How do I become a better sailboat racer?

Without seeing you sail it’s hard to say. You might consider serving as crew on other boats to see what they do differently from you and then applying it to your own sailing.

I know I always seem to come in so late that the committee boat has already gone back to the dock, but then I don’t read the wind well, and I am impatient and don’t plan my tacking efficiently enough. My solution was to race as crew on someone else’s boat, and sail for pleasure on my own.

My father’s solution was to read books on the technical aspects of sailing and then go try out what he read. He is a much better sailor than I.

First of all, what are you sailing? Different boats require different techniques. For example, when I was sailing Sunfishes I wish I were thirty years younger again, just for that (okay, for the sex, too) the main technique to know was “Sail It Flat”. But classes of boats with more rounded hulls generally do better with more heel. In nearly any sailboat, you’ll want to find out (practice, practice, practice) what are the best angles of attack for pointing (for example, it’s not always best to pinch the wind and point as high as possible—it might sometimes be wiser to ease off a point or two and maintain more boat speed), and where the best weight placement is while reaching and running. In all cases it helps to avoid moving about in the boat too much. Practice working the boat (especially in light airs) with a minimum of body movement inside the boat. Pull anything off the deck and into the cockpit that you can to minimize wind resistance (including you and the crew).

Aside from “technique”, condition of the boat is crucial. Is the bottom slippery-clean? The centerboard / keel and rudder as smooth as possible (and also clean)? Do the parts all work properly? Are the fittings, halyards, sheets, cleats and sails in good condition?

After all that, you have to know how to ‘feel’ your boat’s performance and know exactly how you’re going to perform each maneuver you need to make, from roll-tacking, to gybing, spinnaker sets and recoveries (if that’s part of your SailBag), headsail changes (if you’re on a boat that has multiple jibs and sets) and you absolutely have to know your ‘grounds’. Know the wind patterns for your area at the time of year you’ll be sailing and the time of day.

Practice, practice, practice. That, and watching how the winners sail.

@CyanoticWasp – You only sail a Sunfish flat if you didn’t want it to tip over. But isn’t tipping over part of the fun of sailing a Sunfish? It always was when I was sailing them.

@Darwin Oh, no… if you want to sail a Sunfish competitively you need to keep it as level as possible. The flatter, the better. I never capsized that boat when I didn’t want to, and I used to take it out on the lake when everyone else headed in because of high winds.

The other thing you do in a Sunfish to be competitive is to lower the boom. That is, tie the halyard higher on the upper spar so that the boom is more of a “sweeper boom” on tacks, forcing you to duck low to avoid being hit. That lowers the whole moment center of the sail and makes it easier to keep level. As sold and according to the “suggested rigging plan”, the boom would easily clear the head of anyone seated on the deck. Racers aren’t out for a casual sail, though. Their booms are pretty low to the deck.

Who says I was sailing competitively?

“I know I always seem to come in so late that the committee boat has already gone back to the dock”

Um… the question was about racing, after all… and if you know what the committee boat is, then you were at least attempting to race.

What I always got a kick out of (and maybe this is just my own warped view of the world) whenever I was out on the lake and I spotted another sail, we were racing, whether the other guy knew it or not.

I typically sailed El Toros competitively, and then moved on to cruising sailboats. Although officially we were racing in Sunfish, in reality most of the teens were just having fun messing about.