Do You Trust Your Instruments?
Instruments provide important information for making better tactical decisions on the race course. Properly calibrated instruments provide:
- Benchmarks to gauge your performance. This is especially important for handicap racing when you don’t have identical boats sailing next to you on different points of sail.
- Information on wind trends. What do the wind shifts look like, and should I anticipate a shift left or right? Is the wind velocity trending up or down? Is my rig tune adequate, or do I need to make adjustments?
- Understanding the effect of tidal current on your boat. Am I sailing into more current or less (drift)? Is the current direction (set) changing?
Too often, we see crew say they don’t trust their instruments and either make bad decisions based on that misinformation or ignore them. Tacticians will make better decisions when they have access to accurate instruments.
Many racing boats have invested significantly in instruments. Why not go the extra distance and make sure they are calibrated?
