Sailing Books

Book Review: The Saga of the Sarie by Buster May From the outset let me say that this is an exceptionally well written book which is crammed full of interesting anecdotes, stories, feats of seamanship and much more. Interestingly the book was written in 1964, but as May could not find a publisher, he abandoned it in a cupboard. After his death in 1998 it was found by his son Dave who decided that the story was too good not …

by Graeme Joffee Review by Richard Crockett In his introduction the author says that “Sport has been my life”. One can see this clearly when reading the book and seeing what he has done in sport, from being a player to being a media man. Personally I don’t know the man, but have read and listened to him over many years, and always found him to be a great journalist. Being so inter-twined in sport, it’s hardly surprising that he …

Book Review – by Richard Crockett Nautical Works by Jacques Devaulx Published by Taschen It is not often that when one opens a book one’s breath is taken away! This book is one of those that piques the interest from the outset as it is beautifully packaged, beautifully presented in every way and printed on sumptuous eco-friendly paper too. It has a WOW factor that simply escalates as one pages through this coffee table tome which is liberally illustrated in …

Mirror Sailing from Start to Finish by Peter Aitken & Tim Davison This book tells you everything you need to know about sailing the bermuda and gaff-rigged Mirror. Packed with practical advice and illustrated with step-by-step photographs, it teaches you how to sail the UK’s most iconic and best-loved dinghy – there are over 70,000 of them. Learn all the essentials, from sailing theory and rigging to faster upwind and downwind sailing and the fundamentals of racing. Whatever your standard …

SAILING has a massive library of books for sale – with the oldest dating way back to 1863 (yes, 1863!) – covering almost every single conceivable subject on the sport from anchoring to yarns. Authors include Bernard Moitessier; Uffa Fox, Sir Francis Chichester; Erick Hiscock and many, many more. If you are interested in buying some books, please send an email to: sailing@iafrica.com – and you will be sent the full list as an Excel file.

Book Review. SAIL & Rig. The Tuning Guide. By Magne Klann & Øyvind Bordal Published by Fernihurst Books Info & Orders HERE This book is ultimately the complete guide to sail trim and rigging to make the boat sail faster and safer. With hundreds of colour photographs and illustrations throughout, the text is concise and precise, divided into sections to make it easy to find exactly what you need. Research was carried out with professional riggers, sailmakers and elite sailors …

Book Review. Multihull Seamanship by Gavin Le Sueur Published by Fernhurst Books Orders & Enquiries HERE This book has been one of the most popular books SAILING Books has ever had as multihull sailors are starved of good info on this aspect of their boats and the sport. This new volume has been updated and republished in a completely different format – now a smaller more user-friendly sized book. The sub-title is an A-Z of Skills for Catamarans & Trimarans. …

Book Review Knox-Johnston on Seamanship & Seafaring by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Published by Fernhurst Books Orders & Enquiries HERE It is fitting that this book has been published just days before the Falmouth Parade of Sail for Suhaili and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Sunday 14 June. On 14th June 1968 Robin Knox-Johnston set sail from Falmouth to take part in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race – the first, non-stop, single-handed sailing race around the world. He was an unknown …

Tactics to Win by Nick Craig Published by Fernhurst Books Orders & enquiries: books@sailing.co.za Gold medallist Saskia Clark writes in the Foreword to this book: “Boatspeed is what most sailors concentrate on because, if you are faster than the other boats, you are going to win! However most top boats in a class go at pretty much the same speed, so sailing a shorter distance than your competitors, or in less disturbed wind or waves, are also vital ingredients to …

Exposed. The Dark Side of the America’s Cup. By Alan Sefton and Larry Keating Published by Bloomsbury Orders & Enquiries from: books@sailing.co.za There has always been a massive amount of intrigue as to the real inner workings of the America’s Cup and the authors of this book exposes much of that. Alan Sefton is a former yachting journalist and publisher who has been following and covering the America’s Cup since 1980. Larry Keating built a strong interest in America’s Cup …

Sir John Franklin’s ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror’ Expedition Lost & Found by Gillian Hutchinson Published by Bloomsbury For history buffs and those fascinated by the North-West Passage, this book has it all in terms of expeditions, history, intrigue, human endeavour and indeed the jubilation and revelations of wrecks being found almost 170 years later. The 1845 expedition to the Arctic, commanded by Sir John Franklin, was the largest, best-equipped expedition that Britain ever sent north – yet it ended in tragedy. …

Published by Bloomsbury Review by Richard Crockett I have for many years now I have firmly believed that the term Rogue Wave is far preferable to that of Freak Wave. It’s simply because Rogue Waves do exist, that we have to be aware of them, and that there is nothing ‘freaky’ about them. We now also have a pretty good idea as to how they are formed. To quote from the book: “To be a true rogue wave, a wave …

                                The author needs no introduction as he has, for decades now, produced the finest guides for cruisers, including ‘World Cruising Routes’, ‘World Cruising Destinations’ and ‘World Voyage Planner’. Cornell is not a man who sits back and writes about cruising. He gets ‘down and dirty’ and goes out and does it – hence the title of this book. With 200,000 nautical miles experience, he …

Sub head. The First Visual Guide to Marine Diesel Systems Diesel engines are the single most problematic issue many boat owners face. Not because they have specified the incorrect engine, but simply as there are many aspects that can go wrong. And things do go wrong. This book describes issues in a very clear and simple manner, and shows one how things work, how to select, install, maintain & troubleshoot. Most “engine” trouble can be avoided by using quality components, …

An A-Z of Boat Names Good and Bad. By Jonathan Eyers review by Richard Crockett Boat names are something we all have different thoughts on. Some we love, some we hate and at others we simply shake our heads in despair as they are quite simply embarrassing. Good ones are very rare. One also needs to remember that a boat name could affect its resale value as some people are superstitious enough NOT to want to rename it. What I …