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