Race Area
Start
13 degrees of bias creates whooping 137m of upwind distance between RC and pin. However, in shifty winds, 13 degrees can shift back. What you always need to know before the start is your wind direction range. I just checked pre start sailing from the fleet and back then, the wind direction was 10 degrees more left, at 280. If you start in the right shift, as you did, you can expect the wind to go back to the value before and good part of bias might get cancelled, in some cases, bias can even flip to the other side. So always be careful, even small shifts create big bias with such a long line, but ask yourselves will it go back?
If you think it will go back, your priority has to be to sail on lifted tack so you are ready for the next leftie. Choose starting place where you will not be forced to tack, with enough room to leeward. The leading pack did that, Axe and Sirena, with Tyra below them waiting for the wind to shift back.They sailed free to left, not starting full at the race committee.
Pre race wind at 280. Start wind at 290 degrees
1st Upwind
Almost 20 degree shift to the left in this upwind. So everything was about going left. As start was in right values, you should try to stay on starboard. The boats that have done it and managed to tack in the place that took them straight to top mark were the best. Axe had to sail a bit on starboard to the mark and has lost to boats on the left of them. Tyra nailed the layline, Solyd was a bit above. You can see how average wind of 282 already cancels a lot of start line bias. Pin end starters were far behind at the start and didn’t have as nice lane as the boats from RC did.
Pretty clear that you had to be on starboard at the 1st part and port after. The best lanes are marked.
Top Mark
As usual with big shift, there was quite a stretch in the fleet, allowing you to drop in from the left side (I always encourage my sailors not to shoot the top mark from far right). This can be discussed mid way up the beat so you can adapt (gybe set possible, left mark approach possible…). There was a group of boats pushing each other up at the offset mark. That group ends up losing from boats ahead and gets caught by the group behind. You should encourage boats around to go down and avoid unnecessary fights.
Group pushing up losing
1st Downwind
Solyd, Tyra and Axe increasing the advantage. The next best group of boats were the ones gybing a bit earlier (Buckau, Sassy, Liquid Sun). Left side corner was losing later on, gate approach was better from the right (can be that the wind also went a bit left).
- Boats at the layline losing. Higher lane to the mark was better (arrow)
Leeward Rounding
Major gate bias. You just cannot go to the leeward one no matter what. It causes 50m of upwind distance loss (more than 70m straight line sailing). Check the gif with SailRacing, Arete and Sirena. SailRacing was 10m ahead, ended up 55 ahead.
2nd Upwind
Marks were moved to the right, but the wind was more in left direction. That has skewed the course in 2:1 ratio of more sailing on port tack. Would be logical to sail the longer leg first, but the wind was much better at the left and it even shifted a bit more left. So boats hitting the left layline did the best (Elvis, Tyra, Jelvis). At the very top, boats slowed down and could be they hit a bit of a right shift.
- By far the best area to sail
- Slowdown and rightie at the very top. too late for right boats to gain
2nd Downwind
Wind shifting right at the bottom. Also, the course was not skewed or was even to the other side a bit, due to the finish line being far away from the gates. The boats gybing a bit shy on the left layline did the best (Solid Fun, Noticia). Boat in the left corner ended up rolled as the wind went right. Right hand side sailed against the shift at the end and was pretty red on the last starboard tack.
Right shift creating bend in paths of port tack boats. Windward boats could roll the ones at the left corner layline.
- Any longer approach from the right was a los due to that right shift at the bottom.
