Sprint Start to the Top Mark
A complete micro-race every few minutes: start at the gun, sail a two-tack beat, and round the windward mark.
The whole opening of a race, compressed: a timed start, a short beat of two or three tacks, and a port rounding at the windward mark — then sail back and do it again. Because the beat is tiny, the start and the first cross decide everything, and the layline call comes up within a minute of the gun. Watch the three routes: a mid-line start with a clean starboard-layline approach, an overstand that gives distance away, and an early tack that means sailing the slow middle of the course. Score each rep by position at the mark.
Setup
Start line plus one windward mark only 200–300 m upwind (2–3 minutes of beating). Run the chosen sequence, race to the mark, round to port, return downwind and restart immediately. Six to ten reps per session.
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
- The first cross decides the beat — protect the right if you start at the boat, punch out if you start at the pin.
- Call the layline from the zone, not from hope: tack short and you double-tack in traffic; overstand and you donate boat-lengths.
- Round wide-in tight-out even at a windward mark: bear away with ease and heel, don't slam the helm.
- Approach on starboard. A port-tack approach into traffic is a protest magnet — make them earn it in the debrief.