Verified source list
Every source below was fetched and checked on 8 September 2026. The numbers are the tags used throughout the book and do not change between versions, so a tag in the text always points at the same source. Sources a chapter's writer added while drafting are listed at the end of that chapter instead.
A. Governing documents: racing rules, class rules and event documents
The documents that decide what is legal and how a series is scored. These are the only sources in the book that are binding; everything else is explanation.
S1 World Sailing, Racing Rules of Sailing 2025-2028 (with changes to 20 April 2026).
S2 RRS Appendix P (rules P1 to P3).
S18 World Sailing, Rule 42 most common breaches, 49er and 49erFX.
S3 World Sailing, 49er Class Rules, effective 1 October 2026.
S4 Paris 2024 Sailing Notice of Race, Amendment 3.
S5 2025 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions.
S6 World Sailing, Paris 2024 scoring.
S7 World Sailing, LA28 schedule.
S8 Sailweb, LA28 medal-race formats, 21 November 2025; Pathway2Podium, New Olympic sailing format approved for LA28, 6 March 2026.
B. The boat: class information and licensed builders
Published specifications and set-up material for the 49er. Where the builders disagree, both figures are given in the text and neither is silently preferred.
S9 World Sailing 49er class page.
S10 Mackay Boats, 49er specifications.
S11 Ovington Boats, 49er specifications.
S12 Ovington 49er Owner's Manual (US Sailing copy).
S13 49er class tuning page.
S14 49er class, design elements.
S15 49er class, Get Started.
C. Physics of sailing: aerodynamics, hydrodynamics and the rig
The mechanism behind sail force, resistance and rig shape. Used for cause and effect, not for 49er numbers.
S19 Anderson, The physics of sailing, Physics Today, February 2008; MIT 2.972, How a sail boat sails into the wind.
S20 Gladstone (North Sails), Upwind Sail Power.
S21 Gladstone (North Sails), Understanding Twist.
S22 Gilbert, Twist due to wind gradient.
S24 Faltinsen, Hydrodynamics of High-Speed Marine Vehicles, excerpt.
S32 North Sails, How to tune your rig.
S33 Flynn (Quantum), The effect of rig tuning on trim and performance, SpinSheet.
S34 Dellenbaugh, Mainsail Trim.
D. Boat speed, apparent wind and sailing modes
Sources on apparent-wind sailing, trapeze technique and mode selection, including the two skiff sources whose figures were written for other classes.
S23 SailZing, Understand leeway.
S25 Hughes, Proper Trapeze Technique, Sailing World.
S26 Yachting Monthly, Apparent wind.
S27 Ingham, Optimizing wind flow across your asymmetric, Sailing World.
S28 Ingham, Changing your apparent wind, Sail1Design.
S29 Yachting World, Stu Bithell on asymmetric trim.
S35 Skiff Squad, Starting tactics in the 29er.
S36 aus9ers, Julian's skiff tips.
E. Meteorology: wind structure, local effects and forecast models
National meteorological services, university course material and sailing-specific meteorology, plus the resolution of each forecast model named in the book.
S38 ECMWF Forecast User Guide, section 9.3 Surface Wind.
S39 Penn State Meteo 3, friction and the surface wind.
S40 US Sailing, Sea Tactics (Carlson).
S41 SailZing, Cloud strategy (Carlson).
S42 University of British Columbia ATSC 113, local winds.
S43 ILCA UK, Wind Strategy by Houghton and Campbell (extract).
S44 PredictWind, Marine Meteorology 3: Clouds.
S45 ECMWF, IFS Cycle 48r1 resolution.
S46 NOAA EMC, GFS documentation.
S47 Météo-France CNRM, AROME.
S48 Met Éireann, HARMONIE-AROME.
S49 Geoscientific Model Development 19, 933 (2026).
S50 SailZing, The spectrum of the wind (Bethwaite).
F. Waves, sea state, current and tide
Wave physics from oceanographic sources, and the current material that the tactical chapters rest on.
S71 NOAA JetStream, waves.
S72 Roger Williams University, Introduction to Oceanography, chapters 10.2 and 10.3.
S73 TU Delft, Coastal Dynamics (Bosboom and Stive), wave dispersion.
S74 University of British Columbia ATSC 113, breaking waves.
S75 US National Weather Service Key West, significant wave height.
S76 NOAA National Weather Service, Sea State guide.
S77 Sailing World, Shifting gears for waves (Horton and Powlison).
S67 Perry, There Is No Lee-Bow Effect.
S68 Yachting World, Ben Saxton on light winds and tide.
S69 Jobson, Working the current boost, Sailing World.
G. Tactics and strategy: the coaching literature
The established coaching sources for starting, upwind and downwind tactics, mark roundings and risk. Cited for principles and for the few figures they publish.
S51 Dellenbaugh, Speed and Smarts toolbox: Upwind Strategy; Upwind Tactics; Downwind Strategy; Downwind Tactics; Smart Basics; Starting Strategy and Tactics; Mark Roundings; Covering Upwind; Percentage Moves; Take Control; Weather, Wind and Current.
S52 Dellenbaugh, Windshift rules of thumb, Sailing World.
S53 Dellenbaugh, Ladder Rungs Part 1 (Sailing in Canada).
S54 Dellenbaugh (WindCheck), Don't lurk in wind shadows; Avoid bad air from other boats.
S55 Dellenbaugh (US Sailing), Watch out for other boats' wind shadows.
S56 Baird, Speed in the wind shadow, Sailing World.
S57 Gladstone (North Sails), Downwind Tactics.
S58 Benjamin and Perry, Guide to tactical gate roundings, Sailing World.
S59 Hunt, How to gain at the gate, Sailing World.
S60 Hunt, Downwind finishes with asymmetric spinnaker, Sailing World.
S61 SailZing, Finishing strategy.
S62 SailZing, Racing Strategy Choices (Walker) review.
S63 SailZing, Downwind strategy checklist.
S64 Yachting World, Dylan Fletcher on starting.
S65 The Favored End, five ways to determine the favoured end.
S66 The Final Beat, transits or line sights.
H. Performance data, instruments and race analysis
Tracker and instrument specifications, the metric definitions used in the book, and the published analyses of 49er and 49erFX racing.
S16 49er class, Gold Fleet Analytic Round Up, Day 3 (2015 Europeans).
S17 49er class, SAP Sailing changes post-regatta routines.
S30 Gutiérrez-Manzanedo et al., GPS to assess an Olympic regatta: 49er and 49erFX classes, Journal of Navigation 78 (2025).
S37 Sailing World, A data-driven race winning formula (49erFX SAP study).
S78 SAP Sailing Analytics, leaderboard API documentation.
S80 Sailmon MAX technical specifications.
I. Coach education and athlete development
Federation syllabus material, used to check that the book's topic coverage matches what coaching programmes treat as required knowledge.
S70 Deutscher Segler-Verband, Ausbildungskonzeption Trainer Segeln, September 2023.
S81 Sail Canada, CANSail 6 checklist (Kingston Yacht Club copy).