Learning to Round the Mark

admin Date , September 14, 2025 Sailing Previous Blog Looking at Vanessa Last Comments (0)

It’s just a buoy… how hard can it be?

One of the most important skills in dinghy racing — and one of the most deceptively difficult — is rounding the mark.

To the untrained eye, it’s just a coloured float in the water. But to anyone in a race, it’s chaos, collisions, strategy, shouting, and moments of sheer triumph (or confusion).

And like all things in sailing, mark rounding needs practice. Lots of it.

Why It’s Harder Than It Looks

A perfect mark rounding is part geometry, part teamwork, part bravery, and part guessing what the wind will do next.

What it needs is expert tuition from Sally Reed - learning smooth tacks close to the mark.
The Aim

Approach fast

Turn tight

Exit cleanly

Don’t tangle with the competition

And definitely don’t hit the mark (or anyone else)

What We’ve Been Practising

The students worked on

Wide in, tight out (the racing line)

Positioning the crew to keep balance through the turn

Reading the wind to avoid stalling or overshooting

Timing the tack or gybe to perfection (or something close)

Avoiding the dreaded “iron zone” — when the boat stops dead, facing the wind

Tips from the River

Look ahead: Don’t stare at the mark, think about your exit

Communicate: “Ready about?” means nothing if no one’s ready

Ease the sheets before turning sharply

Anticipate wind shifts, especially near trees or bends in the river

Practise gybing under control, not in panic

Their Scorecard

Did we hit the mark? Yes.
Did we round it backwards? Once.
Did we improve? Definitely. Each attempt got cleaner. Tighter. More confident. And with every pass, we got a better feel for how racing is as much about preparation and control as it is about speed.

Final Thought

In sailing races, the mark is the moment — where decisions make or break your position. Practising those turns turns you from just a sailor into a racer. So if you're new to racing, spend a day rounding a buoy over and over.
You’ll get better.
You’ll get faster.
And one day, you’ll make it around cleanly — and sail off into clear water.