Keep Clear Air Off the Line
If a leeward-bow boat gasses you just after the start, recognise the bad air early and change lanes — tack or foot into a clean lane rather than sit and bleed places.
Off the start line, clear air is everything: an Optimist is too slow to drive through another boat's bad air, so a boat sitting in a leeward-bow boat's dirty air just falls backward through the fleet. The skill is recognising it fast — your sail goes soft and the boats around you pull away — and acting before you've lost a string of places. Pick your escape: tack into a clean lane if there's a gap, or foot off into clear air below if you can. Always know where your next clean lane is before you need it, and head up to stop a windward boat rolling over you. The boat that protects its air off the line is the one still racing at the top of the beat.
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
- Treat clear air as priority #1 off the line, because a slow opti can't punch through bad air.
- If a leeward-bow boat gasses you, change lanes right away, because waiting bleeds places fast.
- Head up to stop a windward boat rolling over you, because losing the windward lane traps you in bad air.
- Always know where your next clean lane is, because you have to commit to the escape the moment you're gassed.