Racing. A Beginner's Guide/Гонки. Руководство для начинающих

Книга на английском языке.
This book is intended as a guide for people who have already learned to sail and would like to go a step further and start racing.
Many people catch the ‘bug’ after their fi rst race, and it remains with them for the rest of their lives. Why is this? There are those who are naturally competitive and always want to test their skill against others. Some people are less competitive but enjoy racing because it offers the best opportunity to get the best out of their boats. There is nothing like a few races to show you just how well or badly you are sailing!
You will probably be itching to enter a race before you have read to the end of this book, so we have laid out the fi rst four chapters to give you enough knowledge to take part in a race with some degree of confi dence. The remainder of the book is designed to help you improve your performance, and a glossary of terms used in racing is included at the end.
Many successful skippers start their racing careers by crewing with more experienced helms. It can be an advantage to get the feel for racing before you start out on your own, but it’s by no means essential. You may learn faster by fi nding your own way, and this book will help you do just that.
We hope you enjoy your racing as much as we have done, and continue to do. It will give you an absorbing hobby for life. Good sailing!

Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Choosing a Boat
What is a Race?
The course
Handicap racing
Basic Racing Rules
The need for racing rules
Alternative penalties
Protests
Golden rules
Your First Race
The start
The first beat
The reach
The run
The finish
What did you think of it?
Golden rules
Helming and Crewing Skills
Tacking
Gybing
Beating
Reaching
Running
Rounding marks
Starting
Golden rules
Boat Preparation and Equipment
Hull preparation
The foils
Mast and rigging
Gear and systems
General maintenance
Golden rules
Tactics
Wind shadow
Dirty wind
Lee-bow effect
The start
The gate start
Tactics on the beat
Tactics on the reach
Tactics on the run
Tactics at the finish
Golden rules
Strategy
Short beats
Current
General strategy on the beat
Windshifts and windbends
One-sided beats
Strategy on the reach
Strategy on the run
Strategy at the finish
Golden rules
Tuning
General requirements
What are we trying to do?
What do all the controls do?
Initial set-up onshore
Initial set-up on water
Adjusting the rig for various wind strengths
Golden rules
The Spinnaker
Spinnaker gear
Raising and lowering the spinnaker
Running
Reaching
Gybing the spinnaker
Golden rules
The Asymmetric Spinnaker
Advantages
Disadvantages
Rigging your asymmetric
Equipment
Setting
Gybing
Tactics
Rules
Golden rules
Glossary
Visual Signals Used in Racing