... final minute. With only a few seconds to go to the "gun", Mike Codd (CAN90) is the only one sitting in position. Uncle Al (3854) has effectively blocked off Marc Bennett (864) from getting between Al and Mike. For once, Al is up to speed and is hoping to goose it through to leeward of Mike and arrive at the line right on time.

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With only one or two seconds to go, Al and Julia (3854) are poised for a perfect start - like taking candy from a baby! Well, in this case, I suppose it could be said that Al was taking candy from a baby, Mike's crew being Lilly who's barely six. Looking good at the leeward end are Roger and Raewyn (7700).

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They're off! Roger and Al have indeed gotten the starts. Al (l) likes his start better than Roger's (r) because the latter can't tack without worrying about a bunch of starboard boats. Strategically, this is a tough area to start in: if you go hard left or hard right, you soon reach a point of land that in each case usually has wind funnelling around it, and the attendant shifts caused by the shape of the land. The question is whether to go right or left. From past experience, Al remembers more guys killing him by having gone hard right. Accordingly, his race plan is to tack for the right-hand point the moment starboard becomes less favoured than it is right now.

Al (3854) continues to hold port towards the point. According to Stuart Walker, one should aim just to leeward of the point so that when one gets close enough, one can tack into a progressive (if finite!!) lift around the point, not to mention getting better pressure as the wind funnels.

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... now they have tacked in just the right spot. Unfortunately, W9667 must also be used here to illustrate, as they used to say in the Berenstain Bears and The Bike Lesson, "This is what you must not do!" Letting your main twist off this much, just screams poor pointing. The main in this case, needs to be cranked in to remove that twist (cranking in at this point = mostly down-pull and will bring the upper sail into alignment with the lower part). If the crew can't hike the boat flat enough with the main cranked in, (much) more vang tension is needed (which is why an easily adjusted vang is one of two items it's worth paying good money for on a Wayfarer - the other being a magic box or its equivalent). If the vang doesn't flatten the main enough to keep the boat from heeling too much, then the main needs to be eased out as much as needed. With the vang on good and hard, easing the main will not let it twist off, and your pointing/upwind distance gained will remain very good.

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