Five expert tips for two-boat tuning

Two-boat tuning is a huge part of any Olympic campaign; medalist John Gimson shares some trade secrets with Andy Rice:

Before he specialized in foiling catamarans, John Gimson was long-time tuning partner to Iain Percy and the late Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson in the Star keelboat, playing a key role in helping them win gold and silver medals at the Beijing and London Olympics. Two-boat tuning is a critical part of any serious Olympic campaign, a proven tool that is surprisingly underused outside of the very top echelons of the sport.

“Two-boat tuning massively speeds up your learning curve,” says Gimson. “You get much quicker feedback on your performance compared with just sailing by yourself.”

In an Olympic campaign in a highly technical boat like the Nacra 17, Gimson estimates they spend almost half their time engaged in tuning. The benefit comes not just in improving the technical speed of the boat. – Full report