Eustis was a great party but I had a terrible time reading the shifts and trying to decide just where to tack.

Is there a good book that talks about windlines and tactics?

NO.

This is why is is called a variable. - It varies.

Look at the water and see if you recognize any trends. Plan your course of action - go that way - and hope for the best.

Wind can sometimes blow when trying to plan for things.

Oh! It's you Matt. For a minute there I thought it was Ding.

Stuart Walker has written some excellent books on wind and stategy, along with other sailing tactics and boat handling books. I suggest you get and read them...all. I've got about 5 of them, you can borrow if you'd like. I do not have "Sailor's Wind" but am going to get it.

http://www.amazon.com/Sailors-Wind-...mp;s=books&qid=1286460042&sr=1-1


http://www.amazon.com/High-Performa...mp;s=books&qid=1286459807&sr=1-1

Also, Frank Bethwaite has written some great stuff in his HIgh Performance Sailing, get it, read it, use it.

Thanks.

Positioning: The Logic of Sailboat Racing
http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Sailboat-Stuart-H-Walker/dp/0393033392/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Where you been stranger? Haven't seen or heard from you in months!

I'm still working out when to tack too.
I started to use a tacktick from this summer onwards. Just to see that when I feel a shift it is actually there.
In very light air or very wind and wavy conditions I wait until it is a really big shift (like 10 to 15 degrees), because you loose too much time tacking.
In conditions where you tack easily and get speed more easy I might tack between 5 and 10.
All depends if you are far from the mark or not, where I expect more wind, where there is clean air, ... All these are most of the time more important then shifts.
As Matt says sometimes you can see the shift on the water. To my opinion these are mostly short shifts and you shouldn't really tack on them.
Finally if you expect more wind on a certain side of the course, most of the times it is better to go for more or better wind (unless it is a 20° shift ofcourse).
Finally never sail to the layline in the beginning of your tack if you don't know what is going to happen. Then you can always take the shift.
Where I sail (Northsea) current is mostly more important then shifts. Also here shifts have a pattern, so you can sail a couple of minutes and tack with every shift everytime. When sailing on lakes the shifts will be less oscilating but more influenced by the buildings, ... close to shore.

I enjoy a good book when I have wind. (Sorry)

You should not have a problem finding what you are looking for. It is a matter of applying it to catamarans because we are a bit different than the monohulls. "Pete....Feel the Force".

I've got Bethwaites and a lot of other books but understanding and using the theory is my problem. Last Saturday we raced in light puffy wind on a big lake and got hammered. At tea the RO said always head starboard tack as you round the bottom mark. We did that on the Sunday in plenty of wind and 2ft chop and got 50m on the boat on the other tack. How does that work? I cant understand the theory as to my mind I was travelling the same distance.

I was watching Robbie and JC. They were sailing in wind that noone else was. I can tell a lift from a header, easily. I can see the difference in coloration on the water. They were sailing "windlines inside of windlines". No one was even close to them.

Those guys are good, but they must be keying off something! Sight, sound or touch. There must be some sensory que.

Way back when, the advice was "sail the headed tack first". Supposedly that yields a shorter distance traveled and can be proven trigonometrically. But not by me!

Gil, there is some subtlety we mortals are missing. Way back, maybe 1985, I was sailing a big fleet of H-16s and had the second start in B fleet. I watched the A fleet start and noticed two boats get hit by the same puff. One was lifted radically the other headed by the same amount! From the same puff! I noticed the same phenomenon at Wildcat but was unable to capitalize on it.

Again at Wildcat, I managed to beat Tback in one race (one stinking race all weekend!) From a position even at A mark, he sailed off into an area of low wind. I stayed in the middle of the lake, and got so much wind I almost pitchpoled. I finished so far ahead of him he thought I'd quit and gone in! My decision had merely been to split tacks and pray for luck, which happened.

Neither Robbie nor JC were in the very light stuff for very long during the entire weekend. They always managed to find enough wind to stay well ahead. I'd just like to know how and would bet money it is something very simple that they aren't even conscious of.

Ever sailed with Robbie? (I haven't sailed with JC) The man is a freak, and it all just comes from time on the boat, and looking at every moment on the boat analytically. What went wrong where and why? Robbie see's and feels things that I certainly don't. "Theres a header coming, we should tack...." To which I say, "huh?" HTF do you know that?

It makes you feel pretty stoopid. Not that its his aim, its just humbling, and I take being humbled as feeling stupid. lol

Only if it is a continuing and building shift.

I'd like to see the math.

And that, TikiPete, really Pi$$ed me off!!

That's why I did it!!

You should come to Sarasota for Buzzelli, 21,22,23. Friday 21st is a little distance race in the bay with Stilletos, the rest of the weekend is around the bouys.

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=217812#Post217812

Do you really need the math? Or would you believe Dave Dellenbaugh and a drawing? When facing a persistent shift he says to sail the shorter tack first. At this point, it isn't headed yet, but will be once you sail towards the shift.


Upwind Strategies for Windshifts

Good stuff! Thanks Bobcat.