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[quote=coastrat]i am no expert at all, believe me, but my favorite tactic is to identify the best sailors before the race, and follow them.  local knowledge trumps general knowledge many times(tide,wind tendancies,etc.).  the dauphin island race, for example, has a tendancy for the wind to be light at the start(not this year!), if the tide is coming in during the start, you can be going backwards!  the locals have this trick of putting out the anchor and passing boats!  two years ago it took us 2 hours to cross the start line, we were passing boats with our anchor out...weird.  this year we didn't follow the locals and we lost before the first hour of the race just because they knew the bay and its tendancies and we used common sense.  the slip to ship regatta has a local trick too...if the wind is light at the start, follow the bay bridge and west side of the bay, for some reason the wind blows harder by the bridge and the current is less than in the middle of the bay(lost the 1st race last year using common sense also).  you may have good tactical knowledge of racing but the locals may know some tricks for every condition that trumps sound doctrine...study the sailors who win the races, buy them coctails and loosen up there tongues![/quote]

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