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TopTip2020 #26 - Mixed PY Fleet Strategies - Brendan Foley, IRL
Brendan Foley is the Chairman of the RS Aero Ireland Class Association. After 25 years of racing big boats under IRC including winning the British and French IRC Nationals as helm on Tiamat (Mills 40), he knows a thing or two about handicap racing. Brendan was totally taken by the RS Aero last year and is now sailing it full time at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. Brendan shares his thoughts on doing well in PY or timed handicap fleets;
‘PY Fleet Strategies
I’ve been handicap racing for a long time and before that raced one design in Mirrors and Laser II’s to European and Worlds level. In one design all you need to do is finish first – but in handicap racing all you need to do is beat the clock. Therefore you need very different strategies for each type of racing. Having raced all winter with an RS Aero 7 in a fast PY fleet here are some tips that you may find useful;
+ Golden rule – race the clock not the fleet. Don’t get distracted by other boats. Don’t get involved in spats. Sail clean and think about racing the lap like a F1 driver doing a timed lap. Ask yourself, if there were no other boats on the course what would be the fastest thing to do?
+ Start in clear air away from the bunch. We have Fireballs, RS400s, RS200s, Finns, etc which don’t have the acceleration we have but do have faster straight line speed and more lift. Therefore the aim is to hold a clear lane as long as possible. Often this means hitting the pin end at speed, low and fast and keep the lane as long as possible.
+ Only tack if you really have to. Tacking costs time. Think like a skiff sailor – stay fast as long as possible, you are racing the clock and seconds matter. Only tack to cover if the other side is favoured or the shift is really big. I found early in the PY series I did better overall when less RS Aeros were sailing as I sailed fast, the more RS Aeros on the water the worse my overall result became as I was tacking to cover too much and holding too much height.
+ Get inside spinnaker boats – “shhhh”. You only have to look after 1 sail at a gybe mark. Many of your competitors have 3 sails to look after. Get room at the gybe and leeward marks and execute a really fast exit while the 3 sail boat is tidying up. Be quiet and slip through the gap! It often pays exiting the gybe mark to sail high, get speed and separation and then sail by-the-lee into the leeward mark.
+ VMG downwind is everything. Velocity made good (VMG) is getting to each mark using the fastest possible approach/course. It’s easy to go blasting on angled runs with the asymmetric boats, but if you sail really deep and by-the-lee your VMG to the leeward mark will be excellent versus the massive distance the reachers are sailing. Watch Paul McMahon (IRL) he’s really good at doing this.
Last word – don’t do most of the above in a one design fleet race!!!
Please join us in Dun Laoghaire for the inaugural RS Aero Irish Open now re-scheduled to 19/20th September 2020. We can promise you lots of fun and *craic on and off the water, fair winds and happy racing.
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Brendan Foley is the Chairman of the RS Aero Ireland Class Association. After 25 years of racing big boats under IRC including winning the British and French IRC Nationals as helm on Tiamat (Mills 40), he knows a thing or two about handicap racing. Brendan was totally taken by the RS Aero last year and is now sailing it full time at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. Brendan shares his thoughts on doing well in PY or timed handicap fleets;
‘PY Fleet Strategies
I’ve been handicap racing for a long time and before that raced one design in Mirrors and Laser II’s to European and Worlds level. In one design all you need to do is finish first – but in handicap racing all you need to do is beat the clock. Therefore you need very different strategies for each type of racing. Having raced all winter with an RS Aero 7 in a fast PY fleet here are some tips that you may find useful;
+ Golden rule – race the clock not the fleet. Don’t get distracted by other boats. Don’t get involved in spats. Sail clean and think about racing the lap like a F1 driver doing a timed lap. Ask yourself, if there were no other boats on the course what would be the fastest thing to do?
+ Start in clear air away from the bunch. We have Fireballs, RS400s, RS200s, Finns, etc which don’t have the acceleration we have but do have faster straight line speed and more lift. Therefore the aim is to hold a clear lane as long as possible. Often this means hitting the pin end at speed, low and fast and keep the lane as long as possible.
+ Only tack if you really have to. Tacking costs time. Think like a skiff sailor – stay fast as long as possible, you are racing the clock and seconds matter. Only tack to cover if the other side is favoured or the shift is really big. I found early in the PY series I did better overall when less RS Aeros were sailing as I sailed fast, the more RS Aeros on the water the worse my overall result became as I was tacking to cover too much and holding too much height.
+ Get inside spinnaker boats – “shhhh”. You only have to look after 1 sail at a gybe mark. Many of your competitors have 3 sails to look after. Get room at the gybe and leeward marks and execute a really fast exit while the 3 sail boat is tidying up. Be quiet and slip through the gap! It often pays exiting the gybe mark to sail high, get speed and separation and then sail by-the-lee into the leeward mark.
+ VMG downwind is everything. Velocity made good (VMG) is getting to each mark using the fastest possible approach/course. It’s easy to go blasting on angled runs with the asymmetric boats, but if you sail really deep and by-the-lee your VMG to the leeward mark will be excellent versus the massive distance the reachers are sailing. Watch Paul McMahon (IRL) he’s really good at doing this.
Last word – don’t do most of the above in a one design fleet race!!!
By Brendan Foley, IRL 1321 ‘
Please join us in Dun Laoghaire for the inaugural RS Aero Irish Open now re-scheduled to 19/20th September 2020. We can promise you lots of fun and *craic on and off the water, fair winds and happy racing.
*Craic - news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – ‘the craic’ – as in the expression "What's the craic?" meaning "How are you?" or "What's happening?”.
Photos; Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, Frostbite Series 2019-20
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20/04/2020 23:27:00
Peter Barton
Posts: 4671
