Entire books, many of them fat volumes too heavy to fling at cats, have been written on the gentle art of cutting your opponent's throat during a race. In fact, there have been bulky bundles of verbiage devoted solely to the pros and cons of racing rules. There is no getting away from the blunt truth that the men— and women too—who race sailing boats would protest wins by their own sainted grandmothers if they felt they had a chance to get away with it. Even in the plushy America's Cup contest, the Giltlock Frob-ishers have been known to play the game just as long as they could present the muddy end of the stick to their opponents. The idea is that if you cannot win by sailing over the course in the least time, you may be able to win by calling attention to Rule 117, Subparagraph M-19-d.

In the few words allotted to this chapter, it will be impossible to go into more than a bug's-eye fraction of the things you can do to make the day a ruin for the competition. If you want to be really proud of your reputation as a sea lawyer, you need only set aside every waking moment for the next seven years for a study of the racing rules. Once you get those in your think box, you then dope out not less than 17 ways to beat every one of the rules without getting beaten over the head by the irate windjammers forming your opposition on the race course.

First, you must consider the rules of the road—marine traffic laws—even if you never race a boat. The solons who thought out the maritime regulations set down one law saying that a sailing boat proceeding under sail alone has the right of way over a power-driven vessel. If you think this means you can annoy Sir Henceforth Luck-ingham. skipper of the Queen Mary, by shuttling your sailing skiff back and forth across his bow, you may be in for a tough time of it. In other words, use your bean just a bit. The next rule—remember these rules apply whether you are racing or taking the gal out to Dusky Dell Picnic Grove —is that a boat on the port tack shall keep out of the way of a boat on the starboard tack. This is an over-simplification of the matter, but will serve for all normal sailing.

Left: On the starboard tack. Right-hand boat may soon be blanketed if the other boat is the faster. Below: Knockabouts sailing on opposite tacks.

There is also an international rule of the road which says that when two boats are running free—that is, have the wind well abaft of amidships the one to windward shall keep out of the way of the poor guy down to leeward. You will find this rule in every government publication, but if you think it has much application on the race course, you should have your head examined. Let us now slide into the things that may be done on the race course to gain an advantage.

Your opponent is down to leeward and slightly ahead of you (Fig. 1). The time comes when you can maneuver so your boat is getting all of the nice fresh breeze and he is getting a few little orphan zephyrs that you generously allow to spill around the edges of your sails. In boating circles, this is known as blanketing. You have simply shut off his supply of moving air. Waiting until he has lost headway, you bear up a bit and slide by him. Being a gentleman and a scholar, you do not shake the end of a line at him and inquire whether he would like to be towed. All of these things happen if he isn't up on his toes. If his rabbit's foot is hot that day, however, he may make some queer maneuvers until suddenly your sails grow as listless as a hound dog in summer. He has ranged just ahead of you (Fig. 2). What in the world has happened? Sweetheart, you have been back-winded. The air that has been "bounced" aft from his sails is striking your rig on the forward side of the canvas. No longer is your Genoa a glorious, well-filled bag o' wind. It has dimples in it and wags uncertainly above your head until the dastardly he-goat in the boat ahead has drawn far enough away for you to get out of currents he has sent alt.

If you were on the job, you would have maneuvered so that he remained helplessly becalmed as you blanketed him. Being on the ball a bit, he out-maneuvered you, with the result that your sister will never speak to his cousin again. Even if you shared a soda with him the night before, his boat from now on is a crate and he is the offspring of a two-toed sloth and a Grade-A skunk.

Running free. The left-hand boat is slightly to windward of the other, so it must keep well clear as it overtakes and passes its opponent.
 
If your opponent is down to leeward and a bit ahead of you, you can blanket him by steering so your sails shut off his supply of moving air.

Then there is the business known as a luffing match. If you get into one of those, you had better pray that you were born with good judgment. There are 67 ways of winning or losing a luffing match, each dependent upon the exact conditions prevailing. Let us assume that two or more boats are beating to windward. Somewhere up ahead is the buoy representing the turn where you will bring the wind farther aft. Right now, you are both on the starboard tack, which is leading you well to leeward of the buoy. Somewhere along that course, you both must luff at least once and bear away on the port tack. Only good judgment will tell you whether you must make one or many zigs and zags before you round the buoy. As you are both sailing on alternate tacks to make the turn, there will be many places where you can tack first to gain a shorter course to the objective. The rule is that the inexperienced man had better tack instantly when his more experienced competitor comes about. This is especially true if both boats—and there may be a couple of dozen craft in the race —are quite close together.

One way this works is that a boat that luffs from a port to a starboard tack automatically gains the right of way over the guy who is still sailing with the wind coming over his port side. If you find yourself in this fortunate situation, cheerily rend the air by screaming, "Right of way!" or, "Starboard!" He will be forced to keep out of your way. Of course, the slipper may often be on the other dog; then you'll discover unprintable words to mutter, words that have been known to peel varnish off a deck. In some cases, a quick shift from one tack to the other may place you in the position of being able to blanket or back-wind a rival.

There have been times when boats have gotten so interested in luffing matches that the skippers concerned have forgotten that the main idea was to be first around the mark. Concentrating too much on the luffing business, they have sailed far, far away, only to find that some tail-ender has seized the opportunity of making for the buoy and is well on the way home. Before the battling strategists can abandon their private naval war and recall that they are supposed to get across a finish line, the tail-ender has won the race.

In most races, you find a certain percentage of skippers who adopt a to-hell-with-it attitude about luffing matches. When a rival goes to a starboard tack, such a skipper gets the wind over his port side. One zigs as the other zags. Known as splitting tacks, the maneuver fails to please the guy who is adept at interfering with the life, liberty, and happiness of his competitors. The others simply never let him get near enough to pull tricks out of his black bag. This stunt has been known to drive spectators crazy. Watching a pair of racing boats, they find each contestant sailing in a different direction. The result, from their point of view, is as exciting as a ten-round heavyweight contest between one pug shadow-boxing in Cincinnati and another punching holes in the air of Seattle.

Local knowledge is valuable in racing sailboats. Most courses are laid out in waters where depths and currents vary and where even the winds may change due to shore influences. A high, wooded bank will reduce the force of an offshore breeze. With an inshore breeze, the bank may have the same effect as another boat back-winding you. When the breeze is blowing parallel to the bank, its velocity is apt to be higher close to shore.

A current increases in speed as it sweeps around a point or moves across shoal water. On the other hand, such conditions often cause rougher water, which cuts the speed of a sailing craft to a great extent. Once the boat starts to roll and pitch, the driving power of the sails is reduced because the rig cannot be kept drawing. Only intimate knowledge of local conditions plus experience with your particular boat will determine whether you will save time by going off the most direct course.

This idea may be pointed up by a theory believed by many who sail on Long Island Sound. Between the sound and the Atlantic Ocean lies the one-hundred-mile stretch of Long Island. Prevailing summer winds blow from the ocean across the island to the sound. Racing records indicate that weekend events have been called off more frequently for lack of wind during recent years than they were when the old-timers started racing. Weather Bureau records give no hint as to why such a peculiar situation should prevail. Finally, some one came up with what sounded like good sense. Automobile traffic on Long Island is a bumper-to-bumper affair on week ends. Each car adds to the heat rising from the hundreds of miles of concrete highways. It is claimed that the cumulative effect of thousands of cars is to create a mass of heated air above the island. This air rises and forms a barrier that the prevailing ocean breezes must hurdle. Further investigation of the theory produced proof that the week-end winds close to the Long Island shore are gradually becoming softer, but that on the opposite side of the sound, they are about the same as they were years ago. This leads to the obvious conclusion that the warm air that rose over the island gradually cooled as it passed over the waters of the sound, then dropped to a point where it was of some use to small boats if they stayed well away from the island.

Air. flows in layers. Close to the water, there may be little breeze; but 20 feet higher, there may be a nice flow of air. Watch two sailing boats of great difference in size. The small craft with a relatively low mast may be becalmed while a few yards away, the larger boat with a tall mast is booming along with everything drawing nicely. She is simply reaching into an upper stratum of moving air. This is one of the prime reasons why the jib-headed type of mainsail is faster than the lower gaff-headed rig. While the skipper has no means of increasing the height of his sails, he may be able to direct his course so that he avoids obstructions to windward that are apt to direct the flow too high to be of full value. The winning skipper is often the man who has studied the flow of air and water currents and shapes his course to take advantage of every possible help. In long-distance racing, boats have sailed for half a day in off-course directions so as to eventually take advantage of some prevailing currents. In tidal waters, the greatest current speed will usually be in the center of the stream while alongshore, the water may be moving very slowly. At times of tidal flow change, there may actually be an ebbing current alongshore while there is a flood running in the center of the stream. Taking advantage of tidal flow is of tremendous importance. In some streams, the current will run at a speed greater than you would make in a good breeze in still water. In other words, you could actually drift faster with the current than your competitor could sail if he shaped his course in still water.

Racing crew positioned for a reach. The weight is concentrated at the mid-length and the crew is sitting to port to keep boat on level keel.
 
Racing crew positioned for a run. Helmsman has moved to starboard to keep the boat level and has also moved aft a bit to make the bow lift.

The placement of the crew is also a means of increasing speed. In all breezes from abeam, the crew weight had best be concentrated at the mid-length toward the windward side. When running, most boats will do better if the crew is moved aft to lift the bow. In very light airs, the crew weight should often be shifted to the leeward side to provide a slight heel, thus taking advantage of the fact that sailing boats are deliberately designed to be faster when heeled over a bit. None of the above can be considered as applicable to all boats. Each boat has its own peculiarities that must be studied if you are to be successful in regattas. Never forget that a saving of a second a mile may add up to a big margin of victory at the finish line. To get an idea of the importance, let us assume that you are sailing a five-mile course. The wind is light, so you are averaging four miles an hour, or a mile every 15 minutes. If you can save a second a mile by superior boat handling, you are increasing your speed by what may seem to be a ridiculously small amount. It is hardly better than one part in a thousand, yet at the end of the race, you will be five seconds ahead of your adversary. This would not be a surprisingly close finish at a race where there are many boats. Regatta officials will readily agree that sometimes the boats finish less than a second apart. We recall one race where 18 boats finished with but five seconds between the first and the last.

Probably the most exciting moments in a sailing race—and the ones that demonstrate the need of skill—are those just before the starting gun. Officials normally lay out a course so the boats cross the starting line on a reach. Here is where you must maneuver so that you are on the starboard tack as you bear down on the line. If you follow this, you may be able to force boats on the port tack to get out of your way. Obviously, it will not always be possible to choose your tack. All of the boats may have to go over the line on the port tack to head correctly for the next mark. But there are starts where the wise skipper can place himself in an advantageous position even before the starting gun is fired.

In tuning your boat for racing, one of the problems is determining whether certain experiments are of advantage. There is a "feel" to a boat that tells the experienced skipper whettier she is moving faster or not. Numerous marine speedometers have been placed on the market, but, as far as the writer knows, none of them is sufficiently accurate to inform you of the tiny but important increases that may mean victory at the finish line. As you haul in sheets, the boat may heel over more and there will be more pressure on the tiller. This does not mean you are making better speed through the water. Any possible gain may have been canceled because a greater angle of helm cuts down your speed and an excessive heel allows more wind to be spilled over the top of the sail.

Study your boat, ask some successful skipper to give you some pointers, watch the maneuvers of the more experienced racing men, and follow their ideas only to the point where you feel the tricks properly apply to your own boat.

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