Top sailors know how to “change gears” to adapt to the needs of the boat. In this post, we discuss three primary gears for sailing upwind. In a future post, we’ll discuss using these gears in different wind and wave…

Capsize and turtle recovery in a sailboat is easier if you know the tricks. In many small boats, you can quickly recover from a capsize without assistance and keep sailing. If you turtle, or if conditions are less than ideal,…

A Different Kind of Sailing Book Eric Twiname’s Sail, Race and Win might be the best book available about becoming a better sailor. It doesn’t focus much on sailing technique. Instead, it shows how to teach yourself to win. If you are…

In polling, we learned that many sailing schools need an up-to-date curriculum guide. As a result, the Inland Lake Yachting Association (ILYA) has developed a racing curriculum. This curriculum includes input from ILYA coaches, sailing schools, and external references. This…

The SailZing Editor is excited to announce a new product, the SailZing HandHeld Wind Indicator. This handheld tool is designed for race professionals for monitoring wind direction and features a SailZing StayTale™ telltale. It includes a bracket that snaps over…

You probably don’t want to imitate the picture above, but you can raise your sailing game if you learn to hike harder and smarter. Hiking takes effort, but by being fit and using proper technique you can get better results…

As a follow-up to our series on Upwind Mainsail Trim, we wanted to sharpen our skills at analyzing upwind sail shape. With the help of a former sailmaker, we photographed sails and studied their “flying shape.” This post discusses what…

Until recently, we were convinced the holding the tiller extension with a “microphone” grip is always best. Then we talked to some very good sailors that often use the “frying pan” grip. We also read that Ben Anslie uses the…

In this post we review The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. A sailor friend recommended the book’s unique approach to attaining high performance. Jim Loehr has worked with elite athletes, entrepreneurs, executives, and workers in…

Can’t point without pinching and losing speed? For this article, we collected everything we could find on how to solve common pointing problems. The experts are quite consistent, and what they say matches our experience. Here are five tips, in…

Want to improve your starting, strategy, and boat speed? At the George Washington Birthday Regatta (GWBR) in February 2022, David Ames and PJ Buhler led a clinic on Friday, sponsored by MAD Sails and Luxe Realty. On the racecourse, they…

“Get your head out of the boat” and “Sail by Feel” are both great pieces of advice for racing sailors, especially in small boats with limited (or zero) crew resources. This comes harder for sailors that didn’t grow up with…

Victor Kovalenko is arguably the most successful sailing coach in recent history. He was largely responsible for the improbable success of the Ukraine 470 sailing teams in the 1990s and the recent domination of 470 men’s sailing by the Australian…