5 EXPERT TIPS

DYLAN FLETCHER ON STARTING STRATEGIES

- with Andy Rice

Whether you're foiling into a start line at 30 knots or lining up in a keelboat, Dylan Fletcher shares key rules for getting off the line cleanly

Starting has always played a disproportionate part in the outcome of a race. The shorter the duration of the race, the more this is true, as Dylan Fletcher very well knows from his experience competing in SailGP where the races often last less than 10 minutes. Even though a reaching start against 11 other 50ft foiling catamarans appears to bear little resemblance to a conventional upwind start for a large fleet of keelboats, Fletcher argues there are some fundamental principles that apply to any scenario.

"Time and distance judgement is key to any kind of start and the more you do of it the better you get," he says.

"I think that doing a lot of Moth sailing during the summer really helped my SailGP starting because in the Moth you have to eyeball it. You've got no technology to tell you where the line is, and judging that approach to the line and doing it multiple times helps me with any other starting, whether it's SailGP, on a Cape 31 or RC44."

In the following five tips Fletcher shares not only how to give yourself the best shot at a winning start, but one that puts you in the best place for your overall race strategy:

1 WHAT OUTCOME DO YOU WANT?

Which side of the course do you think is paying? Is it an even course or is one side looking favourable? This is the bigger picture that you need to work into your starting strategy. Everything you do in the buildup to the start, you need to work back from the outcome that you want.

In a 49er for example, if there's just six knots of breeze everyone tends to take their place on the line really early. If I want to win the starboard end, I know I'm going to be at the starboard end potentially nine minutes before the start gun. So when the orange flag goes up, I already need to be on the line.