4. Take the under
If you’re contemplating a tack, and there are boats coming the other direction, the smart move is to leebow instead of crossing, or letting them cross and tacking on their windward hip, or “hipping up.” The boat to leeward, and ahead, always has cleaner breeze. The boat to windward, and behind, is always in a compromised position. There’s also a psychological advantage to being the leeward boat. Seeing a boat in the window of your sails tends to make you pinch and go slower.

If you’re thinking about tacking because you’re getting headed or approaching a layline, you’ll want to lead the other boat to the next shift. If you cross them, or let them cross you, before tacking, you won’t be leading your opponent to the next shift. You’ll be following them. An exception to this would be when you’re sailing the lifted tack. If you leebow a boat that’s sailing on a headed tack you’ll obviously end up on the headed tack, too. Then, once the wind shifts and starts to lift, the boat you leebowed will gain because they are closer to the shift.

5. Plan ahead
Before you round a mark, determine in which phase the breeze is in and use this information to formulate your plan for the next leg. For example, if you’re on the lifted tack as you come into the windward mark, you’ll want to think about jibing after rounding the mark. And if you’re coming into the leeward mark on a headed port jibe, you’ll want to get on starboard tack as quickly as possible after rounding the mark. Make sure to discuss these plans with your crew before you begin any preparation for rounding. Then execute the rounding that best fits your plan. That means before the crew begins preparing for the spinnaker set while going upwind, and before the takedown begins going downwind. If you decide to continue on starboard jibe after the windward mark rounding, you don’t want to get caught low immediately after the mark and risk a trailing boat sailing high and stealing your breeze.

6. Warm up right
A common rule of thumb for sailors is to get to the racecourse at least an hour before the first start, giving you time to learn the course, work on your boatspeed, plan your start, etc. But there’s never enough time to do everything. So you must plan your warm-up time to suit the conditions.

If it’s really shifty, sail upwind and focus on learning the maximums and minimums (high and low headings) on each tack, and whether there’s a pattern to the shifts. Sail through a whole phase on one tack, from all the way headed to all the way lifted. When I sailed collegiately on upstate New York’s Lake Seneca, we would have races with 40-degree shifts. On one tack you’d be sailing toward the mark, and on the other you’d be sailing away from it. In such shifty conditions you’re better off spending your warm-up time on learning shifts than on boatspeed. Conversely, if the conditions are such that one side is usually favored, and there might be just a small shift or little bit of a pressure difference, 90 percent of that race, assuming you’ve had a good start, will be boatspeed related.

If you’re slow, there is no way you can have a great race. In this scenario, use your warm-up time to focus on boatspeed. Try to tune with one of the best teams. When they tack, you should do the same to stay with them. Make sure you start the race with a good idea how to set up your boat for the conditions. While doing this, however, keep an eye on the shifts. A timed split with another good team is one quick and effective way to learn the subtleties of the breeze. In those conditions, knowing that passing lanes will be few and far between, I would also practice starting, focusing on details such as accelerating off the line.

If there’s a favored side, practice a start that will set you up for that side of the course. The general idea is to pick an important factor for the upcoming race and practice that beforehand instead of, for example, something more general like spinnaker takedowns or roll tacking. Ideally, by the time you’re on the course, you’ll have those key basics down, and you can focus on what’s most important for the prevailing conditions.

Like anything in sailing, this list is far from foolproof. It’s all about playing the percentages, and avoiding unnecessary risk. Stick to this list—write them down on your deck or review them before each race—and more often than not, you’ll benefit. They will not win you every race—they may not win you any races—but they will prevent you from making many regatta-losing mistakes.