Sailing timer countdown9/10/2023 Some software will try to factor it in for you, but with a lot of manoeuvring it can easily give erroneous readings and it can be best to dial it into the software manually just for the start. I also reduce the downwind polar speeds as we don’t usually have a spinnaker when downwind sailing pre-start.įor working out our time to the line, we also need to know the tidal stream or current. ![]() The solution is to use separate start polars and here I tend to reduce the normal optimum upwind boat speed target by about 12-15%. Simplified version of the B&G data for the two minutes pre-start on Y3K, showing time, distance to the line and boat speed as a percentage of polars One factor we need to refine is that normally we are not able to sail at 100% polar speed in the run into the start line as we have other yachts in close proximity and more ‘dirty air’ to deal with. To work out our sailing time to the start line, the software needs to know our boat’s polars (how fast we will sail compared to true wind speed and true wind angle). It was developed to aid America’s Cup starting, but in those days many crew were pretty sceptical about its merits. I’ve been using software to help start races since I first discovered Deckman in 1989. However, to start a boat like a TP52, there is a little more to it than just GPS positioning then using course and speed over the ground but even this information can be very useful – particularly with long start lines. ![]() We can now do the same with a modern sports watch with a GPS interface. Before the start of any competitive race fleet we now see over 90% of the fleet ‘pinging the ends’ of the line – GPS positioning helps us work out where the start line is and how far away we are at any moment. ![]() The role of the navigator has evolved in recent years to assist the tactician and helmsman by utilising navigation software to help the timed run into the start. On boats longer than 40ft, vital input comes from the bow person, trimmers, helmsman, tactician and navigator. Starting a yacht at the right end of the line at target speed is very much a team game.
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