How to sail faster than your compatriots? How to round the mark first and find a breeze to keep you ahead? All around America, sailors are planning strategies to overcome the limits of their waterlines and finesse the right of way to tack ahead of the competition. Andrew Sims and J H Peterson capture the excitement of competitive sailing around the world and brings great races together in Sailing to the Mark 2019. Races and locations featured in the 2019 calendar include:
Badpak leads the Pac 52 fleet across San Francisco Bay at the Rolex Big Boat Series. This four-day event is widely considered to be the West Coast's most competitive regatta.
With a J/22 World Championship at stake, fighting is intense for space at the windward mark. More than 1,550 boats in 65 fleets across the globe have made this class a favorite for racing sailors.
Competitors at the Star Bacardi Cup enjoy ideal conditions on Miami's Biscayne Bay. For more than 90 years this regatta has attracted some of the world's best sailors.
J/111s under asymmetrical spinnakers race down Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. In only seven years the J/111 has become the world's largest 36-foot, high-performance sailboat class.
The crew on a 29er concentrates to maintain control in a fresh breeze on Michigan's Lake St. Clair. This two-person, high-performance sailing skiff is popular with younger sailors and is raced at World Sailing events.
Performance Handicap Racing Fleet class boats head to the next mark at Bayfield Race Week. This five-day event, sailed around Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, features both round-the-buoys and distance racing.
The competitive Melges 20 class chases the breeze downwind at Charleston (RI) Race Week. This one-design puts on a spectacular show when the breeze is up.
Lightning-class sailors at their North Americans try to find the best line to the windward mark. This popular one-design celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.
The Capri 25 fleet always draws a large turnout for the Thursday-night races on Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka. Of the more than 100 boats competing in the Wayzata Yacht Club's multi-class summer series, almost a quarter are Capri 25s.
International One-Design sailors compete for position at the World Championship at Northeast Harbor, Maine. Designed in the 1930's, IODs were the first class awarded International Classic Yacht status by World Sailing.
Express 37s head downwind on San Francisco Bay during the Rolex Big Boat Series. The September event is noted for delivering sailors a great and consistent afternoon breeze.
Tamarack and Kaos II cross tacks at the Boothbay Commodore's Cup. During Maine s brief summer season, the Gulf of Maine Racing Association organizes more than 30 events between Casco Bay and the Penobscot.
