Starting Oculus

Inside the Oculus you won’t be late

The Starting Oculus is a graphic that lets you know if you are going to be late at the gun. The starting oculus is a shaded area where you will not be able to get to the line in time. From a safety standpoint, staying inside the oculus keeps you close enough to the line so you won’t be late. It is also a flexible way to improve your starting.

Take a look at the Oculus Start video…

Inside the oculus, you are free to maneuver as needed to find a hole in the fleet. For a properly timed start, you will be right on the cusp when the gun goes off. Here we are zooming along on the edge so boatspeed is really fast. This means you will be able trade in your extra speed for extra distance to windward at the gun. This gets you ahead of everybody so you be able to tack and go right.

The Dogleg Start feature is another way to get a good start. Some think it is too restrictive, and prefer the Oculus start because it is less restrictive. However, you can use both at the same time. The dogleg is now a “suggestion”, and the Oculus is the warning….

Take a look at the Dogleg Start video…