Why Race Sailboats?

"No more expensive way of going really slowly been invented by man than sailing." (Chris Caswell, The Quotable Sailor). No less of a quandary to the land lubber is the idea of racing boats moving at speeds no faster than a man can run... 

But regardless of the outsider's view, there is something about the sport of Yacht Racing -- the heart pounding pressure of competition, the brain straining tactics and strategy, the fortune telling of wind events, the stress of seeing heavy floating masses of fiberglass converge  just inches apart with no brakes, the tension of stop watches clicking the seconds away, the sounds of grinding winches, crackling sails, hull pounding waves and the firing start gun, the intense focus on telltales and advancing waves, and the winning or getting closer to winning -- that just gives us all a rush and keeps us coming back for more week after week. We just love the challenge.

Yacht Racing is also known as the most complex sport ever invented by man. Pick a sport. Any sport. And find that in sailboat racing the venue is not a fixed football field or basketball court or even a racetrack, but is a changing surface that is sometimes flat, choppy, confused, peppered with different sized waves with different periods and heights, coming at the boat from different directions, with characteristics that differ from location to location.

 A sport where the predominant forces of wind and water are unknown from moment to moment, where velocity, direction, and consistency may vary by height from sea level. A sport where the participating vessels can only move forward and the predominant factor controlling chaos is the "corinthian spirit" and each participant's understanding of the rules. A sport driven by teamwork, intellect and sometimes physical and mental endurance. A sport where sometimes different boats may be used, each variant having a different speed, different rigging and sails and unceasing learning.

There is no question that Yacht Racing is an intellectual sport more than a strictly physical one; where one's age, height, physique, or gender does not determine the winner. Anyone with the developed skill -- skills that can be learned -- can win.

 The purpose of this website is to impart this skill. Our primary purpose is to help those that have to make the biggest jump: the beginning yacht racer. This is the sailor who does not know where to begin.

We will help you begin and as you develop your skills, you will learn to gather information on your own. We also welcome the intermediate yacht racer. There's a lot of information to remember and this website can be a reference source for you.

Welcome Yacht Racer!