How'd he do that?

RobKoci

New Member
Recently in a light-air frostbite, I was one of three lasers sailing dead downwind abreast two-to-three boat lengths behind the race leader. I fully expected the leader to come to a dead stop for all the blanketing he was receiving from the three of us, but quite the contrary, he pulled away a little. It was a cool day, flat water, and a wind about 2 knots. Anyone have a reasonable explaination for this one? He did not show appreciably better speed in the other races and one of the three of us was a former masters world champion, so I think it must have to do with wind patterns that I don't understand. In a conversation with another local sailor, she suggested it might have and to do with the interaction of the wind layers above cold water. Any thoughts?
 
a 'theory' might be that there might be columns of condensed airflow that made it between the windward boats rigs,,,so there would be some 'deadair' zones,alongside columns of power,,
,,,,or there might have been some shared distraction for the windward boats being beside each other,while the lead boat was able to focus more,,change course at will,,and catch a wave or two
 
If there should be more wind at that place, you should have that stronger wind too......
Maybe he didn't sail faster, but you slower because of fewer wind, and he still had the 'good' wind.....
 
here's another thought. Air does not move parallel to the ground all the time. It may be that we were all experiencing wind that was decending from behind. If that was the case, the boat in front would not have been as blanketed at we hoped. We were about 100 yards downwind of a land mass that pokes out into Lake Ontario and it is typical for the wind as it travels over the land to rise and shift before it decends again into the bay we were sailing in.
 
Three boats abreast?
Sounds like the wind simply went around and over you. Same thing happens at the start or any larger clump of boats.
Where you saliing b the lee at all? This changes the "cover zone" as it is directly downwind and not in front of you. He may not have been covered at all.
 
The "clump" theory sounds right to me. the wind was going around us and could even have been accelerated by us. I think also that, if it is fair to assume that air stacks in layers when you have cold water and warmer air, that the air higher up may have been the primary driver anyway, which would suggest he had clear air up higher in the sail.

We were not by the lee. We had just rounded the windward mark and were dead downwind.
 
Hi,

100 yards downwind of a land mass, assumedly with trees, buildings or whatever? Geez, that is too close for a weather mark. Leeward (leader) benefitted from being farther from the land, and took off. Yes the wind has a downward component, and sideways, both sides, trying to fill the land shadow. Nature "abhors a vacumn, etc...". Try Stuart Walker's "Wind and Strategy" for full coverage of the subject.

In clear air, and by the lee, you three may have bent the wind, but not really shawdowed Leeward. Attached flow implies flow, so...? Also the 3 of you may have been preoccupied, while Leeward grabbed a puff, or rocked in response to a puff, etc. The great guys like Sheidt are famous for downwind speed. And the leader is always free to maneuver, while you three are limited, even mentally by windward/leeward etc.

It's always been said that the best place to be is "out in front" even dead down :) Many times, a lead boat can easily add a 1/2 leg, even if they aren't that fast usually.

But really, move that windward mark?

Al Russell 138888
 
The mark has been moved, you'll be happy to know. The offending flag and anchor are currently sitting in a pile of marks on land, waiting for the end of ice and the beginning of life as we sailors prefer it, in April.
I think the lesson for me here is that wind is not as predictable as I would like, and that each circumstance has to be evaluated for inself, quickly, and adjustments made when conventional wisdom proves unproductive. Rather than marvel at the lead boat's remarkable luck, I should have realized that a new approach was called for, and new thinking applied to the situation. I could have looked for new wind elsewhere, or found ways to tactically move the other boats and myself into a potentially more advantagous position.
 
Don't think so. The four of us were pretty equal as far as boat speed for the races we had run to that point. I sure it had to be the wind.
 

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