space relative to the wind.

Without any change in the broader wind direction, the next section may offer a different sailing angle. It may also expose the boat to different trees, buildings and gaps along the shore.

Current adds another complication. Flow often becomes stronger towards the outside of a bend, but depth, islands, structures and local river shape can alter the pattern.

“Inside slow, outside fast” is a starting hypothesis, not a reliable map.

Before reaching the bend, look beyond it:

• Which shore will be upwind of the next section?

• Where does the usable breeze appear to begin?

• Are boats ahead gaining or losing speed?

• Will our present lane give us room to turn or tack?

• Where will the stream carry us during the transition?

The best position approaching a bend may be the one that provides a clean exit, rather than the one that saves a few metres on entry.

Sail the next piece of river before you arrive in it.

7. Champagne: What the Tall Rig Can—and Cannot—Tell Us

Aboard Champagne, the height of the rig adds another dimension to reading the river.

An A-Rater can encounter air higher above the water than a smaller dinghy. That can sometimes help when the lower air is obstructed, but trees can be tall too, and disturbed airflow can affect a substantial part of the sail plan.

A tall mast is an opportunity to find useful wind. It is not immunity from wind shadows.

It also means that a nearby dinghy is an imperfect comparison. Its behaviour is useful evidence, but it may not be experiencing exactly the same air.

The questions aboard Champagne become:

• Is the upper sail still working while the lower sail struggles?

• Are we retaining speed through this patch?

• Is the stream carrying us towards a difficult position?

• Can we leave this lane before losing the room to tack?

My own published account of bringing Champagne into the Queen’s Cup story records the help Adrian Hart and Matthew from Scamp gave with setting the sails and adjusting the boom before our first sail. That is a useful reminder of how much there is to learn from people who know these boats.

The next step is to connect that boat-handling knowledge with the water ahead.

A well-set boat still needs somewhere useful to sail.

8. Three Racing Decisions to Practise Aboard Champagne

These are worked scenarios based on river-racing conditions, rather than accounts of particular recorded races.

Scenario A: The Tempting Upstream Bank

We are making steady progress against the stream. Near the bank, the water appears quieter, but trees stand upwind of the lane.

A rival moves close in and initially gains. Further along, its sails soften and its progress slows.

The useful response is to separate two effects: the bank is offering less current, but the next section appears to offer less wind.

A possible plan is to use the weaker stream while retaining a route back into clearer air before the shaded section.

The mistake would be to continue towards the bank simply because the first part worked.

The best lane can end halfway along a leg.

Scenario B: A Gust Approaches Across the River

We see rippled water approaching from the opposite side. A boat within it accelerates.

Crossing may help, but the crossing itself has a cost. It may involve stronger stream, disturbed air from another boat or an awkward arrival near the bank.

The decision should consider the whole sequence:

Reach the gust, use it, then leave it in a useful position.

If the gust is brief or moving away, maintaining our current lane may be better.

The mistake would be to chase yesterday’s opportunity—the patch that looked promising several moments ago.

Scenario C: The Fast Lane Has No Exit

There is useful wind and weaker stream near the bank. For the moment, everything looks favourable.

However, another boat is approaching, the bank is converging and the next tack will need space.

Continuing for a few extra seconds may surrender the ability to manoeuvre when we want to.

A slightly earlier tack could preserve speed and choice.

The mistake would be to judge the lane solely by its present benefit.

A lane is only as useful as your ability to leave it.

9. Use Other Boats as Moving Evidence

The fleet can help reveal the river.

Watch boats on different routes and compare their progress against fixed bank features. A boat may look lively through the water while making disappointing progress towards the mark.

The most useful comparisons are between similar boats in similar circumstances.

Ask:

• Are they travelling at a comparable sailing angle?

• Are their sails drawing?

• Have they just tacked?

• Are they in another boat’s wind shadow?

• Does the gain persist?

One boat gaining once is interesting. Several boats gaining repeatedly in the same lane are more persuasive.

Avoid following a familiar local sailor without understanding the reason. They may be responding to a short-lived opportunity, preparing for another boat or making a mistake themselves.

Copy the reasoning when you can identify it. Keep checking the result.

10. Turn Local Knowledge Into a Testable Plan

A useful plan can fit into three short statements:

Observation: The bank has weaker stream, but boats lose wind beside the trees.

Plan: Use the bank lane through the open section, then move out before the shelter.

Change trigger: Leave earlier if our sails stop drawing or boats outside start gaining.

That final statement matters. It prevents a sensible idea becoming an expensive commitment.

It also makes communication aboard clearer. Everyone knows what we are trying to achieve and what would make us reconsider.

Before the start, agree the likely advantage, the main risk and the point at which the decision needs reviewing.

You do not need a prediction for every metre of river. You need a reason for the next choice.

11. Build Your Own River Notebook

After racing, record a few observations while they are fresh.

Record	Useful detail
Wind direction	Where the wind came from relative to the reach
Wind strength	Whether pressure was steady or patchy
Stream	Observed differences between lanes
Location	A recognisable bank feature or section
Boat response	Speed retained, lost or recovered
Interpretation	Why the route appeared to help or hurt
Confidence	One observation or a repeated pattern

“The bank was good” is too vague.

“The bank lane helped against the stream until the wind faded beside the trees” is something you can investigate next time.

For Champagne, photographs and video can support that process. They may show when the sails lost shape, when another boat entered the same patch or how long a tack took.

Footage cannot measure unseen wind or current by itself, but it can help us ask better questions.

12. Five Questions Before Choosing a Side

During the race, reduce the detail to a manageable check:

1. Wind: Where is the most useful breeze?

2. Water: What is the stream doing in each lane?

3. Distance: Will the advantage repay the diversion?

4. Room: Can we tack, keep clear and leave the lane?

5. Evidence: What tells us the plan is still working?

Room includes depth, overhanging branches, moored boats and other river users. A promising racing route still has to be navigable and leave room to meet your obligations.

The aim is not to make the river predictable. It is to become quicker at recognising what matters.

Conclusion: Learn the Reason Behind the Route

The attraction of river racing is that the course keeps asking questions.

A bank offers shelter from the stream, then takes away the wind. A gust rewards a crossing, then moves on. A bend changes the next decision before the previous one is finished.

For me, that is part of the pleasure of sailing Champagne. There is the satisfaction of handling the boat better, alongside the quieter challenge of understanding why one patch of river works and another does not.

Local knowledge grows when we observe, form an explanation and test it again.

Next time you race, choose one section to study. Watch the wind, compare the lanes and notice where the boats actually gain. Afterwards, write down the reason you think it happened.

The shortest route is easy to draw. The fastest route has to be read from the river.

Follow Champagne’s sailing and racing journey at pmrsailing.uk.

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