This is primarily a book for intermediate cruising sailors. That is to say sailors who already know that the front of a boat is called the bow and the back is the stern but are still slightly unsure, under duress, which side is port and which starboard. You may not mind broadcasting this by wearing those shoes with red on the left one and green on the right or having different coloured jib sheets on either side. However, you probably recognise that you must move on and, if so, this is just the book for you.

Not only will it clear up once and for all the port/starboard question but it will introduce you to new ideas like larboard, baggywrinkle, granny bars and gribble. It will also guide you on, for example, when it is appropriate (and even expected) to comment publicly on the shortcomings of other members of the crew and when it is right to insult the helmsman. You will also be introduced to some of the iconic figures of sailing: Bill Tilman, Blondie Haslar and Hiroshi Aoki are all here to improve your confidence in those late-night discussions at the bar.

If you are absolutely certain about the names of the sides of the boat then you are surely an advanced sailor and could believe that you would be wasting your time reading on. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are there helpful hints on the CollRegs (you’ll come across them eventually) but you will find some more abstruse topics like schadenfreude, hubris, batteries, the Royal Yacht Squadron and the French.

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Available on Lulu.com and Amazon as paperback and ebook

Published for us by Lulu.com ISBN 978-1-4466-4238-2

ABAFT TO ZEITGEIST by Bill Winlove