Product Description

'It is the cheapest bit of go-faster gear you can buy ' - Robert Lloyd, Island Sailing Club 'One of the most readable books on the complex subject of sailing faster, and without doubt, a must for every racing sailor' - Yachts and Yachting 'A classic' - Kelvin Hughes Some people like to sail. Some people like to sail fast. This is a book about sailing faster. During the past few decades there has been a revolution in the way some boat designers and sailors have thought about, designed, built and sailed their boats. This book is about the new ideas which have led to these greater speeds and the faster sailing techniques which have been developed to achieve them. High Performance Sailing has become the standard reference work on high speed racing techniques - the bible for racing sailors, from dinghies right through to America's Cup boats. Ground-breaking in its thinking on boat speed, strategy and tactics, and timeless in its application, it is a book 'which no serious racing yachtsman should be without.' (Kelvin Hughes)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281994 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 436 pages

About the Author
Frank Bethwaite has been at the leading edge of national and world class sailing for over sixty years. Apart from his own outstanding racing successes, he has coached every level of would-be champion from basic to Olympic standard. Within his own family, three are Olympic champions and three are world champions in four classes. From a background of aeronautical engineering and meteorology, Frank spent thirty years in military and civilian aviation and finally in scientific flying. When he retired he decided to find out how small sailboats worked - so that he could make them sail faster.

Customer Reviews

Great book but starting to show its age
A detailed but surprisingly easy to read book (for someone with an engineering degree, at least). More information about how a main-sail works than anywhere I've seen and lots of practical advise concerning what to do with it on the water.

Plus (deep breath) more than you ever wanted to know about wind.

But, it is a bit out of date, being barely revised since the early '90s. There's surprisingly little about spinnakers & asymetrics (or even jibs); keel boats don't plane and cats get a pretty poor press! With the exception of the Tasar, there's less than you might expect about Frank Bethwaite's own designs (eg laser II) and less or nothing about Julian Bethwaite's boats (29er, 49er etc).

Still - it's a great book and, for its day, a magnificent one; it's well written and it will make you sail faster, especially if you own a Tasar or a B18 skiff.

Just need Julian Bethwaite to write a sequel!

A really, really good book about high performance sailing
Frank Bethwaite has spent the last 40 years researching high performance sailcrafts, and this book sums it all up in a very clear and understandable way.

The book starts with a section of wind and its appliance to sailboats. These chapters alone are worth the price of the book, as they are something of the best literature I have ever read about wind and its appliance to sailing.

He then follows up with discussions about hull forms, rigs and sail shapes. He then proceeds to describe the best setup of rig and sails to maximize performance under the different conditions. He does this with clear and detailed drawings and diagrams that you can apply directly to your own boat. For instance, mainsail trim are always depicted with 8 stations describing twist.

Every chapter is written clearly and for the sailor. The book abounds with practical tips and do/dont rules for high performance. It is clear that with this book Frank Bethwaite has documented all he has learnt from 40 years of sailing, racing and coaching 'go fast' crafts.

In sum, this is one of the best books for sailors of high performance dinghys and multihulls who want to sail faster.

Great insight into how boats and weather work
This book can be a bit daunting when you first start reading it. But it is full of information to make you sail faster. The detailed explanation of what happens in certain situations complete with practical techniques on how to exploit them. I keep going back to it after 6 years. One of the best sailboat racing books I've evere read.