The Pass-Back
Losing the combo with a boat ahead? Stop racing — park on the opponent's wind and feed your teammate past.
Blue holds 1st but the combination is losing, and B2 is stuck behind Y1. So B1 gives up lengths to the racecourse and converts them into control: she falls back onto Y1's wind and stays there — a deliberate slow cover. In the shadow, Y1 loses half a knot and slides back; every time she tries to tack away, B1 tacks on top and re-applies the blanket. Meanwhile B2 sails free in a clean lane and rolls through. The instant the pass completes and the combo flips, B1 releases and goes back to racing. The pass-back is the fundamental team-racing conversion: one boat spends distance, the team gains a place.
Opens the animation on the boat-length grid — run it well, then brief it from the same picture. Free, no account needed.
What to drill
- Cover from dead upwind, matching speed — too close risks fouling, too far and the shadow misses.
- Herd, don't just slow: steer the victim toward your teammate's side of the course.
- The covering boat sacrifices her own race — only pass-back when the COMBO needs it, and release the moment it flips.
- Victim's escape is the double-tack; practise both roles so crews feel when the cover is breakable.