Team racing

For the NASCAR team, please see Team Racing

Team racing, also known as teams racing, is a popular form of yacht racing. As opposed to the 'every man for himself' format of usual races (called fleet racing), in team racing there are two teams, usually consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats. The winning team is decided by adding together the places of all the boats in each team. The team with the least points win.

Team Racing a very tactical and technical branch of sailboat racing. Consider the following situation for 3-boat teams (the most common format): If one boat is in 1st place and his team mates are in 5th & 6th then his team's entire points, upon finishing will be 1+5+6 = 12points, whereas the opposition will have 2+3+4 = 10points. Therefore to win the race, the boat in 1st will have to try and maneuver his vessel in such a way as to hinder the other teams' progress to let his team mates overtake them. He can do this by using the Racing Rules of Sailing(RRS), including Appendix D, to his advantage – e.g., positioning himself in such a way that the opposition has to get out of his way, or they are the keep clear boat. If one boat feels that another has breached the Racing Rules of Sailing she may hail protest. If the protested boat does not exonerate herself with a one-turn penalty the protesting boat may hail 'umpire'. An on-the-water umpire will then make a decision, almost instantly, and impose a two-turn penalty on any boat that he believes has broken a rule.

Winning/Losing combinations

A well-seasoned team racer will know whether they are winning or losing at any point in the race. The most-common combinations of results are given below. A good crew will be able to tell the helms person whether the team is winning or losing and which position to attack to win.

2 boat team racing

Team with the last boat loses.

3 boat team racing

Rules of Thumb:

10points or less wins.
1-2-anything wins ("Play 1")
1-3-anything except DSQ wins (assuming that DSQ is 7 points)
2-3-4 ("Play 2")
2-3-5
1-4-5 ("Play 4")

**Table 1: Winning/losing combinations for 3-boat team racing**
Winning Team	Losing Team
1,2,3 = 6	4,5,6 = 15
1,2,4 = 7	3,5,6 = 14
1,2,5 = 8	3,4,6 = 13
1,2,6 = 9	3,4,5 = 12
1,2,DSQ(7) = 10	3,4,5 = 12
1,3,4 = 8	2,5,6 = 13
1,3,5 = 8	2,4,5 = 11
1,3,6 = 10	2,4,5 = 11
2,4,5 = 11	1,3,DSQ(7) = 11
2,3,5 = 10	1,4,6 = 11
1,4,5 = 10	2,3,6 = 11
2,3,4 = 9	1,5,6 = 12

4-boat team racing

There are many more combinations.

Books

"Team Racing for Sailboats" by Steve Tylecote, ISBN 1-898660-85-9 for learning tactics.

Contemporary Team Racing 2005 - 2008 Animated CD http://www.sailingeducation.com/products.html

External links