Tom Whidden and Michael Levitt’s legendary reference work on the art and science of sails has received a complete and well-researched update
Our sport of sailboat racing is complicated. In fact, there may not be a sport as detailed, nuanced and, dare it be said, perplexing. The sheer difficulty of moving up the learning curve in sailboat racing surely has to be one of the reasons why our sport seems reluctant to grow.
For those who sail below the professional crewed level, a short time on a fully crewed boat, whether it be an Etchells or a Maxi 72, will drive home this point. To steal a line from a golfing ad, ‘these guys are good’. Clearly, the skills of these pros result from years of experience. It is their job. So what is the amateur sailor to do?
The same question would be asked of a rookie intending to climb Everest, or of someone about to train for their first marathon. The answer in the case of all three examples is to learn and understand the foundations of the sport. One of those foundations is the sail, the engine of the sailboat. Tom Whidden, CEO of North Technology
46 SEAHORSE
Group, with 40+ years’ racing at the highest level of the sport, and Michael Levitt, co-author and author of 13 other books focusing on our marine world, have expanded on this key foundation of racing and just plain sailing in their The Art and Science of SailsRevised Edition. For those sufficiently old enough to remember, it was in 1990 that Tom and Michael published the first edition of The Art and Science of Sails. Since so much of sail technology has changed since then, Tom knew that a new edition was necessary. But, as work commenced, it quickly became clear that this book could not simply be just a
Top: looking back at rig and sails just from leeward shows the negative
effects of tip vortex. This is a RANS code CFD analysis showing what happens at the top of a conventional mast sailing upwind.
Circulation, (left) oft mis- understood, seldom accounted for, is critical to upwind performance. This book explains in depth both why and how circulation works and its significant contribution
The new testament
revision. In essence, it’s a new take on the complex subject of sails. Yet it’s not just about sails. It’s as much about why and how sails work – aka aerodynamics – as it is about how today’s sails are designed and built. That said, if you’re talking detailed, nuanced and perplexing, aerodynamics is already as tough as it gets, rivalled only by hydrodynamics, the effect on sailboat performance of the water flowing past the hull and appendages.
Since it’s important to attract the reader to complex subjects, The Art and Science of SailsRevised Edition is also a fine-looking full- colour production with numerous beautiful photographs of our sport, illuminating illustrations and some history both of sailmaking and their materials. It’s why this book will appeal equally to the beginner and the seasoned professional sailor. However, it’s the aerodynamics that is the heart of this book. The vast literature of this subject seems pulled to the extremes – often so
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