Training to Win

by Jon Emmett

Published 5 March 2019
Gold medal winning coach, Jon Emmett works with sailors and coaches around the world and is frequently asked things like: 'What is a good exercise to improve this?' 'Why do we do this exercise?' 'How do we make the exercise more / less difficult?' This book is the answer to those frequently asked questions. It contains training exercises for each element of a sailing race. As well as describing and illustrating the exercise, it tells you what skills you are trying to improve, why and how to make the exercise harder or easier. The book will enable coaches to deliver better, more focussed, training sessions, but it will also help sailors who don't have the benefit of a coach to practise and improve their sailing skills. The exercises are marked as to whether they are suitable for solo boats, groups of boats or those with a coach boat. As Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." Armed with this book, get out, do some training and improve your sailing skills!

Tuning to Win

by Ian Pinnell and Tim Davison

Published 13 September 2016
For most sailors, boat tuning may seem a mystery understood only by sailmakers and the like. In this book, sailor, chandler and championship winner, Ian Pinnell, unravels this daunting subject and will help improve your boatspeed as a result. Since most races are won or lost by a difference of less than 2% of racing time, you will soon be moving up the fleet. With hundreds of photos and diagrams to illustrate every point, the book clearly explains what each control does and how to set it up optimally for different conditions. Additional troubleshooting and skills sections take things even further, making this the bible of dinghy tuning.

Be Your Own Tactics Coach

by Jon Emmett

Published 5 August 2011
The sailing secrets that will help you win World-class sailor Jon Emmett, winner of the Radial Europa Cup series and the UK National Championships, has the sort of on-water experience that could improve the performance and speed of any type of boat. In this essential guide for racing sailors, he outlines the strategies that have made him a top-flight yacht racing tactician and dinghy sailing coach. Each chapter is divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections, providing tactics suited to your individual skill level. Discover how you truly can become your own tactics coach, by structuring your training to achieve maximum results, both in practice sessions and races. Ideal for both beginners and advanced dinghy racers and even seasoned yacht racers, this practical guide contains the hard-won insights of a pro, designed to give anyone a strategic--and winning--edge.
* Includes offensive and defensive sailing tactics--illustrated with diagrams* More than 100 diagrams help you understand lessons at a glance For the racing amateur or the sailor interested in discovering hard-to-find tips, Be Your Own Tactics Coach is an invaluable master class in tactics or an as needed chapter-by-chapter guide to answering key tactical questions.

Be Your Own Sailing Coach

by Jon Emmett

Published 1 January 2008
The ultimate self-learning guide to sailboat racing In this practical self-coaching guide for the serious racing buff, veteran sailing coach Jon Emmett explains how anyone can improve his or her sailing technique in manageable stages. By breaking down racing into 20 key topics, Emmett shows how aspiring yacht and dinghy racers can learn to measure their own strengths and weaknesses and improve key skills step by step. The book also includes practical tips and wisdom from Olympic champions including Paul Goodison and Joe Glanfield.

Helming to Win

by Ian Pinnell and Lawrie Smith

Published 30 June 1994
Helming To Win spotlights the techniques that will maximise your boatspeed. Two of the fastest sailors in the world explain how to tune the rig and set the sails. They look at each pint of sailing and explain how to make the boat go - in all windstrengths and in all sea conditions. The race itself is analysed, from starting techniques to picking the best end of the finish line. Helming To Win is right up to date with advice on twin-wiring and asymmetric spinnakers, and a final section highlights the important elements of putting together a campaign - time management, attitude, boat preparation and feel. This book will propel you to the front line of the fleet, and kaybe into the lead. At last you'll be racing, instead of just sailing round the course trying to avoid the other boats.

Tactics to Win

by Nick Craig

Published 6 March 2018
Unless you have unbeatable boatspeed, tactics are vital to winning sailboat races. Multi-champion, Nick Craig, shows you how to develop a strategy and what tactics to adopt on every leg and at every mark of the course. His first book, Helming to Win, was described as "original, thought provoking... like no other that has gone before it". He now turns his highly analytical mind to the subject of tactics. He discusses the inputs into strategy, starting and the race plan (going through each leg in turn). Nick then tackles mark tactics, covering every different type of mark, and fleet tactics on every leg of the course. He finally focusses on boat-to-boat tactics, again on every leg of the course. In each situation he covers attacking and defensive tactics, either to get ahead or make sure you stay ahead. Non-spinnaker, symmetrical spinnaker and asymmetric dinghies are all covered because Nick has won world or national championships in each of these types of boats. Having read Nick's first book many said that it had transformed the way they sailed. This book will have the same effect on your tactics and should see you moving up the leaderboard.