Optimist Racing

The Optimist is the most popular junior sailing class worldwide, with thousands of young people actively racing them and hundreds attending the major events in the class. It has been the nursery for most of the top racing sailors in the world including all the Team GBR gold medallists at the last 2 Olympics (Sir Ben Ainslie, Hannah Mills, Saskia Clark and Giles Scott) – the same will be true for most other countries. Optimist Racing is written for those sailors, parents and coaches who are looking for success in this competitive class. In it you will learn what it takes to win, including how to achieve blistering boatspeed through technique and tuning, perfect boat handling and tactics as well as covering the mental and physical requirements for success. There is also a section for parents and coaches describing how they can best support their young sailors. Originally written by Ben Ainslie's Optimist coach, Phil Slater, this new edition has been completely updated by top international racing coach, Steve Irish, who can be found coaching Optimist and other sailors worldwide. This book is the up-to-date handbook for sailing an Optimist fast.

The Optimist is the most popular children’s boat world-wide with over 250,000 sailed in 70 countries. This book is endorsed by the Optimist Association and is used by most Optimist coaches as their textbook. This second edition is fully updated and describes all the latest rigging and sailing techniques. Many Olympic gold medallists started in this class.

The essential manual for parents, coaches, and all kids aged eight to fifteen who are learning to sail the Optimist--the standard beginner's boat used in community and yacht club programs nationwide--"The Winner's Guide to Optimist Sailing" contains all the information young sailors need to rig, sail, and race their boats safely. 100 photos and line drawings.

Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion, Paul Goodison, explains why this book is important if you want to win races. He says: "To win sailboat races you need to sail the boat fast. This comes down to hours on the water training and tuning – there are few shortcuts to hours of practising on the water. To consistently win races you need to sail fast and smart – making the right decisions to sail the best course. If you are not the fastest boat, you are still able to win races and regattas by managing risk and sailing smart. This is where good tactics come in. But, unlike boatspeed, tactics may be learnt by thinking about each leg of the course and different situations from the comfort of your own home. Jon Emmett's new book, Tactics Made Simple, is a great tool to help fast track this learning." This book explains simply, through hundreds of diagrams, what tactics can be applied around the race track. Individual boats in each scenario are given names so that you can easily understand what they are doing. Individual chapters take you around the race course, from before you get on the water, through the pre-start, start, different legs and manoeuvres. Each section contains detailed advice for the beginner, intermediate and advanced sailor so you can just look at the level of tactics relevant to you. Ideal for dinghy sailors, there is also a wealth of advice that will benefit yachtsmen. This is a practical way to improve your racing results, whether starting out, moving up the club circuit or competing at national level and beyond. Originally published by Wiley Nautical as Be Your Own Tactics Coach.

Written by one of the best-known figures in all of sailing and a leading authority on Optimist sailing and racing, The Winner's Guide to Optimist Sailing is the ideal training manual for young skippers, their parents, and their coaches. The most comprehensive sailing guide to the International Optimist dinghy class features: Step-by-step instructions on every aspect of beginning sailing More than 100 stunning photographs and helpful illustrations Useful tips and winning tactics for competitive racing Special advice sections for parents and coaches

Part of the RYA Racing series, this new Racing Rules Explained book, which replaces the 2017-2020 version, is the complete guide to understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing, and this format allows for very simple navigation and linking between sections to help you find the information you need. Racing Rules are compulsory for all racing sailors the world over, and this title serves to complement the existing RYA Sail Racing publications, and also to provide adequate explanations, through clear text and diagrams, behind all the Racing Rules. This book is for competitors, race officials and anyone who wishes to increase their knowledge of the Racing Rules. It is comprehensive, with seven sections that contain rules for every competitor: • Fundamental Rules • When Boats Meet • Conduct of a Race • Other Requirements when Racing • Protests, Redress Hearings, Misconduct and Appeals • Entry and Qualifications • Race Organisation This book also references the 2021-2024 case books for World Sailing, RYA, USA and Canada making it the most relevant title available. Written by Trevor Lewis, former Chair of the RYA Racing Committee, a World Sailing International Judge and an acknowledged rules expert. Accessibility Screen Reader Friendly: Yes Accessibility Summary: This publication conforms to WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Long descriptions are present. Accessibility Features: Images have alternate text Images have long descriptions Book has table of contents Accessibility Hazards: None Accessibility Conformance: WCAG 2.0 AA Self-Certified by: Royal Yachting Association

"Fast handling technique promises to guide racing sailors on how to gain (and maintain) their edge. It informs, instructs and enable them to employ the techniques and timing of the most successful racers, making racing more competitive and, ultimately, more exciting"-- Back cover.

Champion Race Horses of the Empire State From Saratoga to Belmont Park, New York hosts some of horse racing's most important races, but many of the most successful thoroughbreds of the past five decades also have called the state home. Say Florida Say seemed to only improve with age, winning thirty-three times throughout a seven-year career that made him a regional favorite in the 1990s. The first ever New York horse to win the Kentucky derby, Funny Cide, rose to national prominence in 2003, winning both the Derby and the Preakness in incredible fashion. The thoroughbred Audible shared owners with triple-crown winner Justify, and though embroiled in some controversy as a result, was also an elite race horse during a brief career. Author Allan Carter highlights the stories behind the greatest New York thoroughbreds of the past half-century.