Clear your air — double-tack right
When a single tack only swaps one boat's shadow for another's, tack twice to shift across into a clean lane on the same tack.
You're buried in the pack's dirty air, but one tack would just drop you into the next boat's shadow. So you tack twice: hop onto port, cross to the right until you're clear of the fleet's blanket, then tack back onto starboard in a fresh lane of clean air. You give up a little distance to the leaders, but you're now sailing at full speed in undisturbed wind instead of wallowing in bad air. Two cheap tacks to buy a clean lane is often a winning trade — clean air lets you sail your own race.
Opens the animation on the boat-length grid — scrub it, edit it, or use it as a starting point. Free, no account needed.
How it interacts with other rules
- Rule Tactics — Clear your air — tack out · see also
The simple one-tack version when you're clear behind.
- Rule Tactics — Clear your air — tack and cross · see also
When there's room to tack and cross straight away.