START LINE
Matteo Iachino: I always try the course before the race and I like to see where I can have an advantage with my boards and my sails. In Sylt I felt it was quicker going from the pin to the first mark, so I decided to go for lower starts. I seemed to always end up at the pin, it was not always my choice but that is the way it happened. There are sometimes battles for the pin but my main focus is just to nail a decent start in the lower end of the line. You need to have space to accelerate and go downwind for the last 5 seconds. Most of the time you need to create your own space otherwise if you are stuck between two guys then you can be sandwiched and will not be able to go full speed.
Pierre Mortefon: My starts depend on the course setting. Most of the time I am more in the downwind part of the line at the pin. You need to be fast in this position. If you are not, a lot of guys will have an advantage and pass you straight away. The pin is the closest place to mark number one, especially this year where we have had super downwind first legs, the pin became the important place. The middle is the safe ground but maybe the hardest place to nail a decent start. At each end of the line you can judge how close you are to the boat or pin when you are close to the green flag. In the middle you are kind of racing blind in the last seconds. You can easily go over early or go over late!
John Skye: I have a pretty fixed start procedure, which I think is the classic. Cross the line the wrong way with 2 minutes to go and check the watch and the flag as you cross to make sure you are in sync. If it is windy I will sail for 55secs, gybe and then head back to the line. If it is a bit lighter I will maybe make the gybe at 45 seconds, so I am closer to the start line in case there is a lull in the wind or it takes longer to get planing than planned. For the position I mostly look for space. I know I am not the quickest in the fleet, so I normally try to keep out of trouble. Ideally starting at the boat where there is clean air, but if it is busy at the boat I will shoot downwind and start just above the guys at the pin. I am less worried about which end is favoured and more interested in clean wind and staying out of trouble.
Finian Maynard: Every start is different. It has a lot to do with the wind and how the chop and swell are looking. Every start is unique. I look where the other guys are around me and that dictates where I will hit the line. I don’t mind starting high by the boat, low by the pin or in the middle. The most important job is making it to that start line right on the green flag in the front row with clean wind no matter where you are on the line. That is the trick, even if you start first you still can’t afford any mistakes! It’s so tight on the PWA these days, the level is very high!
Steve Allen: I try and put myself low as I approach the start and sail up and push the guys next to me to create some space below myself. Then I can drop off and accelerate just before the line. At the yellow flag I sail away from the start boat for one minute and then make my approach to the line. I sail away very slow and gybe on one minute before the green flag. Once I am turned I have around 50 seconds before the off. Around 40 seconds I am on a slow plane and slowly accelerating up and jostling for position. You have to make sure you are not too far ahead of the other guys and don’t have to slow down just before the start. Otherwise you are going to get rolled! If you are not fast and go for the pin end you get covered, then you are just going to get really smoked. The pin is very risky if you are not extremely fast. I let the fastest guys battle between themselves for the pin and start two or three up so I have a bit more space to come up and go full speed. At least this way I can make it through the heats. In Sylt, Matteo was going for the pin because he was really confident with his speed. It was all about his confidence, he was flying in those conditions and he knew it.