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Rating:  -
Frank Bethwaite and his son Julian are probably best known for their role in developing the Australian 18 skiffs and the 49er.
However, Mr. Bethwaite's background as a meteorologist, engineer, and pilot gives him a unique perspective in analysing the sailor's wind and how to maximize performance. His studies of hull drag, sail drag, and sail drive give the serious racing sailor valuable new information on how to maximize performance in a variety of conditions.
This book focuses on high-performance sailcraft, but the lessons are applicable to almost any racing boat.
Mr. Bethwaite provides many charts, graphs, and illustrations to support his observations on maximizing performance. Although this is a technical book, it is written for the layman.
This book significantly advances understanding of wind, sail trim, and boat handling. It is a must-read for anyone racing the new generation of planing sportboats like the Viper 640 or Melges 24, new high-performance racers like the Mumm 30 or One-Design 35, and the high-performance dinghies like the 29er, 49er, 505, Flying Dutchman, etc. But serious sailors of all sorts will benefit from the book, and the chapters on the development of the Australian 18 foot skiff are very interesting and not found in North American or European sailing texts.
Rating:  -
This book is about high performance sailing, and how to go
as fast, under sail, as you possibly can. It doesn't
matter if you race keel boats, or sailboards, or dinghies
or multihulls; if you read, understand and practice what
is written in this book, you will be a faster sailor.
Frank and his family have include three Olympic competitors,
four World Championships, as well as several Grand Masters
(over age 60) World Championships by Frank himself. Frank
has been a coach on the Australian Olympic Team since 1972
and also pursued pastimes with model gliders (twice open
world endurance record holder) and full size sailplanes.
His latest accomplishment is that of codesigner (with his
son Julian)of the latest sailboat to be selected for the
2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the Bethwaite 49er.
The book itself is laid out into four distinct parts; wind,
water, the boat, and handling. Nothing is made in the book
of tactics or rules. Frank assumes that once you get out
in front, you stay out front.
In all, a deeply technical book on how to sail faster.
Highly recommended to serious sailors interested in
performance. A must for any technical sailors library.
Only once every 30 years or so does such a book come out,
the last being C. A. Marchaj's "The Aero-Hydrodynamics of
Sailing" from the 1960s. Don't miss it...
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