Staying with this upwind/downwind part of racing, I believe the transition from upwind to downwind (and vice versa) is very important and does take some practice. (especially on a unirig) Rounding " A " mark, you are usually picking up speed as you go through the reach part of the turn. At the same time, you have to come in off the trapeze and get the spinnaker up (plus make all the other transition adjustments). I usually will do bare away sets because of this and because I do not want to lose boat speed gybe setting. I gybe after the bare away set if that is where I want to go. (and if traffic will allow it!)

" C " mark can be worse depending on traffic. Sometimes when coming in at 15 plus miles per hour it is best/safer to just drop the spinnaker early, but since we are racing, many will keep it up and over shoot or scare the bejesus out of another boat caught in a traffic jam at the mark.

Maybe someone could prioritize the following.

1. Get a good start

2. Favored side of the course ( wind/current)

3. Boat speed ( which includes a ton of stuff: spreader rake/diamond tension, body placement, sheet tension, mast rake, mast rotation, downhaul, traveler positioning, etc.)

4. Transitioning from upwind to downwind and vice versa.

5. Executing good tacks and gybes.

6. Game plan when trying to overtake the leader or the guy just in front of you.

7. Knowing the rules (especially when boats meet)


Tom Turlington
F17 #124