Tips to Sailing Races

• Get a stop watch! - The number of people I have seen without stop watches on a race is appalling. No wonder it is so easy for the experienced sailors to get some lead over the more novice ones. All serious sailing racers need a stop watch in order to start on time and in the right place without being caught unawares
• Learn the Flag types - The flags are there to tell you what is going on in a race. So not knowing them is hardly going to help you understand what is going on in the race. It is highly advisable to find a good rulebook from your national sailing organization or the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) and learn all the flag types that will be shown at any given race. Preparation make Perfect!
• Learn where the marks are - If you are thinking of club racing regularly, then you should learn where the common marks that are used for racing actually are so that when the committee boat shows the marks you don't have to glance at a map constantly during the race. This kind of preparation is essential for any serious racer.
• Do a Transit - This little known tactic is something that very few novice sailors know about and proves to be a very useful technique in order to have a good start. A transit is where you find put the boat between the committee boat and the pin buoy an look for a recognizable object on the other side of the pin. This tells you exactly where the starting line is and if there is a black flag shown, you will know whether you are over the line or not.
• Find out if there is a bias - A biased line is one in which a certain tack is favoured. For instance a port bias is a start in which a port tack is favoured. To find out if there is a port bias, a starboard bias or if it is square (no bias), you can do it accurately or roughly. Doing it accurately requires a compass. Go along your transit and note the compass bearing. Then add 90 degrees to that bearing and turn to that heading. If the boat tacks then the current tack is the favoured tack and the bias. If the boat doesn't tack then the current tack is the favoured tack and the bias. If the boat goes head to wind then there is no bias and it is a square line. You can roughly do this by seeing if you are beating up one end of the line and broad reaching down the other end. If it is a square line then you should be beam reaching from one end to the other
• Starting Position - This is also highly important for competitive racing. If there is a bias then most of the boats will be there. If you don't want to be in a scrum and get a rubbish start, then start slightly lower than the bias end or start on the opposite tack and then tack on to the biased tack after horn goes off. By doing this you will have your own unique heading and start. The worse thing you can do is follow somebody throughout the whole race, because whatever happens you will never win.