Team racing

Team racing, also known as teams racing, is a popular form of yacht racing. As opposed to fleet racing where boats are scored on an individual basis, in team racing teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together. As in fleet racing the low point scoring system is used. A boat is awarded points based on the place it finishes a race. For example a boat that finishes 1st earns 1 point, a boat that finishes 2nd earns 2 points, etc. In team racing the winning team is decided by adding together the places of all the boats in each team. The team with the least points win.

Team Racing Tactics

Team Racing is a very tactical and technical branch of sailboat racing, combining the need for boat speed with good teamwork and communication.

Consider the following situation for 3-boat teams (the most common format): If one boat is in 1st place and his teammates are in 5th & 6th then his team's entire points, upon finishing will be 1 + 5 + 6 = 12 points, whereas the opposition will have 2 + 3 + 4 = 9 points. Therefore to win the race, the boat in 1st will have to try and maneuver his vessel in such a way as to hinder the other team's progress to let his teammates overtake them. He can do this by using the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), including Appendix D, to his advantage – "e.g.", positioning himself in such a way that the opposition has to get out of his way, or they are the "keep clear boat". If one boat feels that another has breached the Racing Rules of Sailing she may hail protest. If the protested boat does not exonerate herself with a one-turn penalty the protesting boat may hail 'umpire'. An on-the-water umpire will then make a decision, almost instantly, and impose a two-turn penalty on any boat that he believes has broken a rule.

There are two main 'moves' in team racing; the 'pass back' and the 'mark trap.' The goal of the pass back is to slow an opposing team's boat in order for the boat that the opposing team was covering to either tack away from the covering boat, or sail ahead faster than the boat. A pass back involves three boats sailing upwind. The most windward boat, and the most leeward boat are on the same team. A pass back is initiated when the windward boat sails into a position where it is covering the middle boat's breeze, allowing the most leeward boat to hopefully be able to sail faster, or tack without the middle boat being able to tack simultaneously.

The mark trap is slightly more complicated. It involves stopping at a mark in a position where the opposing team's boats must sail into a position where the original boat can use the racing rules of sailing to incapacitate the other boat, allowing friendly team members to sail ahead.

Team Racing Today

Team racing is growing in popularity among sailors who enjoy the fast-paced action and challenge. Team Racing regattas are often held amongst universities and secondary schools that field teams in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association and the Interscholastic Sailing Association. Additionally many yacht clubs field teams and compete against each other in team racing regattas.

Because team racing must be conducted in equal boats the most popular boats for team racing are one-design dinghies or keelboats. The 420, Vanguard 15, Firefly or Flying Junior are the dinghies most frequently used for team racing. Also, for keelboats, the Sonar is becoming popular and is used in the yearly team race format Kirby Cup regatta.

In the U.K, the birthplace of the sport, the Firefly , a 12 foot, 2 sailed dinghy, designed by Uffa Fox, is the most commomnly used boat. Fireflys are ideal to use due to a lack of a high performance features e.g. spinnakers, trapezes etc. Initially there were issues with these boats not being robust enough; many regarded the GRP construction and poor fittings as a liability, however a series subutle but effective renforcements where introduced under the guidance of Spinnaker Sailing Club Bosun, Allenyne Copstake, as he found himself regularly repairing the boats after and even during events! These Re-enforcements where later adopted by other important team racing clubs in the UK including West Kirby Sailing Club and Sevennoaks School.
While the Sonar (keelboat) or Ideal 18 are the keelboats most frequently seen on the team racing course.

Winning/Losing combinations

A well-seasoned team racer will know whether they are winning or losing at any point in the race. The most-common combinations of results are given below. A good crew will be able to tell the helms person whether the team is winning or losing and which position to attack to win.

2 boat team racing

Team with the last boat loses.

3 boat team racing

Rules of Thumb:
* 10points or less wins.
* 1-2-anything wins ("Play 1")
* 1-3-anything except DSQ wins (assuming that DSQ is 7 points)
* 2-3-4 ("Play 2")
* 2-3-5
* 1-4-5 ("Play 4")

4-boat team racing

There are many more combinations.

In the case of a points tie, (eg, 1,2,7,8 vs 3,4,5,6) the team with first place loses

Books

*"Team Racing for Sailboats" by Steve Tylecote, ISBN 1-898660-85-9 for learning tactics.Contemporary Team Racing 2005 - 2008 Animated CD http://www.sailingeducation.com/products.html

External links

* [http://www.boating.co.nz/sailing/teams_racing_tactics.shtml Team Racing Tactics]
* [http://www.isaf.org/default.asp?MenuID=o8f/GX28zoMoD~%60RtK/DVn19FR9euJPH/kQBn8BUZWiKuHlPrzSjUP ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing]
* [http://www.teamracing.org.uk UK Team Racing Association]