Speed & Smarts - The Newsletter of How-To Tips for Racing Sailors

ISSUE 110: Answers to Tactics & Strategy IQ Test

The first, and by far the most important, thing about tacking in waves is that you should try not to do it. Tacking is costly enough under the best circumstances, but when you make a maneuver like this in choppy water you lose a lot.

Of course, many races are sailed in rough seas and you have to tack somewhere! In that case your goal is to find spots that are relatively smooth (see right) so you lose as little distance as possible relative to your competition.

One of the best strategies for a successful maneuver in waves is to tack when you want to, not when you have to. If you decide to leebow a starboard tacker, for example, you must turn in one particular spot, and that’s slow if the waves happen to be bad there. A better strategy is to sail the beats so you can tack when and where you want to since the distance you gain by tacking in flatter water can be significant.

Though waves are bad for tacking, they can actually be very good for jibing. While you are surfing down a wave, the boat is stable with less wind pressure in the sails. But in light wind, waves make it harder to keep flow attached to the sails and to accelerate after the jibe.

Hi, sorry this is not up yet. I did not get it done before I left for Hyeres Week in France. I will be back in the office on May 3 and hope to have the longer answers posted as soon as I can after that. David

Short Answers:

1. B 2. B 3. C 4. C 5. A, B, D 6. A 7. B 8. True 9. B 10. False 11. B, D 12. B 13. True 14. False 15. A 16. D 17. D 18. False 19. True 20. A, D, E 21. False 22. C, D 23. B 24. A 25. B 26.B 27. A, B, C, D 28. True 29. A, C, D 30. True 31. B 32. B 33. A 34. A 35. C, D 36. A, B 37. False 38. B 39. B 40. D 41. C, E 42. False 43. False 44. A 45. True 46. A, C 47. E 48. B, D 49. A, D, E, F 50. A

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