Andrew Campbell

Monday Morning Tactician: 24 March 2008

March 25th, 2008 in Monday Morning Tactician.

This week in Palma presented a number of possible situations worthy of discussion from the Monday Morning perspective. The Medal Race is always one of those scenarios that provides an increased number of close calls and debatable decisions. As we lined up for the final approach to the starting line in the final race of the event with a shrunken fleet and big breeze it became apparent to me how important starts had become again in my sailing. 

While they are always a very important piece of the puzzle, on the Olympic circuit a good start rarely guarantees a good race. In bigger fleets on big race courses, it is only critically important to have clear air up the first beat and be in the front row. Paired with good boatspeed, clear air will create opportunities for a good finish. For the weekend warrior, Medal Races on the Olympic Circuit may seem of little interest for improving their tactical awareness, but with their short courses and small fleets, place that additional importance on starting because there are simply fewer boats and each one of those boats has a more aggressive agenda than usual. Just as the last race in any series counts for a bit more than the rest of the series in the minds of the sailors, the Medal Race is just an augmented version of the make-or-break final race that was going to happen anyway. With double-points it just lets sailors potentially move more across the leaderboard. It is always vital to win the favored end of the line if you intend to better yourself in the score card. If you have a match-race-style situation on your hands the start becomes less the priority than just beating your opponent to the line, but being ahead early still retains the same demand for urgency.  

In this past week’s race I made the decision early on that I wanted to be left up the first beat. I essentially had nothing to lose in the race in ninth place in the standings basically tied (one point ahead) with the tenth place sailor. If I could get out and win the race then there was possibility to get out and take down a couple of players. With the breeze way up, almost 25 knots and big waves, I knew that the angles would be relatively low upwind due to the overpowered nature of the Laser. In the warm up I had been sheeting out almost two and three feet from the transom with boomvang strapped. Being bow down, headers are only accentuated by the angle and I felt strongly about being in the leeward group of the fleet. With thirty seconds to go I was set up as the leeward-most boat of the fleet. At twenty seconds or so, Julio made a blasting move down the line to take a close position to leeward of me. I decided to make a double tack and gauge off his hip. In retrospect this was a tough place to live going up the beat for the reasons listed above, but because I was able to pull the trigger better than he was I started bow even and maybe slightly ahead of him. My windward position did not pay off due to a slight boatspeed difference that hampered my progress up the first 300 yards of the course. I was able to round the mark right with him and eventually pass him on the final run into the finish later in the race to maintain 9th place overall in the regatta. 


Even though my strategy did not pan out exactly as I had planned, the necessity for having that plan ahead of time along with proper execution will all but guarantee a strong showing in the race. Strong positioning can rarely fight off superior boatspeed, but persistence can. I hope that the coming weeks in Europe with some of that continued persistence will make the difference next month in Hyeres SOF.  The most important lesson to be learned from this medal race scenario is that taking a slightly more aggressive stance on the start line can lead to a string of good events throughout the race and ultimately a good finish. There are any number of paths to follow that may also lead to good finishes, but by playing the high-percentage move at the start and being bow-out in a clear lane you will have greatly improved your likelihood of a good score.

0 comments.