Cort A. The Blue Book of Sailing: 22 Keys to Sailing Mastery

International Marine Press, 2009. 264 p. — ISBN: 978-0-07-154800-7.No one ever reaches the end of sailing. There is always another horizon. Here are the courses to steer.In the fi rst couple of chapters we inventory the basic sailing maneuvers—things like tacking, jibing, and points of sail. Th e goal is not to teach these skills so much as to catalog and classify them as the starting point for what follows.Th e remaining chapters explore the reasoning behind those skills and maneuvers, examining everything from why sailboats look the way they do to why they don’t (usually) tip over. Chapter 5, for example, discusses how to steer a sailboat using only its sails, then goes on to explore how this skill can be employed to increase speed and comfort when steering with a rudder. Chapter 6 looks at the qualities of various rope constructions, the eff ects of friction, and how those two characteristics come into play when executing an eff ective sailing knot. Chapter 15 examines why so many contemporary sailboats are equipped with two sails, as opposed to three or more as was often the case in the past.Knowing the Angles. How Wind Apportions the World
Getting Where You Want to Go. And Why Sailing Close-Hauled Is Fundamentally Different
How to See the Wind. Observing What You Can’t See, Divining What You Can’t Know
Catching the Wind. Why Sails Are More Complex Th an Airplane Wings
Steering with Your Sails. And How the Keel and Rudder Lift You to Windward
The Anatomy of a Knot. Th e Role of Friction and Knowing When to Let Go
Docking Under Sail and Power. The Two Are More Similar Than You Might Think
Sail Plans and Lines Drawings. How Sheer Lines, Bows, and Sterns Aff ect Sailing Performance
Keels, Rudders, and Other Hull Features. Different Shapes for Speed, Comfort, and Durability
Why Sailboats Don’t (Usually) Tip Over. The Nuts and Bolts of Design Ratios Comparing Apples and Oranges in the Sailing World
Boat Speed. Drag, Waves, Bustles, and Theoretical Limits
Sailing Faster Using Telltales. An Elegant, Low-Tech Means of Achieving Perfect Sail Trim
Using Spring Lines to Leave a Dock. Harnessing a Botta Secreta to Get You Out of a Tight Spot
Why Sails Are Triangular. And Why So Many Sailboats Have Two of Them
Some Th oughts on Heavy Weather. The Way of the Windjammer Is Still the Best
The Making of a Good Boat. Functionality, Like Beauty, Is in the Eye of the Beholder
How Fiberglass Boats Are Built. And Why They Are Magnifi cent
Keeping from Running Aground. The Wealth of Information on a Nautical Chart
Keeping from Running Aground—Part Two. Using a Chart to Navigate
How Racing Can Make You a Better Sailor. Around the Buoys or Around the Harbor, the Skills
Are the Same
Why We Sail. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained