Last Sunday I had the dubious distinction of winning the day. Compared to past weeks’ winners, mine was rather unconvincing. The fleet was slow getting out because there was a flat calm in the cove at 12:30. After a while, a very light breeze began to blow from the south. The course was set up out in the river. In very light, shifty breeze, I happened to win the first race – a twice around windward-leeward. I did RC for the second, and was hoping the wind would fill in for a third race, but it didn’t, and the fleet went in after two. I wish I could share some wisdom and local knowledge that helped me do well, but I never really identified any repeating wind trends or favored parts of the course. The current was going out, so I tried going left up the first beat, toward the channel and what I thought would be stronger current. That seemed to work OK, but boats that went right also did well. I rounded the first mark in the first half of the fleet, but definitely not in the lead pack. Downwind I looked for clear air, whatever puffs came down the course, and tried to sit as still as possible in the boat. On the second upwind I had the same priorities – clear air, and look for puffs, trying to keep the boat moving. Although the wind was light, it never died completely – I always had steerage. By the time I got to the leeward mark for the second time, I was in a pretty tight pack of five or six boats. I went right where the breeze filled in the form of a big right hand shift, and that was the race. Here are some priorities I had throughout the race, and that I’ve used before in light air. Finding wind – any wind – is more important than its direction. If one boat is sailing in two knots and a boat 50 yards away is sailing in five or six, that one will come out ahead every time, regardless of the wind direction each is sailing in. Be patient, and accept that there will be times that other boats have wind and you don’t. When you see another boat sailing in more breeze than you have, you have to decide if the puff is worth chasing – it may be gone by the time you get there. Again, be patient, keep concentrating, and don’t get frustrated. Keep the boat moving. Don’t pinch upwind. Sit still in the boat. Decide what fore-n-aft trim you want, get there, and stay there. Set yourself up in a position where you can relatively comfortably steer and make sail trim adjustments, but do those slowly and as smoothly as possible. Even a little bit of jostling the rig can really disturb airflow over the sail. Stay out of foul trouble. Doing a 360 takes a long, long time if there’s not much wind. Finally, keep your air clear, both upwind and down. Try to stay away from other boats as much as possible so that you’re free to tack or gybe when you need to. After you’ve succeeded in doing all those things, hopefully you’ll be in the lead pack of boats. From there, there really is an element of luck in light, patchy conditions that determines the ultimate winner of any individual race. |
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