Windward mark layline mistakes, unfortunately, are very common and can be extremely costly. Laylines & Getting Them Right.
One of the most common things that sailors get wrong is getting to the layline too early. If you get to the layline too early, you can no longer play the shifts and you also lose tactical options.
More often than not it is...
Why Sailing the Long Tack First is a Winning Move
The long tack is the one that points your bow closest to the mark. Its the one you spend the longest time on when heading upwind to the weather mark.
The long tack takes you towards the centre of the course and the centre of the course is directly downwind of...
Avoid Sailing Mistakes - An important ingredient to winning a yacht race is to make fewer mistakes than your fellow competitors.
Because of sailing's complexities, even the best sailors will make mistakes but it is the avoidance of the major ones that are the most telling, minor mistakes will make a difference but should not be sweated over.
I have...
Strategy and tactics are the key ingredients of your plan to ensure success and fun for the day's sailing event.
What is Strategy?
A definition of strategy is having a plan for how you would like to sail a race if there were no other boats on the course.
Tactics are being able to adapt quickly to changing situations, that is,...
Often too much significance is attributed to sailing tactics and tactics only become the most important factor if you are sailing at a very high level. Sailing Tactics Be Better Than The Competition
For most of us, it’s better to invest in training time, concentrating on sailing technique and boat tuning. As a word of caution though, you can't manage...
Step 1. Work on your weaknesses. Steps to Winning a Regatta
We all have different strengths and weaknesses, for some, it is light air and flat water, for others they are faster in a big breeze and boisterous seas.
It is fun to practice in your favourite conditions but you need to get out of your comfort zone and spend more...
Be Consistent in Big Fleets
Being consistent is especially important in big fleets where a small mistake can lose you plenty of places. With a large number of fast boats in an international championship, the chances of getting those places back is highly unlikely.
Great boat handling is particularly relevant and practice is an easy way to ensure that small but...
To Improve - Get Back To Basics. The best sailors are those who understand the importance of solid boat handling skills as the foundation for performance.
What Can Improve Our Performance on The Water
A question that we should always ask ourselves is, what would make the biggest difference to improve our performance on the water?
The answers we give ourselves range...
I have copied below excerpts from an excellent article written by sailing legend and coach Dave Dellenbaugh of https://www.speedandsmarts.com regarding losing sailing control on the race course. In the article he speaks about how to avoid losing control of your strategy, tactics and race.
https://sailingtowin.com/49tips
Techniques to avoid being controlled
You must work hard to avoid being pinned by your competitor, and...
Excerpt from “Speed and Smarts” Newsletter issue 131 - David Dellenbaugh
Almost every sailor realizes the importance of making a strategic plan for the first leg before they start the race but how many of those sailors also develop a strategy for every other leg in the race?
It’s tough to make a game plan...
