Advanced Racing Tactics

by Stuart H. Walker

Sets forth the principles and practices of first-class starting, beating, reaching, running, and finishing in major events and competitions

Paperback

First published June 17, 1986

Reviews

[Syl Sabastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a boy, I was deeply into sailing, racing specifically. I consumed every available book on sailing available to me at the time, especially racing, I could find. Of all of them, one stood out, this one. (The original edition) I found it near the end of the time I was sailing, and it included everything the other books lacked. I was by then an accomplished enough sailor to be able to fully appreciate the book's expertise. An amazing manual of excellence then, and should still be. What made it especially excellent were the levels of discernment and sophistication involved and how their communication. It's always a joy to hear a true expert on a subject. Of the thousands and thousands of books I read as a youth, few stand out as memorable, this is one of them.

[James Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ted Jones thought that perhaps this was was the best book ever written on racing tactics. I have the previous three books on sailboat racing by Stuart Walker, and although all different, they are all good to excellent in my expert opinion. It is "advanced" in that the author assumes you have the basics of boat handling under your belt. Walker takes a great deal of time to explain each element of preparation, psych, equipment, starting, beating, reaching, running, finishing as done by winners. The diagrams are instructive and the sketches by Thomas Price are just wonderful. If you are racing sailboats or considering racing sailboats I think you will enjoy reading and having this book. If you think by any chance you might want to sail up with the leaders in sailboat racing then this book is a must. The psychology, he believes, is that you must be confident and keep racing and learning to get in the winner's circle. Each time you race you should figure out what you did right and wrong and Stuart's book will help you with that. There are so many factors in sailboat racing I don't think a life time is long enough to learn them all well, but Stuart has made a fine attempt at it and shows how psychology is key at the highest levels of competition.