Wind & Comparable Races

True wind ranged 5.2–13.2 kn (avg 8.7 kn). The closest comparable by average wind is race 13 (2026-08-10, "Monday Night WOW extension", avg 8.5 kn, 2.0–13.0 kn).

Overall the boat achieved 80.2% of polar target upwind and 80.1% downwind — both well ahead of race 13's 65.3%/62.8% in almost identical wind, a genuinely strong speed night. Beat TWA averaged 48.0° against a 40.9° target (7.1° wide — footing low); downwind TWA averaged 146.4° against a 149.0° target (2.6° shy — sailing just slightly higher/tighter than target depth, close to on target). Reach numbers (63.1%, n=56) come from too small a sample tonight to read much into.

Sixteen tacks lost 34.6% of speed on average with an 8.4s duration and 7.5s recovery — nearly double the tack count of the comparable race (9), consistent with the note about heavy traffic and busy mark roundings rather than a technique problem, since the average loss per tack (34.6%) was actually lower than race 13's 39.5%. Five gybes lost 22.9% over 8.2s, in line with normal. Heel averaged 16.1° upwind, easing to 5.3–5.7° off the wind. The two clearest strengths were matching or beating a wind-comparable race's speed on every point of sail while also having to tack far more often for traffic; the one gap worth tracking is the wide beat angle, which costs more each time given how many beats were sailed tonight.

How to catch the top 3

Finishing 6th, the corrected-time gaps to close are: 7:10 to Chaos (1st), 6:27 to Vagrant (2nd), and 2:36 to Spitfire (3rd) — see the "Time Needed to Beat the Top 3" chart on this page. Spitfire is the realistic target: 2:36 over a 1:24 race is roughly 3% faster elapsed time, well within reach of tightening technique rather than needing a different night's wind.

Coaching Recommendations

1. Beat angle ran 7.1° wide of target tonight, and with 16 beats-worth of tacking in heavy traffic that adds up fast — closing even half that gap is close to the 2:36 needed to catch Spitfire for 3rd.
2. Boat speed itself (80%+ of target both upwind and downwind) is not the limiter tonight — the gap to the podium is about angle and traffic management, not raw pace, so prioritize clean lanes and tack timing over chasing more speed.
3. With this many tacks in one race, a few likely cost more than the 34.6% average (traffic-forced tacks tend to run worse than tactical ones) — worth a quick post-race review of which specific tacks were forced by boats to leeward/on top, since those are the ones a slightly earlier lane decision could avoid entirely.