The Tactics of Sailboat Racing
In a hurry? You're an amateur sailor?
Then visit our Tactics Lite page
You know the rules of the game?
Nevertheless it might be useful to have a closer look at our page Rules Crashcourse
Have a look at the Archive section. There you find a lot of tips, we have issued in the past years.
Hi Regatta Sailors!
The following pages are about important aspects of perhaps one of the most complex sports in the World; regatta sailing tactics. This site is for all those who don't just stand at the Club Bar in the evening
and relate with many gestures that they would have won the regatta if Miller, who is always so lucky, hadn't caught a gust and if Charles hadn't been so aggressive at the start.
This site is for people who want to improve their performance; who know that a good result is no coincidence, but the result of hard work.
In your enthusiasm for this subject, it should not be forgotten that regatta tactics are only one, and not the most important, aspect of regatta sailing (find out more on the Introduction page).
Of course there are already many specialist books, particularly in the English-speaking world. We haven't re-invented regatta tactics but, by using animation, we hope to make the partly complex theories easier to understand.
Another advantage of an online tactics manual is that we don't have to wait for a next edition if we discover a mistake or realise we have forgotten something.
Naturally, it could be that you have already heard most of what you can see here elsewhere – but are you really applying it?
Here's a little example:
In every tactics manual it states that before the start, the wind direction should be measured and recorded at regular intervals. Valuable information can be gained about the current wind situation from these records during a race. But how often have you actually done it?
Its much easier to moan at the de-brief that you were unlucky to be on the wrong side at the starting point, so had no chance of catching up with the leaders in this race.
Your nearest competitors also don't apply everything they know – and precisely there is your chance. Apply your knowledge consistently and success will follow.
Help us to develop and improve this site.
We are pleased to receive all feedback - Write to us! Even if you don't share our opinions, if you are searching unsuccessfully for certain topics or if we write something in a way that you can't understand. But please also write to us if the site has helped you; if you managed to improve your performance. If you are a Coach, we will be really pleased if you find our site so useful that you want to use it in your work, but in such a case please observe our terms and conditions for use
