I have copied below excerpts of an interview with Krystal Weir on how Fitness Equals Sailing Results. Krystal is a qualified Physiotherapist and Exercise scientist and has sailed at the highest level in many different classes from sailboards to catamarans. Krystal has also represented Australia in the Olympics twice. Once in the Yngling class and once in the Laser Radial. Currently, she runs her Physiotherapy business out of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne Australia. Krystal works with sailors helping them improve their sailing fitness and strength. Krystal give ..read more

Many sailors have poor gust and lull response but if we want to be successful it is something that we must master. When hiking in gusts, there is a tendency to “fight” the boat and to use too much steering to control power. The boat heels, we pinch and use over-corrective steering. These factors lead to reduced speed and reduced VMG. Conversely, in lulls, even experienced sailors tend to chase apparent wind around killing VMG and inadvertently, slowing the boat. FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS Correct Gust Response The right way to handle a gust is Ease – Hike – Trim. When a gust comes on your boat a ..read more

Racing sailboats is addictive and for many of us, the more we race, the more we want to race. The potential for us to improve our racing results though, grows the more we practice our skills. We need to look forward to and enjoy training, if we don’t it becomes a chore to be discarded. Knowing the end results of your time, and developing skills will ensure that this will be the case. Few top sailors got to where they are, without a serious amount of time on the water honing their craft. Why don’t we train more? Lack of time is probably one of the greatest reasons. Even if you are time-poor, g ..read more

I have copied below parts of an interview that I conducted themed Observation and Sailing with Super Coach and super competitor Adrian Finglas. Adrian is an extremely experienced coach and has spent more hours in a rubber duck coaching than just about anyone else on the planet. Brett: do you approach your regatta differently in big or small fleets?  Adrian: Great question, Brett. Sailing in big fleets is very different from sailing in small fleets, so the priorities have got to change. The big fleet, you know, the basic thing that I think about is risk, so you’re always trying to mi ..read more

I have copied below excerpts from an interview I did with Mark Bulka on Mark Rounding – Planning and Placement. Mark has won World, National and State championships in a number of different classes ranging from single handed monohulls through to catamarans. On top of that he is an accomplished Ocean Racer and has competed in a number of Sydney to Hobart’s as sailing master. His experiences and thousands of mark roundings have given him a unique insight into what it takes to effectively carry out this manoeuvre.   Brett: As you get close to the weather mark, I have heard you talk abo ..read more

Wind, Weather and Currents – Part 3. Continuing Andrew Palfrey’s insights regarding working with the weather to improve your racing. FREE BOOK – TIPS FROM SAILING LEGENDS Brett: If a wind shift seem persistent, how do you establish a mean or is it a constant process? Yeah, look, just to comment on Melbourne, it’s a fantastic place to race boats, as we know, great conditions, wind, sea. But because of that steady-state nature of the breeze, when it’s blowing from the sort of southwest area, and also the lack of tides. You come to a place of like Cowes where I live now, and it’s almost a differ ..read more

Part Two – Wind Weather and Currents – following on from the recent blog from the interview with Andrew Palfrey. Andrew is better known to the worldwide yachting fraternity as “Doggy”. He will give us the benefit of his vast experience in factoring wind, weather and currents into sailing and its importance in planning the conduct of your race. This is part two in a series of excerpts from an interview I did with the high-achieving sailor, Olympian and coach. FREE BOOK – TIPS FROM SAILING LEGENDS Brett: How do you call wind shifts and what feedback do you want from your crew? How do you handle ..read more

Andrew Palfrey, better known to the worldwide yachting fraternity as “Doggy” will give us the benefit of his vast experience in factoring wind, weather and currents into our sailing and its importance in planning the conduct of your race. This is part one in a series of excerpts from an interview I did with the high-achieving sailor, olympian and coach. FREE BOOK – TIPS FROM SAILING LEGENDS Brett: Doggy, because the interview is primarily about weather and how to use observations to run a race day or regatta strategy, can you tell us how sailors who are looking to get better should go about g ..read more

  I interviewed National and World champion Aussie sailor Roger Blasse about preparing for a race or regatta and parts of that chat are reproduced below. Roger has won 11 National and 2 world championships in the OK class and is a front-running competitor in the International 14’skiff class. He is also a past commodore of the Black Rock Yacht Club in Melbourne Australia, serving many years in various committee positions. Success is the icing on the cake and if you ask Roger why he continues to compete he has said that the real reason is not to win things but because of all the friends th ..read more

I have copied below parts of an interview I did with Rob Brown on Strategy and Tactics Rob is one of Australia’s absolute sailing treasures and a regular nice guy. Rob is one of those special sailors who has done more than most of us could ever dream of achieving in our sport and is completely humble and down to earth. He has sailed everything from 18’skiffs where he was a world champion to being a crew member of Australia 2 when they won the America’s Cup in 1983. In 1984, Rob was awarded one of Australia’s highest accolades, the Order of Australia Medal. The award for “Outstanding Contribut ..read more