Four Great Starting Strategies

A good start in the 49erFX requires intense focus, superb boathandling and acute spatial awareness. One of the US Sailing Team's top 49erFX duos explain how it’s done....

Olympic veteran and top-flight coach Hugh Styles is using e-Sailing to help some of his clients get to grips with different tactical scenarios. Today's task in three virtual races is to learn how to battle your way back through the fleet after a second-row start...

Scott Nixon talks through the common moves and decisions you need to make to get cleanly and quickly off the Start Line...

Watching Team Nika win - and dominate - the RC44 World Championship 2017 in Sweden was a lesson in strong, conservative tactics. No surprise when you learn that owner Vladimir Prosikhin had Terry Hutchinson as his tactician. Just as Torben Grael was known for going off on a flyer into the corner of the course (doing a ‘Torben’), doing a ‘Terry’ is about keeping the game tight in the centre of the course. As Terry himself says, “It’s a game of feet and inches.”

49er World Champion and Olympic silver medallist in the 470, Stu Bithell is also a mad keen Merlin Rocket racer back in the UK. Stu shares various tips on starting, race course priorities and many other things in these insightful MP3 interviews....

Looking for a new strategy to get you clear air at the start of your sailboat race? Watch and learn how to execute the Vanderbilt Start, a full speed approach that gets you out of the pack and over the line while maintaining maximum manoeuverability and control.....

This daring strategy takes advantage of the natural holes in the fleet that develop just before the start. While some sailors consider the port tack approach more of a back-up plan than a strategy, it can be very useful in a crowded fleet.....

Sailing strategist and tactician Mark Rushall shares some top strategy tips for getting ahead before you even start...

Join Will Paxton and meteorologist Chelsea Carlson for a look at the components of weather forecasts and how to apply that on the water...

Review the five gears of sailing, each designed for a different set of conditions or goals...