
**By Stan Schreyer**

Big gains can be made sailing downwind, but big losses happen just as easily. Rarely does one benefit from taking a massive risk on a downwind leg. Instead, smart sailors make gains by capitalizing on the mistakes of others. Here are some reminders to help you sail conservatively while moving up the fleet.

## On the Reaches

### 1. Sail the Shortest Distance
It sounds simple, but in the heat of battle, we often forget.
*   **The Race Against Time:** Racing strategy is defined as the course you would sail if no other boats were on the course.
*   **Don't Panic:** When behind, avoid the temptation to do the opposite of the boats ahead just to split. This usually increases the distance you sail.
*   **Rhumbline:** On a reach, the straight line is usually the fastest path.

### 2. Look for the Puffs
*   **Lulls:** Sail slightly higher than normal to reach the next puff.
*   **Puffs:** Once in the pressure, ride it down to (or below) the rhumbline with increased speed.

### 3. Sail for Clear Air
*   **Wind Shadow:** Every moment you sail in bad air, you lose ground.
*   **Avoid Luffing Matches:** Don't get into unnecessary battles. They cost you time and allow the rest of the fleet to catch up. Think of other boats as roadblocks in your race against time.

### 4. Managing the Pack
Before rounding the windward mark, assess the situation:
*   **Pack Behind? Get High.** Do not turn immediately down to the mark. Reach a bit higher for a boat length or two to signal that you will defend your lane. If you get rolled by one boat, the whole train will follow.
*   **Pack Ahead? Go Low.** This is a golden opportunity. Boats ahead will be forced high to defend their air. Take the low road (rhumbline), stay patient, and watch them sail extra distance while you cut the corner.

### 5. The Outside Rounding
In big fleets, the inside at the leeward mark isn't always best.
*   **Traffic Jams:** Large packs slow down significantly at the mark.
*   **The Move:** Consider rounding on the outside. Keep your speed up, sail around the chaos, and immediately look for a clear lane to tack into.

## On the Run

### 1. Clear Lanes are Mandatory
Sailing in bad air on a reach is sometimes unavoidable. On a run, it is inexcusable. You have the freedom to spread out laterally—use it.

### 2. Sail the Proper Angle
*   **Shroud Telltales:** Put telltales on your shrouds. The windward telltale should always point slightly inboard (indicating flow over the windward quarter).
*   **Don't Sail By the Lee:** In a two-sail boat like the V15, sailing by the lee causes the main to blanket the jib, killing your power. If you find yourself by the lee, either head up or gybe.

### 3. Don't Be Afraid to Gybe
There are three good reasons to gybe:
1.  **Clear Air:** To escape a wind shadow.
2.  **Pressure:** To reach a puff on the other side of the course.
3.  **Angle:** If the other gybe takes you closer to the mark.

Don't get complacent on the "starboard tack train." If a puff appears on the left, gybe for it. If your boat handling makes you hesitate, practice until the loss from a gybe is negligible.


Be Patient Going Downhill


**By Stan Schreyer**

When the breeze comes up in a V15, things can get dicey pretty quickly. The boats go fast, and they can make you tired really easily. Here are six tips to make your life easier when the wind howls.

## 1. The "Delayed Cross" Tack
When tacking in a breeze, a "roll tack" isn't really a roll tack—think of it as a delayed cross.
*   **Timing:** Start your move across the boat right around the time the jib backs. Communicate with your skipper for specific timing.
*   **Commitment:** Work through the *entire* tack. It starts when the boat goes head-to-wind and doesn't end until you are hiking on the new side with the jib trimmed tight.
*   **Don't Stop:** Avoid the common mistake of stopping as soon as you hit the new tank. Get your feet in the straps and your weight out immediately. Deal with the last few inches of jib trim or tangled lines *after* you're hiking.

## 2. Tighten Your Hiking Straps
You might be able to hike harder with loose straps, but you'll fatigue much faster.
*   **Efficiency:** Find the setting where you hike most *efficiently*, not necessarily the hardest.
*   **Endurance:** You need to last all day. Save your bursts of energy for the start or tactical pinches.

## 3. Teamwork on Jib Trim
If you struggle to pull the jib in all the way, get help from the back of the boat.
*   **Friction:** The V15 jib is large, and the fairlead creates significant friction.
*   **Skipper Assist:** Your skipper should put the mainsheet in their tiller hand and reach forward to help pull the jib in the last few inches. It's a team effort.

## 4. Anticipate the Moves
Your reaction time doesn't get faster just because the wind is blowing harder. You must anticipate.
*   **Look Around:** Know where other boats are so you can predict your skipper's moves (e.g., a quick tack or crash duck).
*   **Communicate Options:** Don't just tell your skipper what to do; present options.
    *   *Example:* "When boat #74 tacks, do you want to duck or lee-bow?"
    *   *Example:* "Are we rounding the mark and going straight, or tacking immediately?"

## 5. Get "Locked In"
Find a way to firmly brace yourself for big maneuvers, especially downwind and pre-start.
*   **Stability:** Use a combination of tanks, centerboard trunk, and hiking straps to lock your legs in.
*   **Control:** The goal is to sit in a manner that allows you to manipulate the boat, rather than having the boat manipulate you.

## 6. Watch Jib Leech Tension
**Reaching:**
*   When holding the jib outside the shroud, ensure you're exerting enough downward tension to close the leech. An open top section renders that part of the sail useless.

**Close Reaching:**
*   When you have to move inboard to hike and trim through the fairlead, the geometry changes. The fairlead position makes it hard to trim the leech properly.
*   **Compromise:** You may need to slightly over-trim the foot to keep the top from twisting off completely. Find the "happy medium" between stalling the bottom and losing the top.

---
*Stan Schreyer is an All-American sailor, ICYRA National Champion, and former Vanguard employee.*


Heavy Air Crewing


**By Pete Spaulding**

One of the most thrilling things about the Vanguard 15 is its ability to go fast all around the course. While planing is usually associated with sailing downwind, it's a powerful technique for upwind legs as well. Master this, and you'll beat the fleet to the windward mark while having way more fun.

## Conditions for Planing
To plane efficiently upwind, you generally need:
*   **Flat Water:** 12+ knots of breeze.
*   **Chop:** Closer to 15+ knots.

Below these speeds, you'll have to reach too low to plane, sacrificing VMG (Velocity Made Good). You also need strong legs—once you start planing, you can't stop hiking!

## 1. Rig Set-Up
Planing requires **power**.
*   **Don't Over-Depower:** If you rake back too much to keep the boat flat, you lose the punch needed to plane.
*   **Drop Pins:** If your vang, cunningham, and outhaul are maxed and you're still easing the main more than 6 inches to stay flat, drop a rig pin.
*   **The Goal:** You want to be powered up enough to plane without easing the main more than 6 inches or the jib more than 1.5 inches.

## 2. Sail and Boat Trim
Once your rig is set, it's time to accelerate.
1.  **Bear Away:** Drop the bow 2-5 degrees to build speed.
2.  **Stay Flat:** The boat must remain perfectly flat. Any heel creates windward helm (drag) and risks stalling the rudder.
3.  **Ease Sheets:**
    *   **Jib:** Ease about 2 inches to open the slot.
    *   **Main:** Ease about 6 inches simultaneously.
4.  **Accelerate & Point:** As the boat pops onto a plane, slowly trim both sails back in and head up slightly.
5.  **Steer with Sails:** Use your mainsheet to steer over waves (main in to head up, main out to bear away) to keep the rudder balanced.

## 3. Weight Placement
Skipper and crew weight placement is critical and often overlooked.
*   **Fore/Aft Trim:**
    *   *Flat Water:* Move weight **forward**.
    *   *Chop:* Move weight **aft**.
*   **The Indicator:** Watch the "knuckle" on the bow (where the stem meets the bottom). You want it as close to the water as possible without dragging.
*   **Togetherness:** Keep skipper and crew weight close together. This reduces pitching moment, allowing the boat to glide over waves rather than crashing through them.

> [!TIP]
> **Experiment:** Try moving your weight radically forward and aft to feel the difference. Finding the "groove" takes practice, but the speed reward is worth it.


Planing Upwind


**By Katie McDowell**

Preparation for a start in a large fleet can be daunting. With 60+ boats on the line, winning the start isn't just about luck—it's about a series of calculated decisions made long before the gun goes off.

## 1. Pre-Race Preparation
Don't just chat on the sail out to the course. Use this time to gather data.
*   **Tune Up:** Adjust hiking straps, boom vang, and jib tension. Test how the boat responds to different degrees of heel in the current chop.
*   **Weather Intel:** Look at the clouds and discuss the forecast. Is the breeze oscillating or persistently shifting?
*   **Course Scan:** Stand up and look upwind. Are there color or texture differences on the water? Check flags on shore or the lay of the land for geographic shift clues.

## 2. Picking Your Spot
Position is everything.
*   **Favored End:** Go head-to-wind in the middle of the line. Whichever end your bow points closer to is favored. Check this multiple times during the sequence as the wind shifts.
*   **Strategy:** Decide if you want to start at the boat, the pin, or somewhere in the middle based on the favored end and your plan for the first leg.

## 3. The Approach
*   **Starboard Approach:** Requires good boat handling. You'll be perched on the line longer and forced to defend against more boats, but you have right-of-way.
*   **Port Approach:** Risky but can yield a great hole if timed right. Choose the boat you tack under carefully and ensure you leave a sizable gap to leeward.

## 4. Defending Your Hole
Once you're set up, you must defend your space from poachers.
*   **The Defense Move:** If someone tries to sail into your hole from leeward or astern:
    1.  **Bear Down:** Aggressively point your bow at them.
    2.  **Luff Main, Trim Jib:** This kills forward speed but rotates the bow down.
    3.  **The Pounce:** As soon as the threat is gone, luff the jib and trim the main to catapult the bow back up to windward.
*   **Awareness:** Stay vigilant. You are vulnerable while parked.

## 5. The Final Countdown
*   **30 Seconds:** Look for latecomers trying to poach. Look ahead to the line to gauge distance.
*   **10 Seconds:** Grab the mainsheet. Gauge your distance—are you one boat length back? Two?
*   **The Acceleration:**
    1.  **Bear Away:** Slowly pull the tiller and have the crew trim the jib to turn the boat down and build speed.
    2.  **3 Seconds:** Heel the boat to leeward to initiate a rock. Move in tandem with your crew for a smooth motion.
    3.  **The Gun:** Flatten the boat aggressively, head up, and **hike, hike, hike**.

If you execute these steps, you'll punch out off the line with clear air and speed, making the race yours to lose.


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