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By Rick White
You are on a beam reach from the “A” Mark to the “B” Mark.
As we have often said, the best defensive covering of boats behind you is to stay between them and the next mark.
Because of the above rule of thumb, most of those boats will take a course much higher than the rhumb line to the “B” Mark. The first goes around the weather mark and wants to head for the reaching mark, but is afraid that the boat or boats behind him will go higher, faster and consequently drive over him and take his wind. So, the lead boat sails high with the boats behind. Soon there is a parade of boats sailing much higher than the rhumb line. (See Diagram 1).
Let’s take a case where you are in mid-fleet as you go around the weather “A” Mark. You notice that all the boats are going very high. This may be a good time to “bite the bullet” and sail a little below the rhumb line. If there are a lot of boats very close behind you, it may be a better choice to just join the high parade. But, it there is a gap behind, you may opt to head deeper.
The advantages are:
1) You are sailing a shorter course
2) You will be in fairly clear air, if you sail deep enough
3) As you approach closer to the mark, you will be sailing a higher, faster course than the high boats
4) The boats that initially went high, will be sailing a slower, deeper course, and, best of all,
5) You have the inside overlap at the mark.(See Diagram 2)
As in most of these columns, this is simply a matter of thinking ahead.