Racing education

[kclaybrook]

I just got back from helping crew (and I use the words helping and crew very lightly) a Regatta in the Nashville area today. I am very new to sailing (1 month) and feel very comfortable with cruising, but heard several terms on the race course that I was very unfamiliar with. My question: Is there literature or a good book that I can read to learn more about sailboat racing and the terminology and strategy? I am the type of person that can read something, be shown it once, and then am very comfortable performing. Anywhere that I can learn about knocks, lifts, overlaps, covering an opponent and etc... Any information will be greatly appreciated and QUICKLY absorbed.

[nolatom]

Maybe try this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007...lance&n=283155

It's easy to make racing terms sound hard, but they're not. Basic terms (typically seen on a beat), a Lift is a windshift that helps you point higher on the tack you're on (a clockwise shift is a lift for a starboard tack boat), and a Header or "knock" is the opposite, you have to bear away just to keep your close-hauled sails filled. Remember, a lift on one tack is a header for the other tack, so if you're to the right of a competitor on a beat, you're praying for a rightward wind shift, and vice versa if you've positioned yourself to the left side of the other boat(s). This is also why we typically stay on lifts, but tack on headers so as to convert it into a lift on the other tack.

Read the racing rules about overlaps; if you've got one, you're the inside boat in the mark-rounding circle, which is way better than being the outside boat.

Good luck, and keep racing, it's the quickest way to learn the finer points of sailing, and since most racers are always looking for crew, it's free lessons, and they may even give you food and beer. Can't beat it with a stick, good luck.

[hutch5151]

North Sails sells an excellent series of books on racing and racing tactics. Go to North U.com

[jared]

And I'd second North U but say take their courses if you can, they are outstanding. SAIL magazine is a good way to get a regular feed on things, I think you can get it free as a USSA (US Sailing Association) member, too.

I read an older version of this one and it is a classic:
Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2008 US Sailing #: 71031
by David Perry
Illustrations by Brad Dellenbaugh


Another outstanding one is "PERFORMANCE RACING TACTICS by Bill Gladstone." I don't know if that is still in print, but while I was trying to remember the name I found one on eBay at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...3&category=378

I can tell you that between those two authors and North U, you'll have a better racing tactics education, faster, than any other way without spending a fast hundred days on the water. For a good free start, find the current sailing rules online and just begin to read them and try to memorize them. It is a perfectly respectable and normal part of racing to be able to DSQ the competition on a rule violation, or use your knowledge of the rules to be SURE you've got right of way. Anyone who realyl knows the rules, becomes a more valuable crew member because sooner or later, someone asks "I don't know, do we have right of way?" and having the right answer NOW means winning or losing. The big value of Dave Perry's book is that he includes the rules and takes you through them with examples of what each one means and how to apply it. When he did that for the first time--it was revolutionary.

And of course, being a dock rat and simply getting out there every chance you can, is probably the best of all.