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By
Rick White
You are heading for an upwind finish line. How do you tell the favored end?
It is very difficult to eyeball marks and boats upwind and be able to determine the mandatory knowledge you must have, (as we discussed last month) – the favored tack and the favored end.
Most cat sailors simply round the leeward mark, sail on port tack until they overstand the layline for the RC boat and then tack to the finish. Or, perhaps tack and sail to the pin end layline and tack to the finish.
The problem with both of these approaches to the line is that if you chose the wrong side, you would be automatically sailing to the unfavored end – thus a longer course.
Beside the two outside laylines discussed above, there are also inside laylines. (See Diagram).
The best approach is to tack to make the inside layline. And then when you arrive at the other inside layline, you can more easily decide the favored tack and favored. When you reach that intersection of the two inside laylines (often called the “Moment of Truth”), you can make easily make your decision as to what is the favored tack, and which is the favored end.