Skipper's Cockpit Racing Guide ― For Dinghies, Keelboats and Yachts

The Skipper’s Cockpit Racing Guide is an at-a-glance reference for dinghy and yacht racers, covering everything they need to know to improve their performance – and win. From those in their first year of racing to old hands wondering why they’re not winning, this splash-proof, lie-flat guide covers an enormous amount of detail in a simple, easy to follow format.

Topics are broken down into photo sequences, boxes, flowcharts, hints and tips, and cover:

- setting your goals
- assembling the right boat and gear
- practising and tuning (straight line, tacking, gybing, rounding marks, doing penalties)
- starting (planning, set-up of rig and foils)
- race strategy (beating, reaching, running)
- tactics against the opposition
- crewing skills (trim, weight)
- tides and currents (what affects the flow, using them to your advantage)
- wind (wind shadows, wind bends, forecasts)
- spinnakers (symmetric, asymmetric, hoist, gybe, drop)
- rules (start, beat, reach, run)

A final section on troubleshooting enables readers to rate their performance and identify areas for improvement, handily linking back to those pages in the book.

Tim Davison is a former Laser (Masters) National and European Champion, four-times Moth champion, and has authored numerous other books, including Racing: A Beginner’s Manual, The Laser Book and Tactics.