Later in the first beat: Marc (3854) felt we'd get better pressure by going a bit further left after Bill crossed us on port earlier. Now we'll see how that worked out, as Bill (yellow) and Andrew come across on starboard. One thing we already know: tacking here, only 100 yards from the port lay line, will not be an option since a tack might well trap us to leeward of the other two right out to, and possibly past, the lay line.

... tack and throw in a short hitch on starboard, if for no other reason than to get over where Jamie and Brian are - a side that will be favoured once the shift coming down the river (from the left in the picture above) reaches everyone. And this close to the mark (100 - 200 yards?), this may well be our final shift!! By going across here, Marc and Al fully expect to hit a knock, tack, and increase their edge over Andrew who has not yet tacked. Besides, here we are getting close to the starboard lay line, and anything that postpones getting stuck on the layline is always good, especially with boats ahead of you.

... our leader, Jamie (4594), tacks for its benefits as well. He might have done better to tack as soon as he was knocked, at which point it was pretty well certain that port would not get any better than this. Instead, Jamie gave in to the very understandable temptation to see if he could actually cross Andrew. He could, but every yard he sailed to prove this to himself was time spent giving away parts of his lead. So why hasn't Marc (r) tacked? Well, we have to protect against Bill who is off to the left and is the only boat that can still beat us in the series. Besides, we thought we saw better breeze to the left and are still lifted on the starboard tack, so we're waiting for that knock that is (almost) sure to come down the river. A knock that ...

And before setting the pole, Al will have to briefly crank the jib in tight to get the windward spi sheet uncaught from the jib foot after the hoist. But there's no big rush since no one is about to take our wind and SHADES is getting a good 95 to 98% of her max speed for this reach even without the spi, i.e. it will take Bill and Frank some time to become a threat to our wind even if they make the perfect hoist and set instantly.

Tsk! Tsk! Marc (l) seems to be making a very wide rounding here, I think to try to stay out of the intense wind shadow from all those boats just astern. Sometimes, Marc and I disagree, but the guy on the tiller always gets the final say and the crew accepts this happily. In these situations, I have found it virtually always pays to get the board down, gybe right at the mark, cut it close, let the spi flog to leeward and sheet in to sail a close reach until we're out of the doldrums. Then we can get back to the spi. This keeps me less stressed than sitting down to leeward of a clump of boats that are almost sure to get wind before me and pass us. Still, the wind has backed about 30° which, if it holds, will make this next reach a virtual run. We shall see, I guess.

For this kind of close spi reach, the first Stuart Walker book I read, a series of articles by International 14 sailors who each spoke about their strengths, recommends putting the board full down as if for a beat. That is something that has worked for me for decades. 

Jamie (l) demonstrates the horrors of oversheeting: if you can't exactly match your sheeting to your turn, then it's always better to let the "sheeting in" lag behind a bit. It looks worse to let your sails luff, but is, fact, far less damaging!! It looks worse to let your sails luff, but is, fact, far less damaging!! Bill (937) meanwhile will have to watch out because Andrew always luffs up past closehauled as he passes the mark going onto a beat. Bill likes to do likewise but is going too fast to do that here without hitting the mark. I think Bill and Frank have just realized this, but ...

As can be seen from the position of the RC boat off Marc's boom, the beat to the finish will be short. The sailing angle of 3854 on a closehauled course confirms that we are looking at a one-tack beat to the finish. If Marc doesn't want to "give away" all three boatlengths of his lead, he needs to ...     

... tack almost immediately. Such a tack is discouraging to the 2nd-place boat which can no longer tack onto the shortest course to the finish without doing so into severe dirt. A more palatable, though still far from ideal, alternative will be to hold port for two or three more boatlengths and then tack into reasonably clear air. But of course, those two or three lengths are more or less "wasted distance", since it's barely a closehauled course to the finish from here as it is!

Right after the start gun, Dave (282) wisely sails low. This does two good things for him: 1. it increases his speed faster and to a higher level, and 2. it gives him separation from Jason and his wind shadow which of course angles aft, so that the further to leeward Dave is, the less chance there is of getting blanketed.