Al does not cut the mark very close here, but with Bill a few lengths back,
Al's main concern is to keep the main and jib pulling their best while ...

Near the leeward mark: Marc starts to pull the spinnaker halyard through Al's slightly clenched hand. If Al just lets the halyard go, the spi could fall under the boat. Note how Marc also pulls the foot around to keep the leeward sheet from falling into the water and going under the bow. It takes fine judgment to time this manoeuvre so that just enough time remains at the end to ...

... round the mark nice and close. The wide rounding Al did at the gybe mark cost little or nothing by way of distance sailed, but here, a close rounding is a must. Note how quickly Al's main has gone from being all the way out in the previous picture to perfect beating position. That's because Marc, as soon as he has the jib sheeted almost to close-hauled (and cleated there), reaches in and grabs the mainsheet and brings it in hand over hand to closehauled before giving it back to me. A person with one hand on the tiller and trying not to hit the mark, simply can't bring the main in anywhere near fast enough!

Anatomy of a spinnaker take-down: Note how Frank has removed and stowed the pole early. This is easily done on a run where Bill, the helm, can stand and keep flying the spinnaker while the crew stows the pole. In this situation, it is especially important to have the pole down and stowed before the take-down and gybe. Apart from the obvious reason that a pole left up gets in the way of the take-down, the pole will also deform the jib when it is sheeted in to closehauled after the gybe.

... the halyard has snagged. I find it very useful to uncleat and then put my halyard hand as far up in the air as I can. This gives me instant and early feed-back about any snags in the line, and in fact tends to get rid of the latter. Ideally of course, one remembers the halyard early enough to check for and remove any tangles a minute or so before the intended take-down. But using the hand-up techniques is a good alternative for the many times that I forget to prepare my halyard. Above, Bill has had to gybe before Frank can get the last of the spi stowed and everything will now be a bit of a rush.

A fine rounding recovery, all things considered. I think Frank must have sheeted the main in for Bill, so now Frank can turn his attention to the jib which still appears sheeted to windward? And then of course, the rest of the spi needs to be stowed before the whole thing blows out to leeward and becomes a sea anchor!

Dave is losing a lot of power by (over)trimming his sails this early. Note how Jamie's sails are trimmed the same as Dave's but the latter is sailing 90° lower. That trim looks good but appearances are deceiving. Dave is seriously stalling his sails and would be better off being undertrimmed even though that feels and sounds worse. Dave will come out of this turn slower than he needs to. He should use the Marc system and let Carol get the main most of the way in hand over hand.

A tack is nicely completed - outside the Two-Length Zone, we feel - but there is the matter of the mark which we are short of laying by a boatlength. Marc warns Al that we'll try to "shoot" the mark. He keeps up full speed instead of yielding to the temptation to pinch too soon which might let Bill take our wind, and of course, we want full speed when it comes time to luff up and around the mark. At the last second ...

Defending the left which gives him starboard if the boats ever converge, and inside position at the leeward mark, Marc has waited for Bill to gybe before doing likewise. Inside position at the upcoming mark will be much more important than last time, since after this rounding, there will be only a very short beat to the finish.    

... early douse so that poor old Uncle Al - who has turned 65 just a week before - will not have to rush. This is another example of the Stuart Walker dictum, "Spend your lead", being put into practice. The early douse may give away a few feet to Bill, but is a great insurance policy against the major loss potential inherent in a rushed douse.