Be Your Own Tactics Coach

Jon Emmett is a world-class Laser Radial sailor. In 2008, he won the UK National Championships and the Radial Europa Cup series by winning events in Holland, Denmark, Austria and Germany. In 2009 Jon once again won the UK National Championships and the Radial Europa Cup series. In 2010 his key event is the Radial combined World and European Championship which will be sailed in Largs, Scotland. Jon coaches professionally, particularly in single-handed boats. He also acts as a professional yacht racing tactician.

Introduction ix 1 Pre Start 1 1.1 Basic Preparations 1 1.2 Spotting the Changes 6 1.3 Those Final Few Minutes 8 2 Starts 13 2.1 Line Bias 13 2.2 Big Fleet Starts 18 2.3 Knowing your Rights 22 3 Upwind 27 3.1 Basic Upwind Sailing 27 3.2 Dealing with the Conditions 30 3.3 When to Tack 33 4 The First Beat 43 4.1 First Beat Basics 43 4.2 Meeting Other Boats 45 4.3 Playing it Safe 49 5 Tacking 53 5.1 Basic Tacking 53 5.2 Tacking to Loose Cover 56 5.3 Tacking to Tight Cover 58 6 Windward Mark 59 6.1 Laylines 59 6.2 Other Boats 61 6.3 Starboard Roundings 66 7 Tight Reaching 71 7.1 Tight Reaching Basics 71 7.2 Dealing with the Conditions 72 7.3 Dealing with Other Boats 73 8 Beam Reaching 75 8.1 Beam Reaching Basics 75 8.2 Dealing with the Conditions 77 8.3 Dealing with Other Boats 78 9 Broad Reaching 79 9.1 Broad Reaching Basics 79 9.2 Dealing with the Conditions 82 9.3 Dealing with Other Boats 82 10 Running Symmetric 85 10.1 Basic Running 85 10.2 Downwind in Waves 89 10.3 Sailing Aggressively 91 11 Running Asymmetric 93 11.1 Basic Running 93 11.2 Gybe Set 96 11.3 Sailing Aggressively 97 12 Gybing 101 12.1 At the Gybe Mark 101 12.2 The Manoeuvre Itself 104 12.3 The Angle 105 13 Leeward Mark 107 13.1 Basic Leeward Mark Rounding 107 13.2 Leeward Mark Rounding with Other Boats 108 13.3 Giving or Taking Room at the Leeward Mark 113 14 Leeward Gates 117 14.1 Choosing Which Gate to Round 117 14.2 Rounding with Other Boats 120 14.3 Sailing Aggressively 126 15 The Second Beat 127 15.1 The Difference between the First and Second Beat 127 15.2 Leverage 128 15.3 Controlling the Race 131 16 The Final Beat 133 16.1 Long Final Beat 133 16.2 Short Final Beat 134 16.3 Dealing with Other Boats 139 17 The Finish 141 17.1 The Basics 141 17.2 After the Finish 145 17.3 Dealing with Other Boats 145 18 Being Consistent 149 18.1 The Basics 149 18.2 Have a Plan 151 18.3 Avoiding High Risks 158 19 Attacking and Defending 163 19.1 When Should I Attack and Defend? 163 19.2 Specific Manoeuvres Upwind 166 19.3 Specific Manoeuvres Downwind 169 20 Weather 177 20.1 Forecasts 177 20.2 Using the Weather 178 20.3 Thermal and Sea Breezes 180 Glossary 183 Index of Boat Names 189