Training drills & team-racing tactics

Repeated starts on the whistle: claim a spot, hold it through the sequence, and cross at full speed exactly at the gun.

No committee boat needed: a port-tack rabbit is the moving start line — everyone ducks her stern on starboard and races.

Whistle drill: stop dead with sails luffing, then accelerate to full speed — the two halves of every good start.

Sail away from the line on the stopwatch, turn, and come back to cross exactly at zero — at full speed.

A complete micro-race every few minutes: start at the gun, sail a two-tack beat, and round the windward mark.

The fleet beats upwind in formation and tacks together on every whistle — the fastest way to groove roll tacks.

A snake of boats copies the leader through tacks, bear-aways and gybes, holding one length of spacing.

Loop two marks in a continuous figure of eight — a tack and a gybe every few lengths, turning both ways.

Run a line of marks dead downwind, gybing at every one — broad reach to broad reach, like a ski slalom.

A continuous loop past windward, offset and leeward marks — maximum roundings per hour, with spacing held by the carousel.

In 3v3 team racing your places must add to 10 or less — 2-3-4 wins without the bullet, and it's the hardest combo to break.

Man-marking before the gun: each boat owns one opponent, and a leeward hook at the boat end can luff a rival out of the start entirely.

Ahead in your duel: mirror every tack and stay between them and the wind. Behind: refuse the mirror and split.

Losing the combo with a boat ahead? Stop racing — park on the opponent's wind and feed your teammate past.

First to the mark with right of way? Don't round — slow down. The queue stacks up behind you while your teammates close the gap.

Slow the run just outside the zone: the fleet compresses onto your transom, the opponent rounds wide, and your teammate arrives inside.

First place that crosses early helps nobody: park on the line, hold the opponent out, and feed your teammates across first.