What should they do - from right to left:

Jens (7663): We know from previous pictures, that Jens has Dwight far enough to leeward and ahead of him that he (Jens) is in clear air. If I am Jens, I will hold this tack which not only makes life miserable for the guys close astern, any one of whom could well beat me, but which also takes me far and away closer to laying the next mark. I (Jens) will try to pinch a bit in hopes of getting into a better slant than Dwight (to leeward and ahead), but not so much as to let any of the boats astern foot through me to leeward. As Jens, I would lastly be watching Dwight and be ready to tack if I see Dwight getting a serious knock. I would not, of course, tack until I myself sailed into the knock (which might never happen!!) and the knock would need to be at least 15 to 20°. It will be worth it to have my crew be on "Dwight watch" because all in all, there's a very good chance that we will get what he gets, and we should be ready to react to that in a well thought-out manner.

Doug (1366): Given the possibility that I (Doug) may well foul John if I tack and try to cross him, I will foot off to a close reach here until I get far enough to leeward of Jens that I am in front of his wind shadow. Then I will return to close-hauled but avoid pinching back into Jens' wind shadow. Instead I will sail for speed and try to establish a leeward-ahead position on Jens. Even if I cannot achieve that, I will at least be sailing in clear air instead of feeling the constant irritation of knowing I'm sailing in dirty air. Lastly, by getting well off to leeward, I am leaving myself in a position where a brief tack to port won't be such a waste.

Steve (5625): In Steve's place, I would do what I recommended for Doug: foot off into clear air. Footing off tends not to work as well as other options in steady breezes on the open sea, etc., but can pay off in these shift-laced conditions here. If, however, Doug foots off in front of me, I will tack to clear my air since I'm already behind John anyway. But I won't go across more than necessary to to be able to tack back into starboard-tack clear air.

John (7351):  If I am John, my air is only marginally disturbed by Doug who is sailing in more badly disturbed air (Jens!) than I am and should not be disturbing my wind for long! And I (John) point very well. So I will hold starboard and try to pinch out above Jens in order to increase the possibility that I will get a wind slant that he does not. If that does happen, my chances for making a move on Jens are good: if I get a knock he doesn't get, I can tack to advantage, or better yet, I'll get a lift that he never sees!

Dave (4782): A no-brainer! (Come on, guys! I mean the decision is a no-brainer, not Dave!!!) Unless there is an overwhelming reason to tack right at the mark into all that very well used/disturbed air - which reason there is not in this case, not one that I can think of in any case! - I will hold port around the mark until I can tack into clear air. While on port, I will look to see if the right side shows any signs of better wind that might be worth going after. Unless I am confident that I can grind down the five guys just in front of me (Dwight, Jens, Doug, Steve and John) with my amazing speed/pointing combination, this is a good time to take a slight risk by going right, since there are no boats all that close behind me (I think).