Starting a Race — Why Everyone Appears to Be Sailing the Wrong Way
Five minutes before a sailing race starts, nobody seems interested in sailing towards the first mark.
If you have never watched a sailing race start before, the whole thing can look slightly ridiculous.
The first mark may be clearly visible up the river, yet instead of sailing towards it, the competitors are sailing backwards and forwards near the starting line.
Some boats are reaching quickly across the river. Others are almost stationary.
One boat sails towards the line, turns away and comes back again. Another appears to be sailing in completely the wrong direction. Boats tack, gybe, slow down, accelerate and occasionally sail in circles.
Then a signal sounds.
Suddenly everything changes.
The apparently disorganised collection of boats converges on one invisible line and, ideally, crosses it at speed just as the race begins.
That is the art of the sailing start.
And once you understand what the boats are actually trying to achieve, those mysterious five minutes become one of the most fascinating parts of racing.
The Starting Line Changes Everything
Most beginners naturally think about a sailing race in the same way they might think about a running race.
There is a start.
There is a finish.
So when the race starts, everyone should simply head towards the destination.
But sailing has an important complication.
You cannot wait on the starting line.
Imagine ten runners being told:
"You may move around as much as you like before the starting gun, but you must not cross the line early. Ideally, you should arrive at the line already travelling at full speed at exactly the moment the gun sounds."
That would produce a very different-looking athletics start.
And that is essentially what sailors are doing.
The objective is not merely:
Cross the starting line after the start signal.
The real objective is closer to:
Cross the best part of the starting line, at full speed, travelling in the correct direction, at almost exactly the moment the race begins.
Those additional requirements explain much of the apparent chaos.
What Is the Five-Minute Sequence?
Club procedures vary, and the precise signals used depend on the sailing instructions and racing rules being used, so a sailor should always check the instructions for that particular event.
But a typical club start provides competitors with a countdown before the start.
For a beginner, it is useful to think of this as a sequence of changing jobs.
About five minutes to go: investigate
This is not the time to sit waiting.
I want to know:
Where exactly is the starting line?
Which end appears favoured?
What is the wind doing?
Is there significant current?
Where are the other boats gathering?
How long does it take my boat to travel certain distances?
Can I cross the line comfortably on both tacks?
Where do I want to be when the final minute begins?
You are gathering information.
Around four to three minutes: build a plan
Now I can start turning observations into a strategy.
Perhaps the left-hand end of the line appears slightly favoured.
Perhaps the right-hand side gives access to stronger wind.
Perhaps there is current pushing boats towards the line.
Perhaps one end is becoming extremely crowded.
The theoretically perfect starting position may therefore not be the best practical starting position.
That distinction becomes very important.
Two minutes: position the boat
Now things become more serious.
You want to manoeuvre into an area from which your intended start is actually possible.
Being in the perfect place with five minutes remaining means almost nothing.
Being in approximately the correct place with 30 seconds remaining means a great deal.
Final minute: time and distance
Now the questions become much more immediate.
How far am I from the line?
How quickly am I moving?
How quickly could I be moving?
Is there space below me?
Is another boat going to prevent me accelerating?
Am I early?
Am I late?
Do I need to slow down?
When should I sheet in and accelerate?
This is where a good start begins to feel less like waiting for a clock and more like solving a moving geometry problem.
Why Not Simply Wait Behind the Line?
You could.
And for somebody entering their first few races, starting conservatively is often perfectly sensible.
But there is a problem.
A sailing boat does not instantly accelerate to full speed.
Suppose two identical boats cross the starting line at exactly the same moment.
Boat A is already sailing at close to full speed.
Boat B has been almost stationary and has only just sheeted in.
Technically they have started together.
In practice, Boat A may establish a significant advantage within seconds.
This introduces one of the central ideas of starting:
Time on Distance
The skipper is constantly trying to answer a deceptively difficult question:
How long will it take me to reach the starting line from here?
That is time-on-distance judgement.
It sounds easy until you remember that the boat's speed is constantly changing.
Wind strength changes.
Gusts arrive.
Other boats interfere with your wind.
You may have to bear away.
You may need to tack.
Current may move you towards or away from the line.
And your boat may take several seconds to accelerate.
You are therefore not simply estimating distance.
You are estimating time required to cover a changing distance at a changing speed.
That is a skill which develops enormously with practice.
A Simple Time-on-Distance Exercise
There is an excellent exercise you can practise before racing.
Choose an imaginary line between two fixed objects.
Sail perhaps 30 seconds away from it.
Then try to return and cross the line exactly when your stopwatch reaches zero.
Do it again.
And again.
Try approaching at different speeds.
Try it in lighter wind.
Try approaching slowly and accelerating during the final ten seconds.
Very quickly you begin developing an intuitive relationship between distance, boat speed and time.
Eventually you stop thinking:
"That looks about 30 metres."
Instead you begin thinking:
"That feels like about 18 seconds."
That is much more useful to a racing sailor.
Why Do Boats Sail Away From the Line?
This is one of the strangest things for a spectator.
Thirty seconds before the start, a boat may deliberately turn away from the starting line.
Why?
Because it may be too early.
Imagine you are 20 seconds from the line but there are 35 seconds remaining.
Continuing directly towards the line would make you early.
You therefore need to lose approximately 15 seconds.
You might:
ease the sails;
luff slightly;
bear away;
sail parallel to the line;
make a small turn;
use a controlled manoeuvre to consume time.
You are not lost.
You are spending time.
That is an important way of thinking about starting manoeuvres.
Why Do Boats Circle Before the Start?
Sometimes boats appear to circle, loop or make repeated manoeuvres.
There can be several reasons.
They may simply be using manoeuvres to remain close to their intended starting area without crossing the line.
They may be trying to preserve freedom to manoeuvre.
They may be avoiding other boats.
They may be checking the line.
Or they may be trying to arrive at a particular position at a particular time.
A moving sailing boat is generally easier to control than one that has been allowed to stop completely.
The objective is therefore often to keep the boat alive while using up the remaining time.
That does not mean endlessly spinning around as fast as possible. Every unnecessary tack or gybe can cost speed and create additional risk.
Good starting manoeuvring should have a purpose.
The Invisible Line
Another difficulty for beginners is that there usually isn't a painted white line across the water.
The starting line exists between two defined points.
That means the sailor must mentally visualise a line across moving water.
This becomes particularly interesting on a river.
At Upper Thames, for example, we are not racing across an enormous open area of sea. Banks, trees, current, moored boats, other competitors and the available width of river can all influence the approach.
So you need to develop the ability to look sideways and judge:
Am I actually behind the line?
That is harder than it sounds.
What Is Line Bias?
Now we encounter one of the cleverer aspects of starting.
The two ends of the starting line are not necessarily equally good.
Suppose the first leg is approximately upwind.
If the starting line were perfectly square to the wind, neither end would have an inherent windward advantage.
But the wind rarely cooperates perfectly.
If the wind direction shifts, one end of the line may effectively become closer to the windward mark.
That is called the favoured end.
Sometimes the advantage is surprisingly large.
Imagine two boats starting simultaneously, one at each end of a long starting line.
Both may legally cross at exactly the same moment.
Yet one could effectively begin several boat lengths ahead because of the angle of the line to the wind.
That is why experienced sailors investigate the line before the start.
How Can You Test Which End Is Favoured?
There are several methods.
One simple approach is to sail along the starting line and compare its orientation with the wind.
Another is to position yourself near the middle and assess which end appears further upwind.
You can also observe boats sailing close-hauled from each end.
But there is an important warning here.
The favoured end of the line is not automatically the best place to start.
Suppose the committee-boat end gives a theoretical advantage of two metres.
Twenty boats have noticed.
They all want it.
Meanwhile, another part of the line has clean air and plenty of space.
For a developing racer, starting slightly away from the theoretically favoured end with clear air and room to accelerate may be vastly better than joining a compressed group of boats and emerging almost stationary.
The fastest theoretical start is useless if another boat prevents you executing it.
The Difference Between Position and Speed
Beginners often concentrate entirely on position.
They think:
"I need to be on the line when the race starts."
Experienced racers think about position plus speed.
Imagine two boats again.
With three seconds remaining:
Boat A is one metre behind the line but almost stationary.
Boat B is five metres behind but accelerating rapidly.
Which is better positioned?
Quite possibly Boat B.
The question is not simply where the boat is now.
It is:
Where will the boat be when the countdown reaches zero?
That is why sailing starts are dynamic.
Acceleration — The Part Beginners Often Miss
A boat needs time and space to accelerate.
If you are sitting with the sails flapping and five seconds remaining, simply pulling the sheets in may not produce instant speed.
You may need to bear away slightly.
The sails fill.
The boat begins moving.
Water starts flowing effectively over the centreboard and rudder.
The boat accelerates.
Then you can gradually head towards your intended close-hauled course.
This creates another important starting concept:
Protect your acceleration space.
A beautifully timed approach can be ruined if another boat occupies the water into which you intended to accelerate.
That is one reason boats interact so closely before a start.
Everyone is looking for space.
The Final Ten Seconds
This is where everything begins to come together.
Imagine I am approaching the line.
10 seconds: I am slightly behind where I need to be, but I have space.
Good.
I can accelerate.
8 seconds: Sheets coming in. Boat beginning to move.
6 seconds: Speed increasing. Check the line.
4 seconds: Perhaps slightly early. Can I feather up briefly without killing the boat?
3 seconds: Commit.
2 seconds: Keep speed.
1 second: Don't make an unnecessary steering movement now.
Start: Cross the line at speed.
And suddenly all those boats which appeared to be wandering aimlessly become a fleet heading towards the first mark.
What Happens If You Start Too Early?
Crossing the line before you are permitted to start can mean having to correct the error under the applicable rules and signals.
For somebody learning to race, that can be enormously disruptive.
You may have transformed a potentially excellent start into a recovery exercise.
This is why I would much rather see a new racer start a few seconds late with clear air than attempt a heroic front-row start and get it badly wrong.
Your first objective is not perfection.
It is control.
A Good Beginner's Starting Strategy
For your first races, I would keep the plan deliberately simple.
You do not need to win the start.
Try this instead:
Identify the starting line clearly.
Stay on the correct side of it.
Avoid the most congested part of the fleet.
Keep enough space to manoeuvre.
Try to have the boat moving before the start.
Cross the line shortly after the signal.
Sail into clear air if possible.
Concentrate on the first leg.
If you cross five seconds late but are moving quickly in clear air, you may have a much better race than somebody who crossed at exactly zero but immediately became trapped behind several other boats.
Starts Are Particularly Interesting on a River
River sailing adds another layer.
The wind may be disturbed by trees and buildings.
One side of the river may have noticeably more pressure than the other.
Current may affect your time-on-distance judgement.
The favoured end of the line may put you on the less attractive side of the river.
And there may simply be less room for everyone to manoeuvre.
This creates an interesting tactical compromise.
Suppose the left-hand end is slightly favoured by the wind direction, but you believe the right-hand side of the river will have substantially stronger wind after the start.
Where should you start?
There isn't necessarily a single correct answer.
And that is precisely what makes sailing interesting.
The Start Is Really a Prediction
The more I sail, the more I think of a race start as an exercise in prediction.
You are trying to predict:
where your boat will be;
how fast it will be travelling;
what the wind will do;
what the current will do;
what the boats around you will do;
and what tactical options you will have immediately afterwards.
You will sometimes get those predictions wrong.
Everyone does.
But every start gives you another opportunity to improve them.
That is why simply doing more starts is so valuable.
Even if you are not particularly interested in winning races, starting teaches boat handling extraordinarily quickly.
You practise acceleration.
You practise stopping.
You practise turning.
You practise judging speed.
You practise judging distance.
You practise looking outside the boat.
And you practise making decisions while other boats are changing the situation around you.
Try Watching a Start Differently
Next time you watch a sailing race, don't watch the first mark during the five minutes before the start.
Watch the starting area.
Choose one boat.
Ask yourself:
Why did they turn there?
Why did they slow down?
Why did they sail away from the line?
Why are they approaching from that angle?
Why did they choose that end?
Then watch what happens during the final 20 seconds.
Suddenly the apparent chaos begins to reveal its structure.
The boats aren't sailing randomly.
Each crew is trying to solve the same problem:
How do we arrive at exactly the right piece of water, travelling at exactly the right speed, at exactly the right moment?
And everyone is trying to solve it while everyone else is getting in the way.
That is why starting can become one of the most addictive parts of racing.
Your First Start Doesn't Need to Be Brilliant
If you are thinking about trying club racing for the first time, don't be intimidated by the experienced sailors manoeuvring close to the line.
You do not need to copy them immediately.
Give yourself some space.
Stay clear of the busiest area.
Keep the boat under control.
Start slightly late if necessary.
Then sail the course.
Afterwards, ask yourself one question:
Could I start two seconds better next time?
Then try again.
Because your first racing objective shouldn't be to execute a championship-level start.
It should be to cross the line under control, sail the race — and finish wanting another one.
And once you start trying to shave those few seconds from your starts, you may discover that the apparently chaotic five minutes before the gun are some of the most interesting five minutes in sailing.
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