Review: High Performance Sailing  by Frank Bethwaite

"Essential for any serious racer", Gary Jobson

If you are the type of racer who just needs to know the "whys" of each boat speed sailing technique. Then this is the book for you. But if you aren't that advanced yet, then perhaps you should get into this book a little later.

Frank Bethwaite is an aeronautical engineer and meteorologist. Knowing this explains the way this book was written. It is organized like a college course textbook, it first goes into the theoretical concepts relating to wind, water, and boat design. Then it goes into the application of the concepts in the boat handling section.

Bethwaite treats sailing concepts with a scientific bent and everything that is explained is proven by experimentation, many conducted by the author himself. For example, one of the things that initially caught my eye as I saw this book was a series of pictures showing a mast with ribbons from top to bottom. The ribbons showed the difference in wind direction at different heights and at different wind velocities. This showed in a very visual way why there is a significant twist required in sail shape in light air. This is just the beginning. He discusses different types of wind patterns and after reading the rather complex explanations, you will start to go beyond the simple descriptions of gusts and lulls explained in other books.

He puts extremely detailed attention to all other aspects of sailing such as sail trim and handling in waves. As far as sail trim goes, he goes as far as to illustrate the fast sail shape for each condition. This is the most detailed explanation I have ever seen of any sailing book on boat speed.

The problem with this book is that the graphics are not sophisticated, and the constant references to figures several chapters beyond where you are is bothersome. It is also not always easy to read, particularly in the earlier chapters that build the foundation.

This is an advanced racer's boat speed reference book. I wouldn't start learning about racing by reading it but this book is truly a gem

Yacht Racer Online Rating ****