Boomerang Regatta - Opti "Pre-brief"

This weekend we're excited to host the Boomerang Regatta at LYC. While the regatta gives Lasers, C420's and Snipes prime ocean sailing, it provides Optis something completely different from any other regatta - sailing a funky course over a sandbar on the Inter-Costal Waterway! While this isn't what our sailors will face at Team Trials, its a good experience for a couple reasons:
    1. We're preparing sailors for a life sport. Adult PHRF races all over the country run "random leg courses" - from my own experience I will never forget winning a Full Moon race at Davis Island and the annual "J24 Fun Race" in Newport this summer where we backed over the finish line in first place- and Boomerang gives our sailors a taste of just such courses. To paraphrase Bob Meagher "life is not just windward-leewards."
   2. Sailing in current is a really important skill. Sailing a skewed beat is an important skill (for College Sailing). Starting on a tiny line with 40 boats takes a lot of skill. We will hone all these skills at Boomerang.

Full disclosure, I have never actually seen a past Boomerang Opti regatta in action. But I have coached over 300 days on this little stretch of water and have some thoughts on what is going to make the difference for the winners. Here they are:

*Play the Current. Three things you need to know. First is the fact that current flows faster over deep water, slower over shallow water. Second, where is the deep/shallow water? Here's a satellite that shows it pretty well:

Note there are 2 channels, the Intercostal channel with all the boats in it, and the C shaped yacht channel that runs along the shore in front of the club. So the water flows fastest through the Intercostal, next fastest by the shore, and slowest over the sandbar in the middle.


Third, when will the current be flowing in and out? Here's the http://tides.mobilegeographics.com for this weekend:

2017-01-28 Sat  8:17 AM EST    

2.7 feet  High Tide

2017-01-28 Sat  2:23 PM EST   

-0.1 feet  Low Tide

2017-01-28 Sat  8:24 PM EST   

 2.5 feet  High Tide

2017-01-29 Sun  8:55 AM EST   

 2.7 feet  High Tide
2017-01-29 Sun  3:02 PM EST   

 -0.2 feet  Low Tide

So outflowing tide for most of the regatta. Outflowing tide runs North to South. 

When you are sailing a leg in the direction of the current, its pretty simple: sail in the channels. When your fighting it close to high tide, you can sail over the sandbar, but a mid-low tide you have to be aware of running aground (this is generally slow). 

If I were sailing an Opti, I would be testing where the sandbar was before the start of each race (how close can I go before I run aground??), and would sail with my Daggerboard Bungie behind, rather than on top of the Daggerboard for the entirety of the event, to make getting it up faster. Finally, I would strongly recommend using your practice Daggerboard for the event! No need to ding up our race foils. 

As always, think about how the current angle and strength will effect the start (pushing over or under?)  the lay lines, rhumb lines and mark rounding. If you must hit a mark, try to plough through it, so you can spin on the "down current" leg. 

*Sail the long tack first. On legs that are skewed, but still somewhat upwind, one tack will take you closer to the mark, and its a high percentage move to sail this tack first. When you get a wind shift that makes you luff suddenly, Tack! The basic question of shifty-wind strategy is: "am I sailing as close to the next mark as possible while still making my boat go fast?" 

*On the reaches, get in the high lane. This is more basic Opti Tactics, but in a fleet of 40 condensed boats, the boats to windward will roll over the boats to leeward on a reach. While there are some times where the wind or current makes going low pay, I would say that 80-90% of the time the high road pays. 

Mind your teltales on the reach! The daggerboard should generally be raised as high as the boom, but higher for a deeper angle, lower when sailing closer to the wind. 

In my opinion, one of the most damaging things a beginner's coach can do is tell them "go left" or "go right." - You need to learn to think about strategyfor yourself! I merely hope to give you the tools to analyze the current, venue and skew of the course. Its up to you to pick a winning strategy, get a good start, and make the boat go fast! If your from out of town and have any questions, feel free ask me or one of our experienced Opti sailors such as Connor Bolland, Lucy Meagher, or Bobby Rielly - they all definitely know where the sandbar is and were all here to help each other. Enjoy the food, keep an open mind, have fun, and try not to screw up in the same way more than twice!  

Arthur Blodgett