What Can Fleet Racers Learn From the Match Race Pros?

Match racing is, of course, a very different discipline to fleet racing. The rules, while similar, have some big differences. Strategically and tactically they are very different too. Match racing is all about beating your single opponent across the finish line and to do that can often mean trapping him/her into a rules violation that incurs them a turn. Forcing your opponent over the line early is also a common match racing move.

But away from all of the protest flags and on-the-water umpire calls, winning in match racing also comes down to excellent boat handling, good communication, and smart analysis of wind direction and strength around the racecourse – all of which are key requirements if you expect to win a fleet race.

Here are a couple pointers I picked up from watching the Congressional Cup action.

Communication

Largely due to the superb Congressional Cupbroadcast team – which included amazing drone footage mixed with an audio and video feed from an onboard camera person, along with some inspired and informed commentary from Tucker Thompson – viewers like me were immersed in the action right from the pre-start dial ups to the final gybing battles to the finish line. That meant as viewers we could listen in to the onboard communications from the sailors as they coaxed their event-supplied slow and heavy Catalina 37s around the racecourse.

What I noticed most was how clear and concise the communication was. There was no extraneous chatter. All that was said was what people on board needed to know to make the boat go faster or be prepared for the next manoeuvre. Much of the communication was between the helmsperson and the tactician, but there was input too – when appropriate from other members of the crew, perhaps about pressure, or traffic on the racecourse. What was clear was that everyone was mentally tuned in to what was going on and ready to react to any possible scenario. Can we all say that about the boats that we fleet race on?

I also noted that there were virtually no raised voices while communicating amongst the crew. Even when jib halliards got jammed and spinnakers were dropped over the bow the volume level barely went up. As frustrating as those sorts of situations are, we all know that cursing and shouting doesn’t help, but it was impressive to see the self discipline from the back of the Congressional Cup boats with the afterguard remaining silent and trusting their crewmates to get the situation sorted out. Of course, that wasn’t the case when it came to boat on boat incidents. When protest flags start getting waved, there is generally a large degree of screaming – sometimes from both boats – but that is more about trying to ‘sell’ the umpires on the fact that the other boat is in the wrong and is an integral element of match racing.

Also important, I think, is that the tone of the conversation was generally upbeat. Even when things were not going their way it was rare to hear any moaning or groaning. In match racing, no matter how dire the situation, you have to believe that the opportunity to get back in contention could come your way – and you need to be ready to take advantage when it does. The old adage that ‘if you can’t say anything positive, don’t say anything at all’ does not apply here. Going silent is not the answer. Winning or losing, the crews in Long Beach last week kept communicating and kept on trying to win the race.

As a final thought on communication. One of the Congressional Cup commentators – Australia-based match racer Zac West – made a comment about making sure everyone on the boat is aware of what the brains trust at the back of the boat is planning. “Take them along on the journey,” was how he put it. This relates as much to fleet racing as match racing. There is no point in expecting your crew to pull off a complicated mark-rounding manoeuvre if the first they have heard about it is as your bow enters the zone.

Boat Handling

The boat handling skill and ability on display at the Congressional Cup was like a masterclass in how a racing sailboat crew should perform. Trust me, any racing skipper would give his/her eye-teeth to have their crews perform like this. That said, and to be fair to the rest of us, the Congressional Cup sailors are professionals and should be setting a high standard.

It’s easy to think of match racing as all about the skipper. They are the ones who ostensibly lead the team and draw the headlines in the race reports, afterall. But watch a single race of the Congressional Cup and it immediately becomes clear that the person behind the wheel is just one cog in a complex machine. As an example, maintaining control in a pre-start dial up is less about steering ability and more about crew coordination. Particularly from the bowman whose job it is to control the headsail using his hands and body to briefly back it against the wind just enough to move the bow left and right to keep the boat in line with the wind. It’s a job that requires finely tuned instincts. He or she cannot wait to be told what to do – they just need to react instantly as the breeze oscillates. What does this have to do with fleet racing? Given there are few dial up scenarios on a fleet race startline, you might think ‘not much’. But imagine if your bowman could help you hold position on the start line to keep control of the nice gap you have found for yourself on a congested startline – how much would that be worth to you? Maybe it’s something worth practising and getting good at?

On the subject of instinct, when you watch a piece of onboard footage carefully you will notice the crew moving their weight about the boat carefully, as they react to gusts and lulls. Nobody was telling them when to move, they were all able to ‘feel the boat’ and know instinctively where their weight needed to be. Also impressive was the catlike way the sailors moved around the boat. No stomping or crashing about that would shake the wind out of the sails. I’m mixing my metaphors here but they moved like ‘mice in carpet slippers’, as one skipper I used to sail with would put it. This element translates directly into fleet racing in boats of all sizes and is worth making a part of your crew’s daily briefing before racing.

There were tons of other examples of excellent crew work in the Congressional Cup racing that I watched. Not all translate directly into fleet racing. It is unlikely that you are going to feel the need to hoist and drop spinnakers within the start sequence for a fleet race. I watched the match racing crews do that multiple times in the pre-start of one super light wind race. Unlikely in fleet racing – but what about the scenario that you are called over early on a start and have to come back downwind against the current. Could your crew react quickly enough to hoist the spinnaker and douse it again, maybe only a couple of minutes later? The match racers' tacks and gybes were a masterclass in how coordinated a crew needs to be to minimise speed loss through a manoeuvre. The tacks were crisp and the gybes were smooth. The gybes were particularly impressive, given the Catalina 37s have symmetrical spinnakers. If you race a boat where you have to dip pole gybe then the downwinds are worth perusing.

In my experience, most club racers rarely get the opportunity to do any match racing. Partly that’s because to do it properly you need on-the-water umpires there to dish out instant justice, and that’s not easy to organise. Nevertheless, there surely has to be significant potential benefit in working some match racing manoeuvres and tricks into your crew’s repertoire? Perhaps to kick things off you could have a Congressional Cup watch party with your crew, where you identify together some moves you can integrate into your racing routines.

Worth a look, at least.