Advanced Racing Tactics

Rating:
Summary: Thorough but somewhat technical, not for the beginner
Review: Anyone who has read Mr. Walker's work understands that he takes a very technical and analyitcal look at the sport of yacht racing. It is definatly an effort to get through the book, and I feel that the beginner will not get much out of it. Overall, he is very thorough and on target. There is much to be learned from the book, and it will make a person a better racer.

One humorous aspect of the book (and all of Mr. Walker's writing, for that matter) is that most of his examples consists of times that he has screwed up and lost the race. The reader occasionally wonders whether he should be taking his advice.... ;) However, the examples are often excellent illustrations of the point he is trying to make.

Rating:
Summary: Useful information is obscured by wordiness and jargon
Review: I bought this book many years ago and learned a few important tips from it. Why it is good to sail into a persistent shift upwind, and how to choose a side downwind (and why jibe-sets are important) for example. Yes the information is useful, but the book requires diligent plowing through to turn up the occasional useful nugget -- I found the anecdotes tedious after a while. I picked it up again recently and found it all but unreadable. I have sailed for many years and still find this work terribly wordy and filled with ambiguous jargon.

A good author or teacher will distil a complex subject into simple understandable concepts that can then be presented and digested readily before they are developed further. This work falls short in that regard.

As a brief example of the pedantry in store for you, consider this passage: "Head-to head conflicts must be welcomed as opportunities to demonstrate superiority, with the recognition that most competitors will be adversely affected by the demonstration."

All that said, anyone with the patience (It'll take a winter) to tough it out and get through this book will probably learn quite a bit about racing small boats. Hopefully enough to rewrite it in a more clear, logical and intelligible manner.

Rating:
Summary: If you're ready for it
Review: this is an outstanding and thorough evaluation of what is involved in sailing a good race beyond trimming the sails correctly and handling the boat well