Mike Broughton's Cowes Week nav tips

Former Whitbread navigator and Cowes veteran Mike Broughton gives his top tips for winning this week

A little science! - Cowes Week does not restrict crew numbers for those racing under handicap in IRC (not One Designs or IRM). For the very competitive there is a potential gain, based on how you set the boat up and how many crew you take, based on the likely wind conditions for the whole week even prior to the first days racing. It is straightforward science that a boat goes faster upwind with more crew on the rail once the boat is 'fully powered up'. The windspeed at which your boat becomes fully powered up varies on boat type, from only 9 knots on a Mumm 30 to around 14 knots on a Sigma 38. Remember to get your crew to hike a little harder prior to that gust hitting you, rather than straining to get their weight out after it has heeled the boat. The call of "heads down" just prior to the gust hitting the yacht allows the extra energy to be transferred into boatspeed, rather than extra heel.
The final beat home? - If the last leg of the course involves a beat against both the tide and a south west sea breeze, approaching Cowes from the east, it is often best to make for the inside of the wind bend off Old Castle Point. Beware sailing inside Snowden buoy, and watch out for the great gains from the lifts on port tack, as the wind funnels along the Medina River.

Incoming calls only - Finding a source for good weather information is vital, but be wary of planning to get it off the Internet at Cowes. Actually getting online can be an issue - last year I was promised faithfully that there would be a telephone line at my crew house. On arriving and connecting my computer I discovered that the phone would only take incoming calls, as is often the case, in rented crew houses in Cowes. Reverting to using a mobile phone for data was both painfully slow and expensive, as most weather images involve large file sizes. There is a mass of weather information now available but 98% of it will not help you in predicting the wind at Hillhead at 1130. Learning to anticipate the winds next move is hugely important. Team New Zealand had seventeen people (20% of their total team), working to get the best information through to navigator Tom Schnackenberg prior to the 'warning signal'. As well as forecasters, the Kiwis had an impressive array of computers that have digitally modelled the Hauraki Gulf (in terms of current and wind with high resolution GRIB data, overlaid onto digitised local geographical effects). They also utilised a team of their top navigators/tacticians such as Mike Quilter and Kevin Shoebridge to report on wind and current on the flanks of the racecourse as well as at the windward mark and timed the shifts rolling down the racetrack. No wonder they got the first shift right!

You may find useful a list of links to good weather web sites (that are free to download), that I have assembled on St James’s Yachting web page www.sjyachting.co.uk then click on weather.

Have fun and fair winds in all your sailing and hangovers that clear by the start gun.

Mike Broughton recently left the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot. He has navigated in The Whitbread Race, several Admiral’s Cups and ten Fastnet Races. Apart from racing he now spends a lot of time weather coaching/forecasting with St James’s Yachting and this year is working on custom forecasting for both Cowes Week, Fastnet Race, AC Jubilee and the Etchells and Farr 40 World Championships.