By Andrew Kerr Having recently sailed a 10 race series at Key West Race Week that featured a large part of the regatta with waves and cluster chop. Here is some strategy, tactics and boat handling key elements that can help your team sail a fast and consistent series when the waves are up. Pre-Race … Read More
BREEZE ON: Heavy Air Downwind Symmetric Spinnaker Sailing
by Airwaves writer Andrew Kerr What is heavy air? For each team this can vary depending on the experience level aboard – but for most teams it is about 20 knots of wind and above – especially in open unprotected water when the seas have a chance to build and are influenced by the current. Be … Read More
Boat Handling: Rounding the Windward & Offset Marks
By Airwaves writer Andrew Kerr This article takes a look at the important elements of rounding the windward mark and offset mark, in this article we will look at the boat handling skills a team needs to practice & develop, in a future article we will look at tactics we can use at these marks. … Read More
Sail Tuning with Andrew Kerr: Time to Power Up
By Andrew Kerr, North U. Coach, & guest writer for Airwaves Your team is sailing upwind and all is well , good speed and height on the boats around you , suddenly the boats stands up and the speed drops quickly as does the ability to point – “ net loss to the boat to weather … Read More
Downwind Boatspeed, by Clinton Hayes
Sail1Design would like to welcome the newest member to our Airwaves team, Clinton Hayes. In College, Clinton went north to attend the University of Vermont. While there, he lead the team as they qualified for their first ever National Championships and was their first Coed All-American in 2008 and 2010. In the summer of 2008 … Read More
FIRST ANNUAL NEILL ADVANCED SAILING CLINIC – Chicago, IL
By Airwaves Editor Martha Pitt Over the past six months, the Chicago Yacht Club has been working hard to put together what turned out to be a phenomenal event: the first annual Neill Advanced Sailing Clinic, a four day clinic for some of the best youth 420 sailors in the country. Applications were due back … Read More
Sailing Program Lesson Plans: What to do?
By Aimee Poisson Lesson plans, the weapons of choice for organized teachers and professors, are also indispensable tools for coaches and instructors in all sports, but especially sailing. Having a plan is absolutely necessary for all classes and borrowing the structured lesson plans from teachers can be a great way to structure your practices and … Read More