Helpful reading
This section contains reading materials of interest that Port Townsend Rigging finds to be very helpful in managing and maintaining your boat.
• Illustrated Sail and Rig Tuning
by Ivar Dedekam
Sail trim and rig tuning made easy, both for experts and novices. In this book the author distils those rules of thumb and theories pertaining to sail trim and rig tuning commonly agreed upon among the sailing community. 80 pages with more than 150 particularly descriptive colour illustrations giving an interesting, easily accessible introduction to the art of trimming sails and rig.
• Sailpower: Trim and Techniques for Cruising Sailors
by Peter Nielsen
Written by the editor of Sail magazine, whose extensive experience includes competition in long-distance ocean races, Sailpower is a thoroughly detailed instructional to effectively operating a sailboat. Color photographs illustrate the how-to, step-by-step advice for setting up the rig, controlling the mainsail, trimming the mainsail and headsail, handling reefing systems, coping with strong winds, troubleshooting, and much more.
• Skene's Elements of Yacht Design
by Norman L. Skene
One of the most famous books on yacht design. First published in 1904, it was revised several times. This book is intended to be a practical and concise presentation of some of the operations involved in designing yachts of all types. Cumbersome and impractical methods which are so often found in more pretentious works on naval architecture have been avoided. Those presented have been in everyday use by the author. This book is a must for boat designers and yacht builders. Contains 30 black & white photos, and 182 line drawings. Skene (1878-1932) was a foremost American yacht designer of his day.