August 12, 2023
2 minutes reading time
Allianz Sailing World Championships: To finish first, sometimes you must start last
It takes guts to start on port tack. Most of the time, the majority of any sailing fleet - Olympic or otherwise - will start on starboard tack. Starboard boats have right of way over boats on port tack. If there is a collision between a port and a starboard tacker, most likely the penalty - and the repair bill - will be pinned on the port tacker.
So why would you start on port? There are a few good reasons. Firstly, you have a great chance of breaking out into clear air and being able to sail your own path up the race course, unimpeded by the bad air or chopped up water from being stuck in the starboard tack traffic jam.
Sometimes the right-hand side of the course might be the place to be, maybe because there’s more favourable current, stronger wind or a wind bend that effectively gives you a faster ride to the top of the course. If the right-hand side is favoured, then starting on port tack is one of the fastest ways to get there.
Take a look at the race replays on SAP Sailing to witness the unorthodox approach taken on day one of the Nacra 17 competition by Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.
The Italian duo, the reigning Olympic and World Champions, were one of a few boats who elected to start on port tack. This meant weaving and jinking their way behind the sterns of the bulk of the fleet starting on the safer starboard tack.
Despite starting behind almost everyone else, the Italians were soon launched into clear air out to the right-hand side of the course. From then on, they could employ their superior boat speed to launch into the lead by the first turning mark.
The Italians employed this port-tack starting strategy for races 1 and 2.
See here:
Two race wins in the bank, thanks very much. So what did they do for race 3? Completely changed tacks, that’s what.
This time they did what’s known as ‘winning the pin’. They fought and won the highly coveted spot right next to the pin end (the left-hand end) of the start line and launched out of the start on starboard tack. Yes, they were now part of the starboard tack traffic jam but effectively fastest to accelerate away as soon as the traffic lights turned green.
And, despite the 180-degree change in starting strategy, the Italians won the race yet again. A perfect three from three races on day one of sailing at the competition. It doesn’t get better than that. As the current and the conditions changed throughout the afternoon on the North Sea, the Italians adapted their approach. That’s what champions do, ready to flex and change according to the change in conditions.
Having tarnished their sheen of invincibility earlier in the season, is this the sign that Tita and Banti are back to their very best? Far too soon to say, but what a statement of intent.
By Andy Rice, World Sailing Event Correspondent