Peter Greenhalgh won the 49er Europeans in 2010 with Chris Draper after a 'disappointing' sixth place at the Worlds. What changed? One of the primary things this British team worked on was their communication, talking the same language. Justin Chisholm interviewed the sailors...
Splicing is so simple, it's hard to believe it actually works! In fact a splice in most situations is a stronger alternative to a knot - which can weaken the break load of a sheet or rope. Below, we've rounded up some of the best video tutorials we've managed to find, focusing on five different splicing techniques that may come in handy on your dinghy, catamaran or keelboat.
There are good ways and bad ways of repairing a damaged centerboard or daggerboard. So here's a tutorial from a bloke who knows what he's doing. This video tutorial shows a tried and tested method for repairing a Laser dinghy daggerboard and rudder foils, although the methods apply equally to any dinghy or small sailboat....
In this latest Sailing Talk Podcast, amongst other chat, Andy and Justin mull over the Kiwi run Camper Volvo Ocean Race entry, British Star Campaigners Iain Percy and Simpson's plans for the 2011 season, the proposed race area for the 34th America's Cup and the AC45 action taking place in New Zealand recently...
“If Oracle were Little Red Riding Hood and Alinghi were the bad wolf who is Little Red Riding Hood now - because I only see bad wolves?” So says America’s Cup outcast Vasco Vascotto. Justin and Andy discuss the latest in AC34, along with 18-footers, Bacardi Cuppers and much other stuff in grand prix sailing...
You only ever do windward-leeward courses on a port-hand rounding, so why would you bother training for anything else? Even 49er World Champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks believed this, until they discovered the error of their ways...
Ask Giles Scott what his goal is, and he'll tell you. "The aim is to qualify for the Olympics and to go on and win gold." Already by the end of 2009, his first full season in the Finn class, the then 22-year-old had proven that he's a world class talent. Indeed he has been highlighted as one of the Daily Mail's ‘Magnificent Seven' athletes whom the newspaper is following in the build up to London 2012.
Charlie McKee talks about what it's like to go 'foilin' and 'wingin' at the same time, in perhaps the most hi-tech dinghy ever built - the wing-masted foiling Moth. Charlie reckons it's easier sailing with the wing than the standard soft sail, but it's still early days for wings on dinghies, so the learning curve is massive....
One-design racing is the purest measure of sailing prowess, but if you spend most of your sailing doing club races, then doubtless you will be spending much of your time racing under handicap. So of course you want to know how to 'milk' the system! Indeed, some sailors even choose their boat according to its perceived performance under handicap. Now, that's what you call pot hunting...
There is a beautiful simplicity to the concept of a pursuit race. Set the tortoises off first, then release the hares, and in a perfect race all competitors would finish across the line at the same time. Reality is very different, however, with only a handful of boats in the running by the closing stages. So how do you make sure you are in one of those boats with a fighting chance of winning?