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On The Bookshelf By William Wallick Race Winning Strategies by Tom Linskey Race Winning Strategies is a humorous and insightful look at sailboat racing. You get to ride along with Deep Dakron, the struggling club racer; assisted by Scratchen Sniff, his steady tactician; and their trusty crew: Lisa Quick-Cam, the Mumbler, and the Kid. With expert advice from sailmaker extraordinaire Kent McBatten and the yacht club know-it-all Zig Zag Brooke, it makes for an interesting composite of characters that you may recognize as having sailed with or raced against. Author, and noted sailor, Tom Linskey has put together a very informative book that is also an easy read. Most chapters are 2-3 pages long, and are usually good for a couple of tips. The style is humorous without grating on you the way some lighthearted attempts do. Part One contains five chapters relating to skippers and crews (Skipper Confidential; Crew Confidential; How to Steer Your Skipper; Specifically Speaking; and Don’t Look Now). Part Two contains nine chapters relating to wind and water (Sniffing Out the Shifts; Don’t Look Back; Puff Paranoia; Hot Air; Red Light, Green Light; Beggar’s Banquet; Really, Truly Conned; Prediction? Reaction!; When the Pressure Is On - and Off). Part Three contains thirteen chapters relating to strategy and tactics (The First 300 Seconds; Strategy? Or Tactics?; Sniffing Out the Odds; Do the Bright Thing; Cover Your Assets; How to Be a Nuisance; The Heartbreak of Layline-itis; Take Your Medicine; Current Affairs; If A, then B - and C, D, E, and F; Life in the Passed Lane; Climb Out of the Passed Tense; Go for the, uh, Gold?). Part Four has five chapters relating to sails and sail trim (Sails Talk; Speed a’ la Mode; Why Johnny Can’t Point; Chute to the Top; That Fluttery Feeling). Part Five contains nine chapters on starts, marks, and rules (Start Getting It Right; Line Call; Whither End?; Troublestarting; Partners in the Waltz; Turning Points; Text, Lies, and Videotape; Text, Lies, and Videotape: The Hearing; Breaking the Code). Part Six concludes the book with nine chapters on head and heart (Grinning Is Everything; Winners Never Sleep; Grow Up and Win; Back to Your Future; Good News That’s Fit to Print Out; Luck! Or Skill?; Greeeeed; Ask Doctor Dakron; Quivering Heights). I think all level of racer would enjoy this book, and certainly get a chuckle out of a lot of the chapters. For the beginning/intermediate racer there is a boatload of practical information to be had, and it’s presented in a most palatable manner. RECOMMENDATION: This one goes On the Bookshelf. William Wallick wallick@concentric.net Race Winning Strategies by Tom Linskey is published by Sheridan House. Copyright 1995. Price: $17.95; Paperback: Available from Amazon Books; major bookstores everywhere or contact Sheridan House Inc., 145 Palisade Street, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522. Back to Features |