Beat Your Competition to the Finish by David Dellenbaugh |
You may have a great strategy for getting to the finish line quickly, but it won’t help you much if you let other boats
push you around. That’s why having good boat-on-boat tactics is so important. Tactics are the moves you make to stay in control of your race and follow your strategic plan. When you’re approaching a finish line, there are basically two tactical approaches you might take. You can either try to catch the boat(s) in front of you, or stay ahead of the boat(s) behind you (or do some combination of both). This choice depends on which boats are closer (the ones just ahead or the ones just behind), and whether of not you’re content with your position. |
Catch the boat(s) ahead
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It usually pays to finish very close to the favoured end of the line (in this photo it’s the boat end on your right), but be careful when you have a committee boat there. If you cross the line too close to the boat, you may not be able to clear its bow or anchor line without tacking. Even after finishing, you can still be penalized (for touching the RC boat or fouling a competitor) until you clear both ends of the line. So when you’re in traffic, think about making a safer approach where you are sure to fetch the favoured end of the line (like the second Oppie from the right). |
Stay ahead of boats behind
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