Set to be a groundbreaking reference for racing sailors - the new bible of racing knowledgeFollows in the hallowed footsteps of its predecessor, High Performance Sailing, regarded as the bible for racersContains all new research and the application of apparent wind sailing techniques for the new breed of racing boatsFor all racing sailors at whatever level, and for dinghies as well as yachts - nothing else on the market of this calibre

High Performance Sailing isnow regarded as the bible of racing sailors and carries a string ofendorsements from high achievers. Since its publication in 1984, racingyachts and dinghies have developed out of all recognition - a newhigh-tech breed of 'apparent wind' fast racers has claimed the waterand so far no-one has applied themselves seriously to analysing whatmakes these boats sail fast (and what will make them faster). This is Frank Bethwaite's ground-breaking achievement in Higher Performance Sailing.By means of extensive research, and working with sailors of differentracing calibre, Bethwaite analyses how to harness the apparent windfor increased speed and better position on your rivals. Higher Performance Sailing willprovide the key to racing sailors' dreams. Praise for Bethwaite's High Performance Sailing:'It represents a breakthrough It is a book that my Olympic squad will benefit from.'Rod Carr, former British Olympic Sailing Team Manager'Allowed only one "if only" in yacht racing, it would have been to have read Higher Performance Sailing years ago.'Bob Fisher, journalist, broadcaster and international championship winner

High Performance Sailing isnow regarded as the bible of racing sailors and carries a string ofendorsements from high achievers. Since its publication in 1984, racingyachts and dinghies have developed out of all recognition - a newhigh-tech breed of 'apparent wind' fast racers has claimed the waterand so far no-one has applied themselves seriously to analysing whatmakes these boats sail fast (and what will make them faster). This is Frank Bethwaite's ground-breaking achievement in Higher Performance Sailing.By means of extensive research, and working with sailors of differentracing calibre, Bethwaite analyses how to harness the apparent windfor increased speed and better position on your rivals. Higher Performance Sailing willprovide the key to racing sailors' dreams. Praise for Bethwaite's High Performance Sailing:'It represents a breakthrough It is a book that my Olympic squad will benefit from.'Rod Carr, former British Olympic Sailing Team Manager'Allowed only one "if only" in yacht racing, it would have been to have read Higher Performance Sailing years ago.'Bob Fisher, journalist, broadcaster and international championship winner

Frank Bethwaite is revered amongst the sailing community for the depth,originality and soundness of his research and for the successfulapplication of his theories, which produce results for his disciplesaround the world time and time again. His many years of experiencecoaching the highly successful Australian Olympic sailing team and his extensive analysis from working with racing sailors arethe basis for the techniques and theories presented in this new book.

2004-02-04 Great book but starting to show its age

A detailed but surprisingly easy to read book (for someone with an engineering degree, at least). More information about how a main-sail works than anywhere I've seen and lots of practical advise concerning what to do with it on the water.

Plus (deep breath) more than you ever wanted to know about wind.

But, it is a bit out of date, being barely revised since the early '90s. There's surprisingly little about spinnakers & asymetrics (or even jibs); keel boats don't plane and cats get a pretty poor press! With the exception of the Tasar, there's less than you might expect about Frank Bethwaite's own designs (eg laser II) and less or nothing about Julian Bethwaite's boats (29er, 49er etc).

Still - it's a great book and, for its day, a magnificent one; it's well written and it will make you sail faster, especially if you own a Tasar or a B18 skiff.

Just need Julian Bethwaite to write a sequel!