The sailing world is going foiling mad. Time alone will tell whether it's a good thing or not, but what we can say is that it's fun and fast, and very different in feeling. What is the same for the sailor is that we need to understand a far greater range of sail settings in order to optimise the performances of these boats.
Coaching has evolved a massive amount since 1990. Yes, there were coaching courses of sorts back than, but somehow you'd spend three days on a course and come away with one useful nugget of information that would improve your coaching skills. Now a days information is so readily accessible that you can gain enough information to be a good coach in a very short time. What you can't get is experience.
We sail, we want to sail fast, and the only thing stopping us sailing faster is drag. Drag comes in two main forms. The hull and centreboards creates drag in the water. The Rig creates drag through the air. Water being 1,000 times denser than air by a lot, the drag created by the hull... Continue Reading →
Nobody tells you when you're growing up that "winning" and "success" come at a cost. At world level the cost is many times that which anyone outside top sport can imagine. It involves the sacrifice of dedication, not for a month or a year, but four years plus to reach anywhere near potential. The cost... Continue Reading →
Driven by the incredible developments of technology in hull and especially sail design over the past 30 years, the powers that be are examining closely whether we should have a more modern version of race track on which to exhibit our skills. Toplevel feel very strongly that the idea of a race is to complete circuits. Changing this in our opinion is the equivalent to a Formula One race being run on a hill climb, or a horse race being unable to view the start and finish. By definition a race track consists of laps, whereas different types of racing consist of other skills needed than in lapping, in any sport!
At Toplevel Sailing we believe we have enjoyed a progressive period in sailing, where a greater cross section and a growing demographic of people have had access to sailing, people of all abilities, all races and cultures are able to compete in our great sport
Hydrofoils and more... In theory a sailing boat can travel infinitely fast. How? The wind generated by forward movement (we know as being a component of apparent wind) continues to increase with speed. With the increase in apparent wind everything changes, and more speed is theoretically possible. We should have video games based on this... Continue Reading →
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