@sailingtacticseu

On a windy reach, the waves can carry you to the mark. When a wave lifts her stern, Green bears away and surfs down the front of it. When the wave runs away, she heads up and works back to her line. Red sails straight. After two waves Green is 4.4 m ahead. Faster than the wave? Bear away. Wave…

On a reach, a straight line isn't always the fastest way to the mark. In the lull Green heads up a little to keep her speed, then bears away when the gust arrives and rides it back down to her line. Red steers straight. At the mark Green is almost 2 m ahead. Up in the lulls, down in the gusts…

Starting next to someone? Try to be the boat just ahead and to leeward. Green's sails bend the wind back onto Red. In this scene Red sails 12 % slower in that backwind, and after 10 seconds Green's lead has grown from 2.5 m to 5.8 m. If you're the boat stuck above, get up to full speed and then…

New to the compass? Here's how it shows you the wind shifts. The number is where your bow points. Upwind you sail at about the same angle to the wind, so when the wind turns, your number turns too. Before the start, sail a bit on each tack and note both numbers. Here that was 315 and 45. On…