There are several different things that you can focus on when you seek to optimize a boat to participate in a long distance ocean race: reducing boat weight, making sure rig tune and boat trim is maximized, sail and hardware optimization, increasing crew efficiency, maximizing safety, etc. Where you place the emphasis will depend on your personal preferences – all will lead to a quicker race. That said, regardless of which objectives are most important to you, the easiest way to increase your chances of having a better race is to adhere to the race safety requirements, required equipment lists, and sailing instructions.

See the attached file for the whole thing.

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