GET MORE FROM THE VELOCITEK ON YOUR J/70

Excellent Tool for Great Starts

Most of the one-design boats do not allow the use of a device like the Velociteck that stores information. Getting used to use it can take some time. If you are like most one-design sailors, you like to look at the boats around you at the start rather than a display, which can make you feel hopeless when you first begin to this tool. At the 2015 J/70 North Americans our tactician Eric Doyle was adamant we use it and he was sure correct. The Velocitek helped us to get some great starts, starts that had we not had it I would have been sure we were over the line.

Here are some tips:

Designate a crew member to watch the Velocitek

Have one of the crew designated to watch the Velociteck and call distance from the line converted to boat lengths (it reads in meters)

“Ping” before the start

Ping when the bow of you boat is at the pin and flag on the boat end.

Know roughly how many meters per second your boat travel

On smaller boats like the J/70, Melges 20, etc you can assume 1 meter per second. Using that in the final minute before the start you can gauge when to start accelerating. If you have 30 meters to the line but only 25 seconds left you are already late, aim for “1 to 1” when the time and distance to the line are the same.

Practice

You can practice this by setting a start line (long) and running through a bunch of three minute practice starts with a coach boat watching and telling you where you are on the line at zero seconds each time. This is a great way to get a feel for when or when not to accelerate. Get good at this and you’ll be able to be on the line in clear air many times.