5 tips – Essential yacht racing skills

  • January 30, 2023

The leeward mark is one of the biggest pinch points on the race course, with the opportunity for huge gains – or the risk of enormous losses. Dylan Fletcher says…

  • December 6, 2022

Getting a good start is not just about being fast off the line in clear air. Sometimes the better start can be to wait in the second row near the…

  • November 24, 2022

According to Andy Beadsworth, when you’re helming the boat you’re not so much steering as ‘applying load to the tiller’. “Sometimes the boat heels over and the load comes on…

  • October 25, 2022

Keeping a boat moving in light airs can be more challenging than dealing with big winds and seas. It requires a huge level of attention to detail and a lot…

  • September 15, 2022

Top-spec autopilots have become very sophisticated, not least in the use of AI (artificial intelligence), so much so that modern autopilot systems on an IMOCA 60 won’t leave you much…

  • August 18, 2022

When working as a rules adviser, Bill O’Hara’s job with his sailors is to make sure they understand the rules well enough to stay out of the protest room. But…

  • July 5, 2022

Good race strategy is about doing as much pre-race homework as possible and getting that pre-race strategy right. As a young Australian growing up far from the sea in the…

  • June 28, 2022

Robert Scheidt always used to start out of the middle of the line. That was in the days when he was the stand-out talent in the Laser single-handed dinghy, winning…

  • June 1, 2022

Years of short-course racing in small keelboats in fleet race and match race competitions had made Annie Lush very good at downwind VMG sailing. But when she started offshore racing,…

  • May 19, 2022

As the TP52 fleet sweeps around the bottom mark off Palma, eyes turn to the sky. This isn’t a predictable day’s racing in Mallorca. The 2021 Rolex TP52 World Championships…

Shirley Robertson and Henry Bomby begining their offshore preparation

  • April 19, 2022

What’s your goal for the season? Shirley Robertson apologises if her offshore preparation sounds ‘a bit Olympic sailorish’ but says defining your goal is key. “Whether you’re doing round-the-cans racing…

  • March 10, 2022

The challenge of headsail trimming, according to Stir Fry, is understanding at any given moment what the team is aiming to achieve. On a busy race course, those aims are…

  • February 10, 2022

Chris Nicholson’s prowess in 18ft Skiffs and three World Championship titles in the early days of the 49er Olympic dinghy drew the attention of Grant Dalton when he recruited the…

  • December 29, 2021

After sailing a brilliant qualifying series during the Tokyo Olympic Games earlier this summer, a moment of indecision put Anne-Marie Rindom’s grip on the gold medal in jeopardy. But the…

  • November 18, 2021

Despite only having come to offshore racing six years ago, Tom Kneen has proven a fast learner. He’s also done things his way, steadfastly holding to his preference to sail…

  • October 27, 2021

Running the pit is more than pulling the right ropes at the right time, according to Tom Burnham. “The pitman is that communication and decision-making link between the front of…

  • September 29, 2021

The lighter the breeze, the more significant the effects of any current or tidal flow. Ben Saxton has raced every kind of boat, from foiling catamarans to planing dinghies to…

  • July 28, 2021

Liz Wardley, by her own admission, hated school. “I was a very bad student, but if I can learn a skill that’s going to help me make the boat go…