Layline Fence

Layline Fence

OS5 Race has a new feature – the Layline Fence. In the image, the red area should be avoided because your last starboard tack will  be too short to get to full speed before rounding.

Learn more about Approaching the mark.

Min/Max Laylines

Another feature is the Min/Max Layline markers (the dashed lines either side of the starboard layline). These lines are based on the wind statistics and your target angle and let you know where in the wind cycle your current layline stands.

Details

The Layline Fence is located an adjustable time from the port layline. You should set it to say 1 or 2 minutes so you will have that much time to get up to full speed before rounding.

You also don’t want to get onto the starboard layline too early, becuase the wind may shift and move the layline requiring a pair of tacks or pinching in order to make the mark. Therefore, you shouldn’t set the fence too far away, and you should snuggle up to it instead of avoiding it by a long way.

The issue of where the layline is relative to the current limits of wind shift (the min/max lines) help you decide whether to overstand or not. Because tacking short is really bad, and overstanding is not so much, it behooves you to overstand by a bit. By overstanding, you will be going faster than your competition coming up to the layline, so you can run over them.