Beginner's Guide To Racing

Guide to racing designed for those with little to no sailing experience. Racing is a joy once you understand the basics but how it all works is not all immediately obvious. Hopefully this guide will help!

Racing?

I am a real world sailer and I love this simugame, absolutely love it. While I, and I'm sure you all, love sailing out in the deep blue sea, racing can be one of the most satistifying activities in this program. I hope this guide will help those sailers and non sailers who have not been exposed to racing to get a good start, pun bleep'n intended ;D

Understand that there are approximately 14 mountains worth of philosphies and practices of sailing and racing so this is only a start. Experiment and learn more always.

About this Guide

This guide is designed for the beginner but not the complete novice. If you have not yet gone through the majority of the tutorials in Sailaway, please do so before reading this guide. Also, while this guide is geared towards those interested in racing, alot of good sail theory from this guide can be applied for sailing in general so its always worth a read.

Finally, I have been sailing for a long time and may unknowningly use terminology unfamiliar to the beginner. If anything seems confusing to you, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments.

Race Structure

A sailing race is essentially going around a set of bouys in a certain way and trying to finish first. After you go around (aka "round") each bouy, the course to the next bouy changes your angle to the wind, which changes your overall strategy. Racing is about understanding how to react best to each phase of bouy to bouy.

Racing Theory

Racing really comes down to two things, speed and tactics. Speed is how fast your boat moves for your chosen path and Tactics are the rules to which you chose that path. The bouy to bouy phases change which one the two factors is more important and how you optimize each factor but they are always, both, important. From now on I will call "bouy to bouy phases" legs.

The Course

Above is a typical race course with four legs, one upwind, two reaches, and one downwind. Each leg is line between each bouy (aka mark). Upwind requires lot's of tacking (moving the sail from side to side) and involves alot of Tactics, Reaching and Downwind are generally straight line paths and focus on Speed. Before all that is the Start, which requires focusing on both Speed and Tactics equally. Each one of these will be discussed below in more detail.

Note that on the map above, the bouy rounding between 3 and 4 (red and purple) is below the bouy. I the arrow above just shows the overall direction to go around a mark but you would never do a full 360 on a bouy, so just because the arrow is on top of every mark doesn't mean you go around the top.

Start

The start is THE most important portion of a race. If you start several minutes behind your opponents you will never catch up, period. You don't need to be first off the line but it is essential that you are close to the line when the race starts.

The challenge in starting a sailboat race is that there is no easy way to "park" your boat on the start line and simply wait for the race to begin. Sailboats are ALWAYS in some form of motion, and so you need a strategy to make sure that the motion of your boat puts you in the right place in the right time.

Below are two solid strategies for starting. In blue is what I'll call the "reaching start" and in purple is what I'll call the "luff start". Both of these techniques require some practice to get just right.

Also a note on sails, since almost all races start with an upwind leg, you should start with either your Genoa or Jib (depending on wind speed) raised and NOT your Gennaker.

Reaching Start

A "reaching start" involves reaching back and forth (ie pacing) immediately below the start line so that the moment the race begins, all you need to do is point up, pull in your sails, and cross the line. Unfortunately, the start line to short to allow you to effictively stay between the two start line bouys while doing this pacing. The trick is making sure then when you sail beyond the start markers, you are back in time to be right below the line when the race begins.

Like all things, learning how to put yourself in the right place in the right time takes practice but here is a helpful hint to get started. A short time before the race starts, say 3 minutes, start sailing away from the line while staying parrallel to it. At some time less than half the time that you started, in this case 1 min 45 seconds (diagram below is incorrect, will fix), turn around and head back to the line. You should get to the start line at approximately the start time.


You want to turn around before the "half time" to give yourself some breathing room to get back in time. If you arrive back to the line early, you can use some of the luffing techniques describe below to slow yourself, but if you arrive back too late, there's nothing you can and you get a crappy start.

Luff Start (Purple)

A "luff start" is similar to the "reaching start" except that at around 1-2 minutes before the start, you try to stop your boat just below the starting line so that just moments before the start, you pull in yours sheets and go. The advantage of this method is that you hold your spot right below the line and don't have to worry timing your sailing perfectly. Unfortunately trying to hold a sail boat steady requires a seasoned hand and its very likely that you will cross the line to early.

To perform this technique, reach back and force below the line until about 1-2 minutes before the start. At this point find a good spot below the line, usually the right side, let out your main sail completely and point at about a 35-45 degree angle to the wind towards the line. You should slow down immensely and be able to somewhat hold your spot. At about 10 seconds before the start (more if you are farther away), pull in your sails and head to the line at about a 45 degree angle to the wind.

Your enemy here is drift. You will never fully stop the boat so always keep in mind where and how far you will dift while waiting for the race to begin. This is definitely a skill which takes practice to master.

Upwind

Upwind is the second most important part of the race, and the part of the race where you are most likely to pass and be passed by somebody. Tactics are the name of the game when it comes to upwind but it is also important not to sacrifice Speed for those tactics. Also, since you can not sail straight into the wind, upwind is the only leg where you can't head straight to the bouy and need tack many times to get to your destination.

Speed

Maintaining your speed while sailing upwind is all about keeping a constant angle to the wind. You can monitor your angle to the wind using the true wind angle TWA reading in the upper left hand corner in the right compass. You need to pick a reasonable angle and then maintain this angle, even after tacking, for the entire upwind leg. I usually go with 45 degrees and while this works well for me, there could be a better angle out there.

After you hold your heading at your chosen angle, open up the Trim menu and adjust your sails. You should be able to "set and forget" your sail trim for the whole upwind leg if you always maintain the same angle to the wind. Sail trim is really just a function of angle to the wind so if you keep TWA constant, sails shouldn't have to be moved.

Keep in mind that you can't keep both your angle to the wind TWA and heading HDG constant due to periodic shifts in the wind direction. I will discuss shifts in more detail later on but just know that you while continuously need to adjust your heading to maintain the same TWA.

Finally, tacking causes a big drag on your speed. Each time you tack you lose a bunch of speed which needs to be regained and you essentially stop dead in the water for a few seconds. A certain number of tacks are required to keep good Tactics but always try to minimize your number of tacks if possible.

Also, it is important to be proficient in tacking itself, it's difficult but your goal should be to move smoothly and quickly from your chosen wind angle on one side, to that same angle on the otherside without going over or stopping sort. Again this takes practice and while it may seem insignificant, bad tacks are akin to sloppy turns in auto racing. It may just cost you a few seconds but thats where anyone following behind you will be given the perfect opprotunity to catch up.

Tactics

While the speed instructions given above will be enough to make you a contender on the course, knowing some upwind tactics really make a difference. Out of the 14 mountains of sailing theory I discussed before, probably about 11 of them are dedicated to upwind tactics, so I will just focus on one good tactic that I know is effective in the game, playing the shifts.

As discussed earlier, the wind direction will periodically shift back and forth roughly every two minutes. While sailing upwind, having your sail on the right side of the boat for a shift will allow you to point closer to the mark while maintaining the same Speed, and therefore shorten the total distance you have to sail without sacrificing Speed.


There are two types of shifts seen in the diagram, a Lift which helps you and a Knock which hurts you. While maintaining a certain heading HDG, a Lift is observed when your wind angle TWA increasing (46-50 degrees) and therefore you point closer to the mark to get back to 45 degree TWA, and a Knock is observed when your TWA decreases (41-44 degrees) and you therefore point farther from the mark to maintain 45 degrees.

While your TWA will give you an indication that a shift is occuring, monitoring your heading HDG is the most effective way to guage how intense the shift is and who you should respond to it. Below is a diagram showing how to interpert the heading HDG of the boat based on the side of the boat you are on. On the starbourd (right) side of the boat, increases in HDG indicate a lift while on the port (left) side of the boat, decreases in HDG indicate a lift. Remember, you should keep a constant TWA to make these comparisons.


Essentially, "playing the shifts" is above tacking such that you always are in a lifted shift. Basically you tack when getting knocked on one side so that you are lifted on the other side. You may think this means that you tack the instant you start to be knocked, but remember that shifts are gradual, and just because you are being knocked doesn't mean you not in a lifted position.


Just look the at diagram above for an example. At spot (1) you are lifted and riding high, but you start observering the wind shift and moving towards point (2). While moving from point (1) to point (2), you are still at a lifted angle although you are experiencing a knock. Point (2) is the ideal point to tack because you will be on the right side to be lifted WITHOUT wasting a good angle. If you wait till point (3), its still a good idea to tack, but you wasted time being at a knocked angle where you could have been lifted.

Doing this in practice usually meaning having some threshold to tack. For me, if I am riding a lifted course, I usually wait until my HDG has moved a little more than 5 degrees in the wrong direction and then I tack.

Below is an example of how these phases place out on the simulation compass.

Lifted on the Starboard (right) side
Looks like I have a high HDG on the starboard side, time to ride it out.



Time to tack on the Starboard (right) side
Our heading HDG has decreased well beyond our threshold on the Starboard side, time to tack.



After tack from Starboard to Port (left) side
After getting back to 45 TWA, take note of your HDG for future reference.



Being lifted on the Port (left) side
Our HDG is decreasing, meaning that we are being lifted on the port side. Keeping riding it out.



Time to tack on the Port (left) side
Our HDG has increased significantly, meaning that we have been knocked significantly and its time to tack.

Reaching

Both reaching and downwind are much simplier than upwind. Directionally, you just point to the next mark and sail straight to it. This means that Speed plays a much bigger role than Tactics for both of these legs. Reaching differs from downwind in that you have more flexibility in your sail choices.

Speed

Speed in reaching is all about sail trim. Point to the next window and wse the Trim window to optimize you speed. Most times you will want to bring down your Genoa or Jib and raise your Gennaker although. If you decide to switch sails, change your sails AFTER rounding the upwind mark. If you do this before, you will lose alot of speed rounding the upwind mark and lose even more mojo!

Deciding between the gennaker or the genoa/jib is all about wind angle TWA after you rounded the upwind mark and are pointed at the next mark. Any TWA greater than 90 degrees should mean gennaker time, but if you are under 90 degrees you may want to consider keeping the genoa/jib. Most of the time your TWA will be greater than 90 degrees but in the rare moments its below, experiment and find what works best.

You will experience shifts while reaching just as with upwind but now shifts should result in adjusting your sail trim, not tacking or jibing. Watching and adjusting based on the Trim window should set your straight.

Tactics

Although in real world sailing there are definitely tactics when it comes to reaching, for this guide they are too insignificant to go over. Just optimize that speed!

Downwind

Downwind is similar to reaching in that you head straight to the next mark (or finish line) and optimize your speed.

Speed

Going downwind means using your Gennaker instead of Geona/Jib and watching your Trim window to optimize your speed. Just as with reaching, shifts do not mean tacking or jibing, but mean that you need to adjust your sail trim to achieve the highest speed. You should expect your boat to slow down from the reaching legs.

Tactics

Although in real world sailing there are definitely tactics when it comes to downwind, for this guide they are too insignificant to go over. Just optimize that speed!

Finishing

Finishing is as easy as crossing the finish line! Enjoy this moment no matter how you do and remember that your first race is very awkward, the second even less so, and by the third you'll be a master! Just keep practicing and you'll consistently get better each time.


Hope this guide helped! Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

[Little Wing]

Das Spiel läuft absolut nicht , ich bekomme auch keine Hilfe es gibt keine Ansprechpartner . Leider ein Fehlkauf, muß ich unter Spende abtun.

[abu_sadek]

If TWD and BTW have an angle of 15 degree (i.e. <45) then what will be the tactics?

[PenquinParty]

Looks like you can copy/paste from guides into google docs, heres the link, should be able to PDF or print from there:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L31hOI3KbynxhHyJ4V4tnM_YH5XZ18ubiT81RRo_UiY/edit?usp=sharing

[vernongt47]

Can this be saved someway as a 8.pdf file so I can read it off-line?

[Ruy Hosni]

Rules and know the boat, this is the most important
http://game.finckh.net/indexe.htm

[PG_enius]

wanquankanbudong

[Clearlove7]

henmabixnom

[rich100211]

Updated comment to this guide. I finally got around to reading this guide yesterday, August 5th, as of this comment, and finally won came in first place in one of the hourly races, thanks to several of the strategies I learned, thanks CuddleMuffin.

[chris]

Well done

[rich100211]

Yes, thank you for putting this together! Did some racing (way back) in high school years, but from my performance on hourly races, along with some of the skilled sailors on this sim, I really need this guide if I ever hope to get competitive.