Some Observations and Suggested Strategies for Racing the
Tanzer 16 in a mixed fleet with short courses.
When you have the luxury of sailing in a class fleet, your boat is,
theoretically at least, just as fast as all the other boats. The race winner will be the boat with the
best start, the newest sails, and the least screw-ups. That
simple dynamic changes when you race in mixed fleets. Some of the boats are faster; some are
inherently slower, and they have vastly different handling characteristics.
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| A rare picture of us starting first. |
Handicapping Most of us won’t have the opportunity
to race with a fleet of measured Tanzer 16’s.
Instead we will be competing in mixed fleets using the Portsmouth
Yardstick handicapping method. This time-on-time system corrects overall elapsed time.
Theoretically, faster boats owe enough time to slower boats so that the
better sailed boat finishes sooner. (I
like to use the terms “we owe them”, or “they owe us” and “corrects out.”)
For example suppose my Tanzer finished dead even with an O’Day 16
and a Harpoon 5.2 and the race lasted 25 minutes. The O’Day would finish first with a corrected
time (CT) of 25.3 minutes, The Tanzer would be second with a CT of 25.7
minutes, and the Harpoon would be last with a CT of 25.8 minutes. In most cases the table seems pretty fair and
matches my observed experience on the race course—But an adjustment for
theoretical speed does not tell the whole story. A number of other factors affect race
performance and some are very specific to the Tanzer itself.
The table below summarizes the handicapping figures for some
of the boats in our fleet. Particularly
note the last two columns. These figures
are for a 25-minute race that is typical in Budd Inlet.
The time correction listed in yellow especially irks me. I sailed 420's in college, and I believe they
should be giving us time--lots of time--when the winds are light.
Your Angle to the Wind on a Close Hauled Course We have a compass, and we have made a lot of measurements as we try to reach the weather mark. The Tanzer seems to sail about 55 degrees off the wind. If you assume that you can tack when the weather mark is abeam, you will almost always be wrong; you will not be able to fetch the mark. We have found that if we tack when the weather mark is about 10 degrees abaft of the beam we usually make it. (Of course with current and windshifts that does not always happen.) While it seems counter-intuitive it is always better to risk overstanding the mark than to make two extra tacks. Overstanding the mark costs a lot less time than the sixty seconds you eat up with two tacks.
Time to Tack The
Tanzer is a very stable, even forgiving boat.
The rounded sides give it plenty of buoyancy and it wants to sail in a
straight line. I often take my hand off
the tiller, and the boat sails on in a straight line held only by a shock cord
snubber we attach to the tiller and the bottom of the aft locker. But—and it’s a big but--the Tanzer is very slow to turn through a
tack even in a good breeze. In a light
breeze, it is easy to get locked in irons.
(See post: Tanzer 16 Locked in irons at the
weather mark -- August 4, 2015.) Except for
the O’Day, every boat on the race course turns more quickly than we do. I have seen the 420’s turn in six seconds
when they properly execute their roll tack.
Just for fun I tested my idea that the Tanzer is hard to turn. Using a paddle in calm water with no wind,
it took seven deep strong strokes on one side to turn the bow just a few
degrees. On the eighth and ninth strokes
it began to turn faster.
Boat
Weight The Tanzer is relatively heavy for its
length. The Scot is heavier and has a
slightly lower sail area to displacement ratio (SA/D), but its extra length
gives it a higher theoretical hull speed.
The Harpoon is heavier, but has a higher SA/D ratio, and it seems to
turn quicker. The O’Day is heavier and
has a lower SA/D ratio. That’s probably
why we usually beat the O’Day in our fleet if we don’t screw up.
The weight of
the boat is a huge factor when the winds are light. In our fleet the Lasers just sit near the
starting line and luff their sails in light air. When the gun goes off—or seconds before it
goes off they trim their single sail and accelerate a away from the line. The Lidos and Coronados can use a similar
tactic—they get to the line a little early, luff until the gun goes off, then
trim in their sails and accelerate away.
The heavier boats have to be moving when they hit the line because it
takes them a long time to get up speed from a standing start.
Optimum
Wind Speed In one of the Tanzer 16 Association
articles the author points out the Tanzer sails best in winds of five to twelve
knots. This matches our experience. Above 12 knots, keeping the boat upright
becomes a chore. Below five knots, the
lighter boats have a definite advantage.
We have sailed our Tanzer in pretty strong winds, 20 plus knots. We used a reefed main and the small jib. We weren’t really racing. We were just keeping the boat upright. (See posts:
Tanzer 16 --Kind of a slug in light air --June 13, 2015, Tanzer 16 in
heavy wind, and a compass -- June 20, 2015)
The lighter boats are at a distinct disadvantage in the stronger winds
the really well-sailed boats hike far out and even break out the trapeze gear.
Fluky
Winds and Tacking When the wind shifts frequently, the racer needs to
respond by tacking on headers. If you sail a Tanzer 16, on every
tack you will lose somewhere between five and 15 seconds to the
opposition. With many tacks, you are
effectively out of the race by the time you reach the weather mark.
Length
of Courses Short
courses do not favor the Tanzer. You
need your spinnaker downwind (it is included in your rating); it helps even out the upwind advantage enjoyed by
the lighter boats as you all worked you way to the weather mark. If the course is too short, the spinnaker set
will cost you more time than you save. (See post: Tanzer 16
Racing with a spinnaker--cost/benefit in minutes -- August 28, 2015)
Your Angle to the Wind on a Close Hauled Course We have a compass, and we have made a lot of measurements as we try to reach the weather mark. The Tanzer seems to sail about 55 degrees off the wind. If you assume that you can tack when the weather mark is abeam, you will almost always be wrong; you will not be able to fetch the mark. We have found that if we tack when the weather mark is about 10 degrees abaft of the beam we usually make it. (Of course with current and windshifts that does not always happen.) While it seems counter-intuitive it is always better to risk overstanding the mark than to make two extra tacks. Overstanding the mark costs a lot less time than the sixty seconds you eat up with two tacks.
Summary When you
race the Tanzer 16 in a mixed fleet you are at an inherent disadvantage because
you are sailing a relatively heavy boat that is slow to accelerate and slow to
turn. With short courses and light or
shifting winds, the Portsmouth Yardstick Handicap favors lighter, more nimble
boats. Your advantages are that the boat
is stable and likes to sail in straight line.
In addition you can, if the course permits put up a large spinnaker on
downwind legs.
Compensating for Disadvantages There are some things that you can do to
compensate and make the Tanzer more competitive against a mixed fleet. You can begin by participating in as many
races as possible.
Show Up at Every Race
You will beat 100 percent of the boats that didn’t show up. Our season usually starts with 15 – 20 boats
on the first night of racing. By the end
of the season—especially if it is raining—we are down to five or six
starters. Our scoring system gives you
.75 points for winning a race. Second
place gets 2 points, third place gets 3 points and so on. At the end of the season the points are added
up and the boat with the least points wins.
So, hypothetically let’s say you finish tenth in the first race; you get
10 points. If you finish last in the
last race of the year, you will get 6 points because there were six boats out
that night. All the boats that didn’t
sail get seven points. Even though you
were last, you beat 14 boats that didn’t show.
(In our fleet a “did not finish” (DNF) is one point more than the last boat and
a “did not start” (DNS) is one point more than the last boat. In some fleets a DNS is two points more than
the last boat.)
Start on Starboard Tack (even if it’s not favored) If
the lightweight boats like to sit on the line and luff, you can disrupt them by
starting on starboard, even when it isn’t favored. The other boats won’t like you for enforcing
your right of way, but they will have to move and that will disrupt their start
and give you a small advantage. BUT make
sure you can actually start. We have had
start lines so messed up you couldn’t start on starboard even if you scraped
the committee boat. It doesn’t help you
at all to push everyone off the line and then have to do two quick tacks to get
a start—There is no such thing as two quick tacks in a Tanzer.
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| Starboard is definitely not the favored tack. But this start allows you keep port tack guys honest--they can't idle at the line, and it gives you clear air. In this case it took us to the west side of the inlet that had better wind that day. |
Keep the Boat Moving at the Start The lightweight boats can afford to luff at
the line because they can accelerate quickly.
You can’t do that. Instead learn
to use a flying start. Many fine
articles have been written about this technique. It works like this: Sail away from the line for half of the
remaining time less your time to tack.
Tack. Sail back to the line—you
should be there for the gun.
(Example: There are three minutes
to start and it takes 30 seconds to tack your boat. 3 min – 30 seconds is 2.5 minutes. Half of 2.5 minutes is 1.25 minutes (75
seconds). Sail away for 75 seconds,
tack, sail back to the line for 75 seconds.
If all goes well, you will be right on time and moving at hull
speed. That’s the hope.)
The Tanzer gibes faster than it
tacks to windward. On light air days it
may be faster to gibe than to tack.
Reduce the Number of Tacks on the Upwind Leg There are many fine articles on racing to
windward. They are mostly right, but you
can’t afford the luxury of a tacking duel.
If you find yourself out in front, don’t try to cover the fleet. Every time you tack you will be giving up
time. You need to try to get to the
weather mark in four or less tacks than everyone else. Granted, this is a gamble. You could be far away from the rhumb line when
the wind shifts—But you could also get a big lift. In either case, it’s a gamble worth
taking. If you match the lighter boats
tack for tack, you will lose.
Sail a Broad Reach
on the Downwind Leg. The
spinnaker adds lots of sail area and will definitely be an advantage on long
downwind legs—it’s not much help on short downwind legs (see above). Whether your downwind leg is short or long,
dead downwind is not a great point of sail for the Tanzer. Tempting as it may be, don’t join the
downwind parade; you will be better off if you tack downwind. The Tanzer performs
much better on a broad reach. So go
ahead and gibe once or twice (it does gibe nicely) to gain the additional boat
speed. As an additional advantage, you
probably won’t have a boat coming up from behind stealing your wind.
The deck is
stacked against you—but so what. Sailing
is fun! It’s more fun when there are
other boats around you jockeying at close quarters for a good start. Make it your goal to sail crisply and have a
good time. If you win that will be swell,
but sailing competently is just about as
satisfying as winning. jim
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