Product Description

Championship Tactics is the tactical manual for the racing sailor. This comprehensive volume contains lessons from decades of world-class competition.

Gary Jobson was a collegiate champion and raced in three America's Cup campaigns, twice as Ted Turner's tactician and once with Tom Blackaller. Tom Whidden called the tactics in three of the America's Cup matches he sailed with Dennis Conner. Now the authors have put experience gained at the top in a format that racers of single-handed dinghies or maxi boats can use.

Championship Tactics melds expert advice with a rich collection of anecdotes from the greatest races of our time. The book also contains well-diagrammed professional secrets (there are over 150 illustrations) that even the Wednesday-night club racer will enjoy.

Topics include: starts and finishes; upwind, reaching, and downwind legs; mark roundings; steering; handling varied winds and waves; boat speed; tactical electronic instruments; the psychology of racing; key racing rules; and protests. "Local knowledge" of racing conditions from Long Beach to Long Island has been gleaned from a survey of regional experts. The book also covers how to gather vital information on conditions before a race, and how to record what you've learned.

The result is the most complete guide of its kind, by sailors ideally equipped to reveal state-of-the-art techniques.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78120 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Review
"If you want to know the 'how tos' of sailing tactics, as told by two of the best, read Championship Tactics. The big-time gossip and sailing tricks alone are worth the price."--William C. Martin, president, United States Yacht Racing Union

"This book really can help you sail better at all levels of competition. With good illustrations, weather tips, sail shape advice, and an inside look at the most sophisticated racecourse maneuvering, Championship Tactics is a must for both casual and dead serious racers."--Bruce Kirby, designer of the Laser

"If you're ready to race and win, this book will take you there. Read it carefully, use what Tom and Gary suggest, and your standings will improve."--Ed Baird, J24 and Laser world champion, author, professional sailor
-- Review

Review

About the Author
America's Cup champion Gary Jobson has won the Liberty Cup three times, and is a two-time College Sailor of the Year. He has covered America's Cup and professional racing for ESPN, Olympic sailing for NBC (Emmy Award), and has nine books to his credit. Jobson is the host of "Sailing Quarterly" video magazine.

Tom Whidden has sailed in three winning America's Cup campaigns, and is the president of North Sails. He is the author, with Michael Levitt, of The Art and Science of Sails (St. Martin's Press).

Adam Loory is general manager of UK International Sailmakers. He sailed aboard a class-winning entry in the 1989 Tran-Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, and actively races inshore as well. He covered the 1987 America's Cup for USA Today. Loory has been editor for Sailing World and other major yachting publications.

Customer Reviews

LOTS OF REALLY GOOD STUFF IN HERE!
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I think my review title says it all. I tried to come up with a way of summarizing the material in this 350 page book, and couldn't. There was too much!

Jobson and Whidden, two world class sailors, packed each chapter full of information--well may not the first chapter--that was short. But the rest of them were long, detailed and packed to the gills with important information.

If you race and don't read this book, you will probably not do as well as someone who has read the book. It is that simple.

This book is for aspiring racers who want to improve their standings in the fabulous sport of sailboat racing. Are you ready to race and win? Are you ready to learn?

What I liked best about the book was its organization. Look at the index below and you will get a hint of what I mean. But you will have to buy the book or thumb through it to really understand what I mean.

I liked the emphasis on teamwork, communication, and leadership, which I find under-emphasized in other books I've read.

Great information is provided on the winds in different parts of the country. Read the section on your sailing area and any place you race.

This is not a one night read of a book. Plan on spending lots of time with this book reading it, and re-reading, and applying it to improve your on the race course performance.

Index:

1. What is a Tactician

2. Creating a Game Plan

3. Starting

4. Upwind Tactics

5. Downwind Tactics

6. Faster Finishes

7. Steering

8. Tactical Instruments

9. Putting it All Together

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Smooth Sailing

A wealth of useful information; not always easily readable.
This book has a huge amount of useful information for the racing sailor - tips, tactics, strategies, execution, etc. It does assume some prior knowledge, which I didn't always have when I read it, and it is not always as clear or readable as it could be - some sections, I had to read 3 or 4 times before I understood them. It's a great book, though, and does concentrate on tactics, as the title suggests. There are also tips on boatspeed, sail trim, crew psychology, etc. It's intelligently broken down into sections - pre-start, starting tactics, the reach, the run, finishing, etc. I highly recommend it - just be prepared to work at it a little bit, once in a while.

Great stuff
This is a great reference book for any racing enthusiast. It is not really the type of book that you can sit down and read cover to cover, but rather allows the reader to consult a number of topics in the order that they choose. It is an excellent source for the fundamentals of advanced racing (if that makes any sense). Reads very easily, but there is a lot of stuff in here to absorb. I highly recommend this, it should be in every racer's home library.