Know the Game - VMG Explained by Nathan Outteridge

[@roslynhita6149]

OH.....I finally get it ...so U need to balance VMG with Highest Boat speed..to go your fastest possible course ...and hope that you do it better than the other team...phew ...Im so happy to get it ..its been a struggle to understand ..so BIG thankyous Nathan..Ive just upped my armchair racing ..lookout !!!!

[@kvaka009]

I thought VMG referred to that balance. VMG is not balanced against some other considerations. It is the optimal trajectory. Is my armchair sailing easy off course here?

[@jarnee1]

Thank you. I've heard the term countless times and commentators have tried to explain it but your 3min video showed me everything I need know to understand VMG.

[@americascup]

VMG = VIDEO MADE GOOD

[@wrenchdoozer]

Blue boat is undefeated in this video. ;)

[@ineswexler6171]

Do more of these please.

[@dborgstedt]

But how to know the VMG? Is it constant to the boat and windspeed? How do I train to know when I'm on the optimal angel?

[@lucioberardinucci3891]

🌬️💚🤍❤️vola Luna Rossa vola🌬️💚🤍❤️

[@samssalman]

Is the 45 angle compared to wind direction the best angle in an up wind situation? What about downwind. How does that work? Thank you for this great demonstration

[@angusbanks6239]

Not necessarily. For the sake of this example it is used for simplicity but many boats can sail closer to the wind than 45 degrees while still making good progress and speed, especially newer, faster boats. There is a different ideal angle off the wind for each boat based on a few factors, which include: what kind of boat you're sailing , wind strength, and water conditions. Some boats VMG may be at its highest when it is 30 degrees off the wind for example, so it really comes down to the boat. But in the sake of this demonstration, 45 is used as the angle where this boat has the highest VMG. Downwind it is the same principle but just like in upwind, the angle is unique to the boat and wind conditions. If you go directly down wind, you are sailing the shortest line, but you aren't going as fast since you have very little to no apparent wind.

[@ilmelangolo]

VMG = velocità di avvicinamento alla boa?

[@ilmelangolo]

@@luciustarquiniuspriscus1408 grazie mille!

[@hkgyguhuviChbjn]

1031 Gustave Light

[@billguo5266]

What kind of boat is that?

[@huwyj]

They said in the video that it is a Moth

[@RobinHerbert-s2x]

Federico Shoal

[@EmelyDepont-j4s]

Kaya Crescent

[@anguspgreen]

What is that boat?

[@ps2064]

Looks to me like an international moth.

[@anonymousperson3634]

Are you able to share the calculation for VMG?

[@callumwyper]

Cosinus

[@eugeniomarins2936]

@@callumwyper After all, sine is a four letter word...

[@SergeiPodshivalov]

(Boad speed) * cos(True wind Angle)

[@theflaver]

what is an optimal VMG? Is there one?

[@BlueSoulTiger]

VMG itself is an optimum, so to say "optimal VMG" is a tautology. VMG is the optimum when trading off speed with your progress in the true wind direction: generally, if you bear away from this optimum you will go faster but your progress upwind will be slower; and it will also be slower if you head up so that you sailing closer to the true wind direction but in this case you will generally be sailing at a slower speed across the water.

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

@@BlueSoulTiger That doesn't sound right. VMG is just v*cos(a), where v is the boat speed and a is the true wind angle. The greater the true wind angle (maxing out at 90 degrees), the faster the boat goes, but then a smaller component of that velocity is in the direction that the boat needs to go in. There will be some true wind angle which maximizes VMG by striking the right compromise between angle and speed.

[@BlueSoulTiger]

@@takatamiyagawa5688 Thank you. It doesn't sound right because it's wrong. I confused myself. You are correct. So yes, there is an optimum VMG, a maximum for a given wind speed and direction, for a given boat. Sailors aim to stay at this optimal value for as long as possible (putting aside other variables such as other boats in proximity, which is the tactical aspect).

[@FlyNAA]

So there's an ambiguity where VMG could mean the component of velocity parallel to the wind, or parallel toward an arbitrary direction, "toward the mark." If the wind happens to be exactly toward or away from the mark, those two definitions are coincidentally the same. But if the wind is different, then they're not. I'm trying to figure out which is the one that VMG means in the context of America's Cup races and what's displayed on the bottom of the screen, and this video was no help.

[@FlyNAA]

OK after some sleuthing and trigonometry, I have figured out it's the along-racecourse component, and not along the wind.

[@MichelleDelvalle-e2n]

39962 Valentina Station