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Shifting gears

Tactical reasons for shifting gears

Any time you are either trying to sail faster than normal or higher than normal in order to sail over, around, through or away from other boats you need to switch gears into a more specialized mode.

After the start you need to decide what mode you should be in. If there is a big hole to leeward it may be a good time to put the bow down and sail in speed mode. This will allow you to get the first shift before any other boats and may allow you to tack and cross the fleet. If you have a boat just to leeward or a boat on your weather hip that you want to pinch off you need to set your boat up into point mode. This will give you the ability to either sail to the next shift before tacking or force a the boat to weather to tack and give you the chance to work your way to the right side of the course.

If you start on the right side of the fleet and are heading right in an attempt to get a shift on the right side of the course, try to sail the boat in fast mode to get to the shift quicker.

If after the start you tack to clear your lane, try to sail the boat in point mode if your intentions are to tack back and sail to the left side of the course.

If a boat tacks right in front or under you and you cannot afford a tack, set the boat up into a point mode. Sometimes a boat may tack on your wind but you feel that you are going the right way. Then you must change gears and set the boat up into speed mode to get your nose ahead of his bad air.

If you are on starboard tack and a boat is not crossing you but looks like they are going to tack on your lee bow, you should set the boat up for speed mode. This allows you to feather the boat up into point mode once he or she has tacked.

When approaching the weather mark in a large fleet on the layline you will often have to set the boat up in power mode to keep your boatspeed up in bad air from boats that are ahead of you.

Any time you overstand the weather mark or expect a lift while on layline and do not feel it is necessary to put any height "in the bank" then sail the boat in speed mode. This may allow you cross ahead of any boats that may have been able to tack on your bow before you get to the mark, thus allowing you to round the mark ahead of them.

If you find that you are right on the layline early you should sail the boat in point mode to make sure that no boats will tack on your bow or on top of you forcing you to tack two more times.

Page 4... Strategic reasons for shifting gears

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