5 Accessories to Improve Results

If you don’t have a watch you can’t win. The importance of being on the start line when the gun goes is one of the main factors to winning a race. Both helm and crew should have a proper watch designed for sailing. Optimum time make a superb large face watch that can not just be used on your wrist but also be mounted to the hull or spars.

Often an obvious one but equally often overlooked. A burgee or wind indicator sits on the top of the mast and points into the direction of the wind. When trying to determine the best sail trim and course to your next mark they provide vital information quickly and are easy to read

The tell tales give you fine tuning information when setting your sails and also help you steer the boat more efficiently. They can be easily made by cutting wool to approx 12cm lengths and stuck to your sails with a small circle of spinnaker tape.

As the world gets more complicated it seems like sailing instructions do too! You can get small stickers to put inside the boat with a list of flags popularly used in racing. If the sailing instructions mention a flag you aren't familiar with it’s very quick to check the sticker saving the guesswork

How can a notebook improve your racing, you may wonder? By writing down how you setup the boat, wind conditions on the day along with a few short lines on the race and what can be improved you will take an exponential jump in performance. When you write things down they are retained better and you learn faster. As a bonus you have a record of valuable information to go back on at any time.