Laylines & Favored Ends

1) reading laylines, I sometimes misjudge and end up overstanding by a
few boatlengths

There's a lot to say about laylines but then there isn't. You'll find a quick answer below but here's a few more thoughts.

The first question to ask yourself is do you understand how close your boat sails to the wind? The answer is yes, you probably do, or can learn quickly. Let's say a FJ sails 43 degrees to the wind and that a Lark sails slightly closer to the wind and a 420 sails slighter further away. So remember what boat you're sailing. But the degrees you turn through the tack (around 86 ?) isn't usually the problem in judging laylines.
We can also say that wind speed effects pointing ability and boatspeed and must be accounted for as well. Particularly in heavy breeze we may feel we can point higher but in reality, wind-age and leeway may significantly reduce our heading made good to windward. But again, general wind speed variations are easy to learn to recognize and adapt to, so calling the layline in heavy winds should not be any harder than calling it in light or medium winds. The tougher guy is current, but I ain't going there today.
Another consideration is the tack itself, although we strive for it not to be. Are you calling the layline based on a perfect tack or an average tack? In tight quarters, it makes a difference. Speaking of close quarters, are there boats around you that can disturb your air, or do you anticipate boats doing so?
You need to call a layline based on an average tack and clear path to the buoy based on the wind strength and the boat you are sailing. Then make adjustments from there, "oh we're nailing our tacks; oh, we're going to get lee-bowed; oh, the breeze is up and we're overpowered, and of course, current.

But here's the real deal about laylines. The shorter you make them, the easier they are to call. If your skipper's asking you to call the layline when you're 20 boat lengths out, good luck to you (even if the wind stays consistent in strength and direction). Of course, if you give the wind enough "time" it probably will change, at least in direction, if not strength too. That's the problem, calling long or medium distance laylines. For that you need to predict what the wind plans on doing next. What phase is the wind at? Is it still swinging left, or right? That determines your layline. Will you be getting lifted to the mark as you sail towards it, or headed? To nail laylines you need to either sail shorter ones or predict the wind better. Of course, if you're so good at predicting the breeze, you'd probably have no need to call anything but short laylines.
Remember, there should be less issue calling the port layline because you need to tack around the mark anyway and you should be calling the port layline 3-5 off to the right so you have a short 3-5 boatlengths of starboard layline left. It sucks to watch sailors "overstand" a port layline, lose all that distance and time, and then get screwed as sailors more efficient with their "time and distance" come rolling in on starboard. Now you're ducking and losing more time, distance, and boats.
If you're always calling long laylines it means your boat has a tendency to consistently gravitate to the outskirts of the course, plopping down in the corners of doom. Generally, not a good plan. The problem here is that long tack that gets you to the corner. Chances are you're not getting lifted the whole way across. If that's the case, you need to find the right opportunity to tack out and come back towards the center of the course where your options are better, your position is less constraint, and you'll have the ability to find shorter laylines.


Easy answer: There's only one layline; Starboard (on a port rounding). Port laylines are set below the buoy so as to allow for a short starboard tack to the mark (hence starboard tack laylines only). Make your starboard laylines short; 3-10 boatlengths.



2) favored ends. All the skippers seem to say is the more upwind side,
but how do you find it? Sometimes I can see it, sometimes I can't. Any
advice from people in the front of the boat?

Easy Answer: Picture two sailboats starting at each end of the line on opposite tacks. Whichever boat crosses ahead will be the boat that started at the favored end. How to determine favored end: Point your sailboat head-to-wind. If the boat points to the right of the buoy, the right side of the line is favor. If left of the buoy, the left side of the line is favored, at that moment in time.

Starting lines are not so skewed that we think in terms of which end of the line is closer to the windward mark but rather it's angle to the wind. Which way the wind blows to allow our boat to cross the starting line at the largest angle (perpendicular = good; parallel = bad). When the breeze is right of center we have a starboard tack lift and starboard tackers cross the line quickly and are pointed closer to the mark on this tack. Port tackers are sailing a header along the starting line (not across it), have a poor angle to the windward mark, and have to watch for right-of-way boats too. Ouch.
Of course, it really gets interesting when the line is favored to port. You can't take advantage of a port lift unless you are able to avoid starboard tackers. Starting at the leeward end does you no good if you can't tack and take advantage of the breeze in it's left phase while it's still there. Wait to long to get on the lifted tack and poof, it's gone, as the breeze swings the other way (= first shift). Boats able to take advantage of this "first shift" get ahead and usually tend to stay ahead for the rest of the beat. So you can't get locked into what end is favored without including where you believe the wind will shift after the start. The two must be tied together. Hence, the "favored end" is somewhat of a misnomer in that it may not be the favored place to start due to the slowing influence of other boats or more important considerations like current and wind predictions up the course. Getting to the first shift (plus current relief/advantage considerations) ahead of others is important. If you can't, you must get close and at least have clear air and be in phase so you can stay in the hunt and find passing lanes later in the race.

There are still other important considerations that outweigh the favored end, including unobstructed breeze. If you're gassed off the starting line, you are sliding towards the back of the pack and your options become limited. Your actions may be dictated by others, possibly manipulated by them (manipulation is best keep to yourself). So you have to beat your neighbors off the starting line and often that's easier on less crowded areas of the line. I'm not saying you shouldn't be confident in your ability to handle your boat adeptly in tight quarters, I'm just saying a steady diet of this can burn you. Pick your spots to go for it and kept the risk factor down. Hence, (there's always a hence) after all your work in prognosticating the favored end of the line at "go", you may opt for the more consistent and time tested approach of starting in the middle third of the line with good acceleration and the ability to lee bow your windward neighbor.


-Coach