After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be racing
my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward - leward
races.

My wife purchased me a book for my birthday but as I read it, I realized
two things: I did not understand a lot of what was written (the terms
and explanations were too confusing) and what I did understand seemed
like common sense (learn where the breezes are -- get your sail maker to
show you how to trim your sails for optimum performance in different
conditions).

I could use some recommendations of a good how to book which assumes you
know how to sail and trim your sails but gives you advice which
addresses the rules which a new racer is unlikely to be familiar with
and tips to avoid common mistakes (more than learn where the breezes
are). Something that might be useful if you know your boat is (supposed
to be) the fastest in your class, how to determine favored end of a
start and when being balled up in bad air eliminates the advantage,
light air strategy, etc.

Thoughts?

harlan

--
To respond, obviously drop the "nospan"?

Harlan,

The absolutely most important book to support your restart into racing
is the "Racing Rules of Sailing --- 2005-2008". There have been many
changes over the past few years. Thorough knowledge of the rules is
essential for defensive purposes, and even offensive purposes on occasion.

A good explanation of the more complex rules is given in Dave Perry's
book, "Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing".

There are many "how-to" books on racing from a large number of authors.
Some are a bit self-indulgent, like the books from Dennis Conner. Some
are pedantic and tedious to the point of opacity, like the books of
Stuart Walker. Some are intended to be humorous, some are written by
sailmakers, etc. If you are near a marine store take a look at a few and
see what might make sense to you. They will all contain many of the same
ideas and strategies. (And none of them will make you an instant winner.)

As for the specific questions:

The favored end of the starting line from a wind perspective is easy; it
is the end that is the most upwind toward the windward mark. However,
the practical answer is not so easy, as it depends on the other boats in
your start. Sometimes one can start on port tack at the pin end, and
other times this would be suicide.

Bad air is bad. Stay away.

Light air is bad, but typically unavoidable. Strategy is sometimes
important, but in almost every case VMG is supreme. Keep clean air and
go fast.

Regards,
Gene Fuller

Harlan Lachman wrote:
After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be racing
my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward - leward
races.

My wife purchased me a book for my birthday but as I read it, I realized
two things: I did not understand a lot of what was written (the terms
and explanations were too confusing) and what I did understand seemed
like common sense (learn where the breezes are -- get your sail maker to
show you how to trim your sails for optimum performance in different
conditions).

I could use some recommendations of a good how to book which assumes you
know how to sail and trim your sails but gives you advice which
addresses the rules which a new racer is unlikely to be familiar with
and tips to avoid common mistakes (more than learn where the breezes
are). Something that might be useful if you know your boat is (supposed
to be) the fastest in your class, how to determine favored end of a
start and when being balled up in bad air eliminates the advantage,
light air strategy, etc.

Thoughts?

harlan

Harlan Lachman wrote:

After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be racing
my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward - leward
races.

snip
Thoughts?

harlan


Borrow the local expert?

Gene's right about the rules. They were totally re-written a few years
ago, and bear little resemblance to the ColRegs.

Andy

Andy Champ wrote:
Harlan Lachman wrote:

After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be
racing my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward -
leward races.
Thoughts?

Gene's right about the rules. They were totally re-written a few years
ago, and bear little resemblance to the ColRegs.

Agreed, if the OP hasn't raced since the rules were revised in 1997 he
should definitely learn the new version. It is quite substantially
different from what was in effect before and if he tries to play be the
old rules he'll be in a world of hurt.

But I'm not sure if starting with the full-blown RRS is the best use of
his time - the rules in brief available at
http://www.ussailing.org/rules/RulesInBrief.htm is enough for most
situations. Better to spend his time and energy on figuring out how to
make the boat go fast. So I'd suggest that he learn the bowlderized
version of the rules, then try to stay out of sticky situations, get
clear air and concentrate on makeing the boat go fast.

//Walt

Walt wrote:
Andy Champ wrote:

Harlan Lachman wrote:

After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be
racing my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward
- leward races.
Thoughts?


Gene's right about the rules. They were totally re-written a few
years ago, and bear little resemblance to the ColRegs.


Agreed, if the OP hasn't raced since the rules were revised in 1997 he
should definitely learn the new version. It is quite substantially
different from what was in effect before and if he tries to play be the
old rules he'll be in a world of hurt.

But I'm not sure if starting with the full-blown RRS is the best use of
his time - the rules in brief available at
http://www.ussailing.org/rules/RulesInBrief.htm is enough for most
situations. Better to spend his time and energy on figuring out how to
make the boat go fast. So I'd suggest that he learn the bowlderized
version of the rules, then try to stay out of sticky situations, get
clear air and concentrate on makeing the boat go fast.

//Walt

Perhaps I was a bit too inclusive in my comment about the rules. It is
certainly not necessary to understand the pages and pages of stuff from
the middle of the book onward. However, every racer should have a copy
of the RRS, and every racer should have a pretty good understanding of
Part 2. Part 3 is a good idea as well, but not as important as Part 2.

Gene Fuller

Top book on my list is Winning in One Designs by Dave Perry


"Harlan Lachman" wrote in message
...
After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be racing
my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward - leward
races.

My wife purchased me a book for my birthday but as I read it, I realized
two things: I did not understand a lot of what was written (the terms
and explanations were too confusing) and what I did understand seemed
like common sense (learn where the breezes are -- get your sail maker to
show you how to trim your sails for optimum performance in different
conditions).

I could use some recommendations of a good how to book which assumes you
know how to sail and trim your sails but gives you advice which
addresses the rules which a new racer is unlikely to be familiar with
and tips to avoid common mistakes (more than learn where the breezes
are). Something that might be useful if you know your boat is (supposed
to be) the fastest in your class, how to determine favored end of a
start and when being balled up in bad air eliminates the advantage,
light air strategy, etc.

Thoughts?

harlan

--
To respond, obviously drop the "nospan"?

Harlan Lachman wrote:
After more than a 30 year absence as crew, I find that I will be
racing my boat in PHRF club races this season -- almost all windward -
leward races.


Why? I hope it's because you want to. And I hope you have
fun, because racing sailboats (silly as it sounds) is a
great and enjoyable sport.

My wife purchased me a book for my birthday but as I read it, I
realized two things: I did not understand a lot of what was written
(the terms and explanations were too confusing) and what I did
understand seemed like common sense (learn where the breezes are --
get your sail maker to show you how to trim your sails for optimum
performance in different conditions).

Which book? There are a lot of them out there, some good
some bad.

My personal favorite is an oldie but a goodie, with some of
the best advice on topics rarely (or never) mentioned by
other writers on the subject:
"Start To Win" by Eric Twiname
http://www.allbookstores.com/book/03...rt_To_Win.html

Gene Fuller wrote:
Harlan,

The absolutely most important book to support your restart into racing
is the "Racing Rules of Sailing --- 2005-2008". There have been many
changes over the past few years. Thorough knowledge of the rules is
essential for defensive purposes, and even offensive purposes on occasion.


Agreed, but even more important than any defense/offense use
of the rules is to know how the game is played, what you can
& can't do, what the other sailors expect. Otherwise you're
riding a motorbike the wrong way on an equestrian
steeplechase field. Not a pleasant experience.


A good explanation of the more complex rules is given in Dave Perry's
book, "Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing".


I second that recommendation heartily. Even if yo just flip
thru the "easy" chapter, and look at the pictures, you'll
come away with a better understanding of the rules.
http://www.allbookstores.com/book/0974105872

There are many "how-to" books on racing from a large number of authors.
Some are a bit self-indulgent, like the books from Dennis Conner. Some
are pedantic and tedious to the point of opacity, like the books of
Stuart Walker. Some are intended to be humorous, some are written by
sailmakers, etc. If you are near a marine store take a look at a few and
see what might make sense to you. They will all contain many of the same
ideas and strategies. (And none of them will make you an instant winner.)


Absolutely true, but there are consistant skills & attitudes
that tend to win more races than others. One of them is
knowing what is important in different conditions, and at
different stages of the race, which is something that very
few authors address, and Twiname systematically discusses...
it is the best way to improve your racing with simple thought.


As for the specific questions:

The favored end of the starting line from a wind perspective is easy; it
is the end that is the most upwind toward the windward mark. However,
the practical answer is not so easy, as it depends on the other boats in
your start. Sometimes one can start on port tack at the pin end, and
other times this would be suicide.

Bad air is bad. Stay away.

Light air is bad, but typically unavoidable. Strategy is sometimes
important, but in almost every case VMG is supreme. Keep clean air and
go fast.


Yep, it's a race. It's hard to go wrong when you go faster
than the others! Gary Hoyt (whose book "Go For The Gold" is
also a great one) said "Tactics... phooey. Give me 1/8 knot
better boatspeed than everybody else, and everybody will
believe I'm a tactical genius."

One skill that I saw this weekend very clearly demonstrated
(or the lack thereof by others) was using relative wind
angles... upwind go low in the lulls, up in the gusts;
offwind go up in the lulls, down in the gusts.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074...Fencoding=UTF8