High Performance Sailing

"Nothing could be more different than downwind speeds of 6 knots and 12 knots. But I have watched helm after helm settle for 6 because it never occurred to them that 12 was available. This 'mindset' - the conviction that there is only one best way to handle a boat and that we already know it - appears to affect the crews of all classes, from dinghies to 12-Metres. So often, what holds us back from achieving what we want to achieve is our own rigidity of thinking. The purpose of this book is to open a few windows." The text above, demonstrates Frank Bethwaite's original and innovative concept of yacht racing today. This book is the result of many years painstaking research and his intuitive deductions will influence almost every aspect of the sport. During the past two decades there has been a revolution in the way some Australian skiff-class designers and sailors have thought about, designed, built and sailed their boats. These classes are free from all restrictions and so create an environment in which new materials and technology can be tried, developed and optimised. The combined effect of these changes has been to achieve a spectacular increase in performance. This book is about the new ideas which have led to these greater speeds and the faster sailing techniques which have been developed to achieve them. In suitable conditions some high performance boats can now sail around a course at an average speed faster than the wind. The new ideas and handling techniques which have developed around these boats are proving faster when applied to conventional boats also. This 'spin-off' can help everybody sail faster.

Frank Bethwaite has been at the leading edge of national and world
class sailing for over sixty years. Apart from his own outstanding
racing successes, he has coached every level of would-be champion from
basic to Olympic standard. Within his own family, three are Olympic
champions and three are world champions in four classes. From a
background of aeronautical engineering and meteorology, Frank spent
thirty years in military and civilian aviation and finally in
scientific flying. When he retired he decided to find out how small
sailboats worked - so that he could make them sail faster.