Inshore Racing

Bid dreams

by Meredith Laitos, Posted July 22, 2009

From now until October 2nd, the city of Chicago will keep its fingers crossed, vying to become host to the 2016 Olympic Games. It’s currently one of four candidate cities, but the competition is tough. With the other three candidates hot on its heels, Chicago’s 2016 Bid Committee is hard at work showcasing what makes their city best-suited for the challenge, not the least

Secure the jibsheets

by Sail Staff, Posted June 17, 2009

If you furl your headsail when sailing off the wind, there’s a good chance the sheets will get in the way when you’re either peeling the spinnaker or taking it down. That’s why the bowman should always tie them down, out of the way, with a sail tie. When the spinnaker is up and the jib is furled, have the trimmers ease the jibsheets enough so they can be led to the base of the furler, where a

College rookies hit big time

by Meredith Laitos, Posted June 17, 2009

Matriculating from collegiate dinghy racing to big-boat sailing is like transitioning from T-ball to the Big Leagues. For most college sailors coming from two-man 420’s or FJ’s, the biggest challenge is getting used to the precise coordination of a multi-person crew sailing on boats and courses that are much bigger and more demanding than they’re used to.This March the Port of Los Angeles

Zach Railey, Sunsail team up for 2012

by Sail Staff, Posted May 20, 2009

Zach Railey wasn't expected to win a medal for sailing in the Finn class at the 2008 Olympic games. However, with his skill and training, he managed to grab a silver medal at Qingdao and now plans to try for the 2012 event in Great Britain.Sunsail Sailing Vacations will team up with the 2008 US Sailing Sportsman of

Swiss seats

by David Schmidt, Posted May 14, 2009

Need to get up your mast in a hurry, but don’t have a rock-climbing harness or bosun’s chair handy? Luckily, a Swiss Seat, a jury-rigged harness, is your solution. You’ll only need about 15–20 feet of stout rope (sail ties work in a pinch, but you’ll need to sister a couple together to achieve the proper length).Start by folding the rope in half. Pass this bight in between your legs (from

Auxiliary telltales

by David Schmidt, Posted May 14, 2009

Most modern sailboat races are run on windward-leeward courses designed to give racers the maximum number of chances to pass each other and to create lanes. While there’s little doubt that these “new” courses (until the mid-1990’s, most racecourses were triangular and featured more reaching) make for exciting racing, they do create a problem for drivers and trimmers, namely that it can be tiring

New disabled sailing regatta

by Meredith Laitos, Posted May 7, 2009

After the successful 2008 US SAILING’s Disabled Championship, it was evident that competitors wanted more top-level disabled sailing events. The American Yacht Club responded by organizing the inaugural Robie Pierce One Design Regatta. From June 5-7, 25 teams will compete in a fleet of donated Ideal 18s. Each boat will include two blind or disabled sailors and one able-bodied

Moth madness

by Sail Staff, Posted April 17, 2009

If you’re into dinghy sailing or high-performance sailing, you’ve likely heard of foiler Moths, the latest iteration in the constantly evolving International Moth Class. These latest Moths use an ingenious senor wand (click here to read about how the mechanics of a foiler Moth work) and a twistable tiller to lift the

Short tacks

by Sail Staff, Posted April 6, 2009

Not surprising that only 154 boats turned out for the 22nd edition of Key West Race Week, down from 261 boats in 2008. Still, the competition was high, especially amongst the Melges 24 (33 boats) and the Melges 32 (20 boats) fleets. While the grand-prix action was in IRC 1, it was IRC 2 that proved to be the most interesting handicap fleet to watch as it featured the U.S. racing premiere of the

Speed sailing records smashed on water and land

by Tom Nunlist, Posted April 3, 2009

On the 26th of March, two separate teams broke both the world water and land sailing speed records independently of each other.An Australian team sailing the Macquarie Innovation broke their own water speed record set last December at Sandy Point, Victoria, Australia and became the first vessel to complete the official 500m run with an average of over 50 knots. At Ivanpah Lake in