Boat Handling & Performance

“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…

Top sailors tell us that angle of heel is everything. Are you having trouble maintaining constant angle of heel in breeze? A good sailor once told me that it’s simply a matter of choice – do what it takes to…

The skipper winning the most races inevitably is going to be the one with the best touch. I call touch the simultaneous coordination of steering and sail trim with wind and sea conditions. Sailing upwind is really a never-ending series…

Many beginning and intermediate racing sailors could improve their sailing by focusing on the body mechanics of tacking.  Good body mechanics will help you tack quickly and smoothly, keep control of the tiller extension, and be ready to hike and…

Optimist Tacking Check out this video on Optimist Tacking, narrated by Shirley Robertson, double Olympic gold medalist. The key steps and additional tips are listed below. The related content links provide videos from other sources with additional tips. We’ve updated…

Many new sailors ask us what “vang sheeting” means. More experienced sailors understand the term, but may not execute it well. We found a video from the International Sailing Academy (ISA) that illustrates the technique on the water. We highly…