Strategy is your game plan
The grand strategy to be “the best sailor at my club/world/universe” is psychology. Here, strategic sailing means what are the rules going to be for this race.
Your strategy includes goals like;
- Win the race – duh!
- Beat some particular boat regardless of your overall place
- Minimize time – balance performance vs. distance
- Don’t break things
Input to your strategical decision includes;
- Weather forecast – wind direction and speed, frontal passage and sea breeze onset
- Course layout
- Estimation of wind speed, shifts and trend, shear and gradient
- Current
- Local knowledge
- Knowing your competition
- Knowing yourself – tacking skill, aggressiveness, performance, consistency
In the ‘golden hour’, you should gather information to confirm your previous assumptions, and refine your knowledge of wind and water.
- Amount and duration of shifts, and wind trend
- Sea state
- Favored end and length of the line
Strategic components
- Where to go to maximize performance and minimize distance
- Sail conservatively or ‘bang the corners’ (each leg may be different)
- Favor the left or right (also legs might be different)
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