I fully agree with scooby and sparky here.

Indeed include alot of start sequences with a short upwind beat to a very near A-mark. The latter will show you how starting further down the line may be easier and less crowded but that the pay back is to be found later when you have to cross in front of the other boats who have right of way. If you can get the latter part right then starting further down the line can be a rather good start method.


Then indeed after doing many starts do an hour or two of straight lien sailing, perfecting sail trim and optimizing "course to speed" finding the best vmg for both upwind and downwind legs.

Then later again, do a bout of synchronized fleet sailing where each 30 seconds you do tacks (or gybes) Notice how some boats will start to walk away from you very quickly when you don't got these manouvres down.

Maybe in between (lunch, dinner) discuss each segment in detail with eachother and find out why others are faster.

A weekend of this (with sufficient boats) will make you noticeably faster.

Wouter