One thing winning athletes from every sport have in common is that they take advantage of their competitor's mistakes. Likewise, they minimize opportunities for opponents to do the same.
As the Paris Olympics came to a close yesterday, the most teachable moment for perhaps the entire Games comes from the Women's Skiff Medal Race where the Dutch sailors needed to beat first place France to move from silver to gold medal position. Sailing away from the rest of the fleet with the USA, they finished with a comfortable gap between them and the French boat... or so they thought.
Misreading the course and not crossing the actual finish line nearly cost the Dutch team their chance at a gold medal - fortunately for them, they saw the rest of the fleet take the reaching finish leg added for the medal race and were quick enough to react. The USA, however, lost their opportunity to move several places up the standings because they blindly followed a leading boat and were slow to recover from their mistake.
Even the best sailors in the world make mistakes, but which mistakes most affect normal club racers?
Hitting a Mark
Particularly easy to do at the windward mark, there's an art to hitting the layline on a shifty lake like Jacomo. Sailing too far windward just adds distance to your race, but double tacking to avoid contact kills momentum and can make right of way confusing.
In the event you still hit the mark, you'll need to do a penalty turn.
Capsizing
An upside down boat obviously won't be sailing fast, but new Laser sailors in particular know there's a strong correlation between performing penalty turns and capsizing.
On windy days where it seems everyone is capsizing, a quick recovery can put you minutes ahead of less 'practiced' competitors.
Physical Fitness
Energy spent while hiking can take a toll over the course of a regatta. Form breaks down and mistakes compound when fatigue sets in. Relaxing and mentally checking out on downwind legs as a means of recovery leaves boat speed on the table.
Training forearms, biceps, thighs, and core muscles will keep you in the zone longer.
Sailing on a Headed Tack
Oscillating wind shifts create favored and unfavored tacks known as the lifted and headed tacks. Getting lifted is just what it sounds like; you can sail a shorter distance to your target by pointing higher without luffing. Sailing on the headed tack generally adds unnecessary distance to your race.
Tack if you notice you are out of phase with the wind oscillations. Exceptions include when approaching a mark, and when there is a clear advantage on one side of the course.
Over Trimmed Sails
Over trimmed sails are particularly common to see after a boat gets a lift when sailing upwind and does not adjust its bearing. Whether done intentionally or not, over trimmed sails act as a brake. The flow separation is less apparent than with under trimmed sails, but dancing leeward telltales are your sign to make an adjustment.
Equipment Maintenance
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It's never a good day when something breaks, especially when it causes early retirement. Whether confidence in the boat's abilities affects your performance or race-ending damage occurs, many issues can be caught with regular preventative maintenance.
Blindly Following
Following another competitor can give insight into how a race works and how to adjust boat settings, but you can be led astray as seen in the example of the American boat earlier. Hanging around in bad air won't do you any favors either. Trust your judgement and consider why nearby competitors are doing certain things.
.- - and finally - -
Misunderstanding the Sailing Instructions
While there are no gold medals on the line like there were for the Dutch Olympic sailors, understanding the Sailing Instructions can save a heart attack or two. Periodic review of all racing documents should be considered standard practice, and will give you a leg up on those that didn't.
These mistakes may be common, but are in no way hard to correct; noticing just one of these each time you go out will help you become a more skilled sailor. Part of what makes sailing such an appealing lifelong sport is that you can learn something new every outing.