Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Though I've sailed most of my life, I'm a beginning racer. I believe I must be pretty much the target demographic. The DVD does start with an overview of sailing, though I'd think if you were brand new to it you'd be lost as it goes by pretty quick. It does give the basics of terminology and sailing -- I think if you'd done some time on the water but needed a little refresher this would be about right.
I sat through this DVD in its entirety in one session and was left feeling it was ok as far as it went, but was somehow superficial. The DVD is narrated by a guy who is engaging and clear and does a good job. He generally introduces a topic, then we get some animation showing what he's talking about. There are also many video segments, mostly of junior sailors in Lasers. The animation segments are generally quite good and demonstrate a principle pretty well. The video is as well, though sometimes it's hard to make out what we're supposed to discern from the footage.
There were some things that just didn't make much sense to me -- the one that comes to mind being the section on starts. The DVD spends quite a bit of time on something described as advanced called the dip start. I'm reading Getting Started in Sailboat Racing (which I'd highly recommend) and there are a number of starting techniques described in there -- none of which is the dip start, and none of which are covered in this video. There are some good tips on starts, largely about getting clear air.
I was also hoping to learn more about roll tacking, but we don't get that. We do learn that maintaining boat speed is important and get some information on following puffs. I thought this was good, but would have liked to get more detail in this section. I am getting the idea of seeing ripples and calm spots, but don't have a clear idea of how to move from puff to puff -- how to know (guess?) where the puff is headed, for example. Do you head for where you see the puff or where you think it will be by the time you get there? I'd really love to see a computer model showing how puffs occur and what they look like traveling across a body of water.
All in all, it's worth a look, though for the price I'd like a little more meat. The animation is good, the video helps and the selection of topics is good.
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