Fast Handling Technique

by Frank Bethwaite

From the author of the bestselling High Performance Sailing and Higher Performance Sailing comes the first scientific analysis of what makes fast sailors fast. Rejecting the idea that luck or innate talent are the keys to success, Frank Bethwaite shows how knowledge truly is power. Making use of video cameras aligned to GPS read-outs to track the fastest racers, he meticulously analyses what winners do and how they do it, to show the rest of us how to get the best out of a racing craft. Frank Bethwaite's previous books were groundbreaking bibles that applied scientific theories to how sails and hulls interact with wind and water to influence boat speed. But whilst they applied scientific theories to boat construction, they didn't apply science to practical boat handling. This book fills that gap, and then goes further. Budding racers of all levels will welcome this unique book as a godsend. It will inform, instruct and enable them to employ the techniques (and timing) of the most successful racers, and make racing more competitive for participants, and more exciting for those of us watching.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Curtis Woodford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is generally an excellent book with an ambitious agenda to change the way sailing is taught. I think it was published hastily just before Frank Bethwaite passed away, and could have benefitted from copious editing. The amount of repetition is incredible and there are at least a couple spots where "draft notes" have obviously not been edited out. This would be fine if the book contained massive amount of high quality content like Bethwaite's other two books, but it seems to be an exercise in seeing how many ways Frank can tell us to ease-hike-trim going upwind and steer under the sails downwind. If you happen to sail Lasers, Tasars, the 49er or the foiling Moth, there are some very interesting setup and handling notes at the end of the book by some fantastic sailors, which is a redeeming feature. To summarize, the idea behind the book of communicating how the best sailors handle their boats is a great one, but it is not on par with "High Performance Sailing" in production or technical quality.

[Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive and poorly edited. There's still some good information in here about setup and target speeds, but 1/3 of the book is devoted to telling you how NOT to sail (the "natural handling" technique), and it keeps repeating the same instructions for "fast handling" technique so I was left puzzling about what was different in each case (nothing?). Not up to the high standard of his other books.