Mastering the Madness of Downwind Starts

by David Flynn, SpinSheet
Downwind starts make even the best tacticians nervous. In an upwind start, as long as reasonable spacing is maintained, and you start on time, you can at least be assured of a lane that provides clean air and full speed, the primary goal of all starts. Volumes have been written about proper technique, tactics, and strategy for upwind starts.

Offwind starts (starts in which the first mark can be reached without tacking), on the other hand, involve essentially only one lane until the breeze is far enough aft that a gybe will be necessary. Clear air and room to sail are hard to come by. They are a special beast with lots of variables with little in the literature to provide guidance.

It’s only in point-to-point races, the “navigators” format where government marks are used, or casual weeknight races where offwind starts are encountered. With renewed popularity of these formats, I thought it would be worthwhile to try to ascribe some method to the madness.

I find it helpful to divide downwind starts into three zones. Zone 1 is angles from 40-80 true wind angle (relative to the course to the mark): the close reaching zone. Zone 2 is true wind angle (TWA) from 80-140: the beam reach to run zone. Zone 3 is 140-160 TWA: the run zone where a gybe will be involved. As always, the strategy (or where you want to start) is the easy part. Tactics, or how you execute the job of getting your boat to that point, are the hard parts.

Unlike upwind starts where the favored end of the line is the upwind end, in reaching and one-gybe runs (zones 1 and 2), the favored end is simply the one closest to the mark. Unless the line is grossly out of square, the more important overriding concern is getting clear air, which means you will generally be starting on the upwind end of the line. If the start is a true run (zone 3), then the favored end is the end furthest downwind, and it is worth considering a start there.

Read on to learn about each zone and the tactics needed to conquer them: click here