Customer Reviews

Around the Buoys: A Manual of Sailboat Racing Tactics and Strategy

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Around the Buoys" intends to be a primer on basic racing tactics.

It is written as a narrative. I think that a more succinct format with diagrams and bullet point lists of tactical considerations and options would be more helpful for learning. Certainly nothing would be lost. A narrative format seems more appropriate for Walker, Melges, and Perry as they are covering advanced tactics, competitive psychology, and tuning.

It does not have very much content. Even if one were to distill the tactical knowledge from the book, there would not be much.

"Performance Racing Tactics" by Bill Gladstone offered by North Sails is superior in its presentation and content for beginner racers. It also covers some more advanced topics, and would be valuable even to an accomplished racer.

This is the book Walker should have written. Huck takes you through a day's race in orderly and intellignet steps. I've been racing one-designs for many years and found this to be a very good reminder and tactical and strategic piece that has helped me quite a bit. A definite buy.

Pretty good, but there are some concepts that are not explained in a very clear way. Particularly, wind shifts. There are various explanations of playing the shifts throughout the book, based on the idea of predictiing shifts and acting accordingly, but they are often rather mysterious. Also, some ideas are outdated due to rules changes. A new, improved edition would be great.

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I'm a sailing instructor. Many of my students ask me how to get invited out on boats more. I tell them two things. Sign on as crew on a small boat in a one design fleet and, be prepared to not miss a race to establish a reputation for reliability. These things will do more to improve your reputation and skills than anything else.

This is the book I now recommend to my students who want to learn about racing tactics without being put to sleep. I think it is the easiest to understand book on the market for this subject.

I especially enjoyed the section on wakes on pages 103-104.

The book is strong on tactics, and weak on the finer nuances of shifting gears for maximizing speed. I recommend Buddy Melges or Stuart Walker for more information on those topics--along with a GPS and on-the-water experimentation. See my reviews of other books on sailing for more information.

I'm very happy with the boat. It is a great book for someone who wants to get the basics down.

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INDEX

1. The Boat

2. Moving the Boat

3. Elements of the Race

4. Before the Race

5. Starts

6. Sailing the First Leg

7. Rounding the Windward Mark

8. The First Reach

9. The Jibe Mark

10. The Second Reach

11. The Second Beat

12. Downwind Sailing

13. The Final leg

14. The Finish

15. After the Race

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I do a lot of one-design racing. For people new to racing, I give them this book. Its sequential, "what happens next", format is useful for people a little bewildered by the action on the water. It's not overly technical.

It covers some tricks as well, such as riding wake and working down in the puffs etc. It also has a little piece in the beginning explaining the difference types of racing (Handicap vs One-Design) and a general overview of the different kinds of boats you might consider when getting into racing. Again, good for people without a broad knowledge of the racing scene.

One note: it covers a triangle (Olympic Course) which we don't do a lot of in my fleet. Regardless, lessons are still relevant.

Whatever you buy, nothing beats time on the water.

I still wait for this item (book)