Higher Performance Sailing

A great opportunity to relax and read during the Holiday break, and I heartily recommend Frank Bethwaite's newly revised and updated HIGHER PERFORMANCE SAILING. (2008 Adlard Coles Nautical, London UK)

The explanations of Apparent Wind sailing are clear and well written. What surprised me were the revelations as to how badly most of us are taught, and the good news is that we can re-learn to sail fast, and well.

Sure, there are many complicated mathematical formulae (and diagrams), and I'm not an engineer, however, I can figure out what Frank wants to show us, and he does this very well and with humility. This is an ideal 'keeper' for those who want to grow their knowledge of sailing theory and practice.

BTW, you may recognize the name Julian Bethwaite, a.k.a. the guy who made and sailed the fastest 18' Skiff.

Best wishes to all for 2010.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Always nice to hear of a good read.

I recently orderly The Complete Sailor by David Seidman and was disappointed. It was recommended over Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing as a good explanation of sailing theory and practice. It was too basic.

Only new idea from it so far is to putting temporary draft lines on a sail to check the actual location of the draft pocket.