Team Race Concept
Concept
It would be a shame for anyone to be intimidated from becoming interested by a lack of understanding. I know that when I first tried Team Racing, I felt totally unsure of what to do. The reality was that my team was composed of others who shared my doubts as to proper Team Racing strategy. All I knew at that time was the basic concept of ‘beat the guy I matched up against’. As long as my mates did the same thing, we were assured a victory. Unfortunately, my early lack of understanding is a common situation among beginning Team Racers and contributes to a greater feeling of intimidation.
Before even beginning to describe the whys and hows of tactics and strategy of decision making on the race course, I will begin by discussing the organization and conduct of the Team Race.
Team Racing usually involves teams composed of three crews in three separate boats matched against three opposing crews in their respective boats. The goal is to have the majority of your team finish ahead of the opposing team.
The start is usually a three minute count down sequence with teams separated at each end of the line for the first minute. At two minutes, boats are allowed to engage each other and jockey for position on the starting line. The race course vary but usually are short triangles or windward leewards, where many races can be conducted to accommodate completion of a full rotation of team matches. Team members will execute tactical maneuvers (tactics) during the race to accomplish and maintain a winning combination (strategy) across the finish line. Two teams will be matched up against each other in a race. Across the finish line, the points of the finishing places are tallied up, the winning team will have less than the other team. For instance, a team which finishes first, third, and sixth (1/3/6), with a total of ten points, would beat a team which finished second, fourth, and fifth (2/4/5), with a total of eleven points. First place is scored as one point in Team Racing while it is scored as 3/4 in fleet racing.
All the teams competing in the Team Race regatta will be matched up against every other team. The Team Race regatta will usually consist of a rotation of races a multiple rotations to give each team multiple chances to match up against other teams. At the end of the regatta,, the number of wins and losses are tallied up and the team with the most wins and least losses is the champion. Second, third, ect. are determined by hierarchy of win / loss ratios.
