the technical abilities to be fast on a reach and control your angle of sailing are still worth mastering as every small gain to be made is worth a while. It is incredible how many boats you can take on a reach if you are both fast and smart.
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.
In modern racing we are often demanded to become short term weather forecasters to help us predict changes within the next 10-20 minutes that will help us to get an advantage over our competitors and sail the course quicker than them.
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 →
As boat speeds increase, the wisdom of conventional tactics become far less relevant that they have ever been. For example, in a fast boat, covering one of the opposition can create an opening for 10 boats to get past you. Not what is needed…..
Nobody tells you when you're growing up that "winning" and "success" come at a cost. Â At world level the cost is many times that which anyone outside top sport can imagine. Â It involves the sacrifice of dedication, not for a month or a year, but four years plus to reach anywhere near potential. Â The cost... Continue Reading →
The tuning of a boat involves gaining the optimum speed and height from a given rig on a given boat. If we change a hull, sail (main, jib, or kite) or mast we have to tune the sail to the mast and the rig to the boat, and often change our technique to optimise speed and height.
Whether sailing upwind or downwind, the boat must sail at an angle to the mark to ensure airflow over the sail and the best speed possible. The angle to the wind that is sailed means that we have to calculate or judge the real speed of the boat towards the mark
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
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