[oc6] Open Water Turns

More great advice from Another View from Seat 6 (available as a word doc here) by Jerry Franklin, this time on open water outrigger race turns:

Turns often provide a challenge during the races. The rule states that any inside boat that has overlap (i.e., has any part of the canoe ahead of any part of a leading canoe) has the right of way [1]. The reality is that unless you know and have confidence in the other canoe’s steersman and can communicate with him/her, it is not worth taking the risk of hitting and getting tied up with another boat even if you have the right of way. You may win a protest if the other boat doesn’t give way, but the boats that pass you from behind while you are trying to get untangled will still finish ahead of your boat, and the boats ahead of you will get further ahead.

You can’t control everything that will happen in a race turn, but you can plan what you are going to do in advance (and, I mean, way in advance). By checking the boats around you and determining where they are likely to be when you hit the turn, you can plan where you want to be and begin setting up your position long before the turn. Turns are of different angles and take place in a variety of conditions so there is no one perfect way to execute all turns. Where the turn is fairly severe (i.e., a course change of close to 180 degrees), a wide approach with a tight exit works well. But each turn calls for a somewhat different approach and exit, and other boats entering the turn at approximately the same time will determine your best angle of entry and exit. [2]

Notes

• [1] Knowing and having experience with other steersmen is important. The good ones will work with you to avoid problems. Sometimes that might give you a little advantage, sometimes it will give them a bit of an advantage, but it will always help both boats/crews in the long run. Remember, part of being a good steersman is staying out of trouble and sometimes that means working in cooperation with other steersmen.
  
  
• [2] In my experience, most steersmen try to turn the boat too sharply thus slowing it down and having to correct severely to straighten out at the end of the turn. I prefer a less severe turn which keeps more boat momentum and lets the boat more naturally come to the correct course. However, if the crew is concerned that the boat is not coming around fast enough, they may try to “help” it turn when it actually would be better for them just to paddle forward and let the boat turn on its own. They need to know what you are doing or trust you to do the right thing.
  

A little incident recently made me fully understand this rule as it was intended - the key word is overlap. I thought for some reason the inside canoe had to be ahead (ie it's nose was in front of the outside canoe).

Alan Q. - Five Islands OC6 Regatta - Wollongong - Sun 18 Jan 2009