List of products by brand Fernhurst Books

Targeted at the club sailor, The Laser Book covers the techniques and skills needed to succeed in Laser sailing, for those starting out through to those striving to win their Club Championship. 

Bryan Willis’ Racing Rules Companion is the invaluable pocket reference guide to the essentials of the racing rules, updated for the latest 2021-2024 Racing Rules of Sailing.

Optimist Racing is written for those sailors, parents and coaches who are looking for success in this competitive class. In it you will learn what it takes to win, including how to achieve blistering boatspeed through technique and tuning, perfect boat handling and tactics as well as covering the mental and physical requirements for success. There is also a section for parents and coaches describing how they can best support their young sailors.

Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion, Paul Goodison, explains why this book is important if you want to win races. He says: “To win sailboat races you need to sail the boat fast. This comes down to hours on the water training and tuning – there are few shortcuts to hours of practising on the water.

Out of all the explanations for why a sailor has lost out on a race, an unforeseen change in the wind and the weather is by far one of the most frequent. Whether a bad windshift; the non-occurrence of a sea breeze; or being becalmed, the weather has a huge impact on racing. However, it is not hard to turn these problems around. This handy guide has all you need to work out the best way to use the wind to your advantage and boost you up the fleet.

Rules in Practice has been the best-selling guide to the racing rules for the last 40 years. Now, in its 10th edition, it has been updated for (and contains in full) the 2021-2024 Racing Rules of Sailing and features a brand new chapter on the luffing rules and how they are being applied. The latest rule changes are also described, along with their impact on you as a sailor.

A compact, handy summary of the key things you need to know to start racing or refresh your knowledge: the perfect quick reference guide to keep in your kit bag.

The book covers all the racing essentials: courses, rules, the start, beat, reach, downwind, mark rounding, finish, protests and flags in a highly illustrated format making it easy to understand at a glance – ideal for those moments when you need an answer, and you need it fast!

Splash-proof and spiral bound, this little companion stands up to frequent use and serves as a great aide-memoire that will fit into your pocket or kit bag.

Sir Ben Ainslie won his first two Olympic medals (silver, then gold) in the Laser Class. After winning the gold medal he wrote down the secrets that won him that medal in this book. This new edition is published to mark the 20th anniversary of that first of his four Olympic gold medals. It features a brand-new introduction by Ben reflecting on his victory 20 years ago.

It is the only how-to book that the world’s most successful Olympic sailor has written and so, while he and the Laser class have moved on, this is the only place where you can gain access to Ben’s skills and thought process. It is an invaluable guide on how to perform at the top of the Laser class or, indeed, any single-handed sailing dinghy.

Team racing is fast and furious. It places a great deal of emphasis on teamwork, boat handling and rules knowledge. It is a fun sport in its own right and a great way of learning to become a future champion.

Packed full with diagrams to illustrate the text, this companion describes the most useful moves around the race course, and the key rules that govern such moves. There are then sections on how to slow and how to overtake; how to win the start and how to control the final beat; the best routines for practising; how to develop as a team, from beginner to champion; the process for umpired sailing; and team roles, and how to make sure everyone enjoys playing a full part in the team.

Modern braided ropes have transformed sailing with incredible strength from ever smaller thickness. They are a godsend to the racing sailor who is always looking for strength without additional weight.

The nature of these ropes requires different techniques to join them together or make eyes to attach to fittings and this is where this book comes in. It provides a guide to the different types of braided ropes – where to use them and how to splice them for typical uses on a racing sailboat.

It provides clear easy-to-follow photographs and is splash-proof and spiral bound, which means that it is perfect to take into the dinghy park or onboard and use where you need to do your splicing. It lays out flat, so you don’t have to hold it open as you follow the sequences with ropes in your hand!

The Laser was launched just over 50 years ago and has now been renamed the ILCA dinghy and moved to multiple licensed builders. To reflect this change, the leading book on Laser Sailing since 1979, The Laser Book, has now been renamed The ILCA Book. In this latest update, it has also moved from a single author, with ILCA guru, Jon Emmett, joining the original author, Tim Davison.

Since the development of the International Moth into a fully foiling dinghy there has been an explosion in the popularity of the class with some of the world’s top sailors competing in it and many others enjoying the exhilaration of ‘flying’. However there is no doubt that it is a challenge to learn to fly a Moth and other designs are being introduced which are easier to sail and provide foiling opportunities for less dedicated, larger and less agile sailors.