Timed Line Starts
Repeated starts on the whistle: claim a spot, hold it through the sequence, and cross at full speed exactly at the gun.
Set a short line and run start after start on a fixed sequence. Boats set up on starboard, claim a gap, and park with sails luffing — bow close to the line, enough leeward room to bear away and build speed. The skill is the trigger-pull: knowing how long your boat takes to reach full pace, and starting the acceleration so you cross the line at speed exactly as the gun fires, not before and not coasting after. Run six in a row and score each start: rolling at the gun beats early or buried every time.
Setup
Committee end (RIB) and a pin buoy, line about 1.5× the fleet's combined length so it's crowded. Pick a sequence (1, 3 or 5 minutes) and call it on the whistle or horn. Sail one minute upwind after each start, then return and restart. A coach sights the line and calls OCS boats.
Start sequence: 1, 3, 5 minute options — the animation’s countdown matches the one you run on the whistle.
Opens the animation on the boat-length grid — run it well, then brief it from the same picture. Free, no account needed.
What to call out
- Hold station with the boom out and bow ~40° off the wind — not head-to-wind, where you lose steerage.
- Defend the leeward gap: that space is your acceleration runway.
- Trigger-pull on time: count down the seconds your boat needs to reach full speed, and commit.
- Cross the line close-hauled at target speed — being on the line slow is a lost start.