2026-07-08 Wed Nights — Race Results

J/80 Race Coach

TWS ranged from 0.9 to 12.5 kn (avg 7.3 kn; middle 90% was 4.5–9.8 kn).
Direction veered from ~105–108° at the start to a steadier 136–163° through most of the race (circular std 20°, mean 149°) — a real early shift of roughly 30–50°, settling down after the first 30–40 minutes.
Wind dipped light early (5.1–5.6 kn, 20:03–20:30), built to a mid-race peak of 9.3 kn (21:13), then died away completely in the final 15 minutes (down to 1.8 kn at the finish) — a classic dying evening breeze.

8 tacks, avg duration 8.4 s, avg speed loss 34.0%, avg recovery 11.4 s (the slowest average recovery of any race reviewed).
Best tack: 21:50:15 — 6 s, tight 73° swing, only 25.3% loss — though recovery afterward still took 18 s, showing loss% and recovery speed don't always move together.
Two tacks (20:15:13 and 20:15:23) happened only 10 seconds apart — likely a double/aborted tack rather than two independent maneuvers; the first shows an unusually short 2 s duration with almost no speed loss, which looks like a data artifact of that sequence rather than a real clean tack.
8 gybes, avg duration 10.2 s, avg speed loss 23.2% — notably better on average than this race's own tacks (34.0%). Observation: gybe execution outperformed tack execution this race, worth understanding why since usually the reverse is assumed.

Beat boat speed averaged 67.5% of polar target (3,724 samples, avg TWS 7.5 kn).
Average TWA was 42.8°, almost exactly matching the polar-optimal 41.8° at this wind speed — the closest angle match of any race reviewed so far.
Actual VMG averaged 2.69 kn vs. a polar target of 3.75 kn — 71.7% of target VMG, slightly better than the 67.5% boat-speed figure (consistent with the angle being essentially spot-on).
Likely explanation: with angle this close to optimal, the shortfall from target is almost entirely a raw boat-speed issue, not a pointing issue.

Average heel while beating was 11.4°, scaling sensibly with the lighter 7.5 kn average wind (between the 8.1° seen at 8.2 kn and 13.6° seen at 9.2 kn in other races).
Rate of turn upwind averaged 1.01°/s — the calmest steering of any race reviewed, consistent with the generally light, settled conditions.
Data insufficient: no traveler/vang/rudder data available to assess power management directly.

Heel scaled down by point of sail as expected; downwind (run) performance was notably lower this race (57.4% of target) than any other race reviewed, though the dataset doesn't include a dedicated downwind-performance section here to explore why — worth a look given how much of the race (3,718 samples) was spent running.

Four other races were sailed in broadly similar (light-to-moderate) wind: Race IDs 4 (8.2 kn beat avg), 5 (9.2 kn), 7 (7.0 kn), and 8 (6.5 kn).
This race's upwind angle (42.8° vs. 41.8° target) was the closest match to polar-optimal of any race reviewed to date — tighter than Race 4 (37.4° vs. 41.1°, slightly under target) and much tighter than Race 5 (47.4° vs. 40.1°, well over target).
Tack execution (34.0% avg loss) was mid-pack for the group — better than Races 4 (36.9%) and 5 (35.6%), but well behind Races 7 (23.5%) and 8 (31.8%).

Downwind (run) performance (medium confidence). Run boat speed was only 57.4% of target — the worst of any race reviewed — over a large chunk of this race (3,718 samples). Action: review downwind trim and technique specifically for this night, since it stands out from every other comparable race.
Tack vs. gybe execution gap (medium confidence). Gybes averaged 23.2% speed loss, tacks 34.0% — an unusual reversal from what's typically expected. Action: worth discussing with the crew what was different about tack execution that night.
Tack recovery time (low confidence). Average recovery was 11.4 s, the slowest of any race reviewed, even on tacks with modest speed loss (e.g. the 25.3%-loss tack at 21:50 still took 18 s to recover). Action: drill the acceleration phase specifically, as with other races showing this pattern.