Q1=C; When your heading is 185 and decreasing i,e you are sailing below your mean heading. So long as the beat is square, the oscillations are regular and there is more than one cycle over the period of the beat, the shortest route up the beat will be to tack as soon as your heading is below the mean for each tack.
Q2=B; You are close to, but behind the line. If your transit was two boat lengths behind the line at the committee boat end, it would be one boat length behind in the centre of the line, and a half a boat length behind at 25%. The next level of sophistication would be to know how much sailing time from the line this distance equates to!
Q3=B; There is an immediate advantage from starting at the pin. The strong cross-tide effectively shifts the wind to the left for any boat no anchored. The lighter the wind with respect to the tide, the more extreme the effect.
Q4=C; To take advantage of the wind bend, sail into it before tacking. You'll then be lifted as you sail toward the centre of the course.
Q5=C; In the Northern hemisphere, you might expect to see convergence toward the left-hand shore. As the wind over the land is slowed through ground friction, it will tend to shift to the left compared with the wind over the smoother sea. There may be an area of increased wind speed where the two converge. But do check this effect pre-start.
Q6=D; Sail fast and free. Any gain over the fleet to leeward from the lift will be immediately lost if the wind shifts back. If you can actually use the technique to move forward on the pack, you'll maintain the advantage and be in great shape whatever happens next.
Q7=D; Tack before his line. If he is on the layline, and you wait until you are on his line, you will overstand the mark and lose ground. You have 10 boat lengths further to sail than him to reach the mark, say 30 secs. In that extra 30 secs a knot of tide might carry you upwind an extra 3 boat lengths; that's how much you will have overstood the mark by if you wait until you are on his line.
Q8=B; Maximise your time in the gusts. This may be dependent on the characteristics of your boat, but generally there are more gains to be had offwind through sailing in more pressure especially when the gusts are tracking down the course. Downwind you sailing in the same direction as the gusts. There is more chance to stay in them for a reasonable time, and the windshifts will be much less frequent than on the beat.
Q9=C; Aim to gybe as soon as possible. If you are lifted on starboard tack, then port gybe will take you closest to the leeward mark. The shifts on the run will be of longer time period than on the beat (see above), so getting in phase straight away will give you the best chance of sailing the shortest distance.
Q10=B; The pin is the favoured end. If the pin end was furthest upwind, then it will be the favoured on the run as well as the beat. And if it is a gate with another beat to go, you'll shorten the beat as well!!
Not to difficult was it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />