Watched some of the very light wind and slow first racing of the Americas Cup practice regatta in Jeddah. I was trying to think of something to take away from it, that our sailors could relate to and that would help our team. This is what I got.
The races in Jeddah today were held in very light wind conditions, and there was just barely enough wind to keep the boats flying on foil. So the starts became the most critical portion of the race, and all of the boats were working extremely hard to stay out of any wind shadows and disturbed air of other boats – So much so that they spent most of the pre start above, or to windward of the starting line.
With such light wind conditions, dipping into a wind shadow or any disturbed air from another boat could mean the difference between first place and last place in these foiling races, because if the wind speed is just enough velocity to keep a boat foiling , the smallest decrease in wind velocity means a boat would fall of their foils and would be dragging its entire hull through the water.
These areas on the race course of disturbed wind are called the wind shadows, bad air, or the “gas” from another boat and should be anticipated and avoided.
Now in our races in the 420’s, our boats are all moving their hulls through the water, and the speed losses for sailing in disturbed air are not quite as dramatic, but remember that the racing is also a lot closer together, and small differences in the wind speed around your boat, for any prolonged period of time can lead to big distance losses or gains for a boat that sails in or out of the wind shadows of other the boats.
It is much faster and easier to sail in clean, and full strength wind (front row of boats, or boats in the green part of course). If you can start in that front row and stay in clean wind, you will have a huge advantage over other the other boats that are drudging through the disturbed air of the front rows and are going slower.
Put another way, the wind around our boat is our engine, and if at any point our engine is not as fast or smooth as another boat’s engine, our boat will be slower and harder compete with compared to the other boats with faster engines.
Take Away:
Learn and know where the wind shadows and disturbed air are and will be on the course, and minimize the amount of time spent in it. If you are in the middle or the back rows, look for the clear undisturbed wind lanes and position your boat in the clear green air for maximum speed.
More on how to use and avoid wind shadows to get ahead in this video: