DVD review: Higher and faster

With popcorn in hand Toby Heppell looks at the latest offering from the team behind 'Higher and faster'

The team that brought us the ‘High Performance Sailing’ DVD, Higher and Faster, are back again and this time they are turning their considerable expertise to the start line.

As all racing sailors know the start is perhaps the most important area of racing and this DVD aims to take you through the entire process, from checking line bias to how to deal with committee boat bargers.

Before watching the DVD we had a pretty major worry about it. What concerned us was it is clear that there is never going to be the budget to make the most tightly edited video nor can people who are experienced in front of a camera give you proper insight into start line technique as very few of then are great sailors. Because of this we were concerned that the production could come across as amateur.

In a way this is all true - it is clear that some of the people on camera are not entirely comfortable and although Harvey Hillary does a good job of effectively presenting the video there are moments where he could be better. However, none of this actually matters at all because, wisely, the creators have clearly decided that it might come out that way and have made an effort to make the whole thing a bit tongue in cheek. There are the sorts of joke typically associated with embarrassing dads - like the compass section where someone offers a pair of compasses to the camera and Hillary wittily chips in with “not that kind of compass.” The whole thing is done in an almost self-effacing style that comes off brilliantly.

Aside from being, at least for us, laugh out loud funny the DVD is also very informative, interesting and well presented. Viewers are taken through all the major start disciplines through a number of different sections: Set Up, Flags, Positioning, Gate Starts, Boat Handling, Usual Suspects and Coaching Tips. Each of these sections are broken down into sub categories, too numerous to mention but all highly specific and detailed.

At one hour and ten minutes it is not too long but we felt certain that it is better to watch specific chapters rather than the whole video in one go as this can be a bit of an overload, especially for the less experienced sailor. For the more experienced sailor we would advise skipping some sections like the section on flags which is diverting enough but is unlikely to hold any new information. In fact for the experienced sailor the DVD, although interesting, should probably be used as more of a recap of ideas than something that is going to teach you lots. We did, however, find some useful little titbits we had not thought about before. Many of these ideas some people will already know and some people will not. For example there is a great bit of advice that Hillary gives pointing out as a last resort if you loose a start line transit then you can always look at the eye line of whoever is sighting the line on the committee boat. Probably there are people out there who do this but we found these little bits of info great for the experienced sailor.



As previously mentioned the production crew seem to be aware of potential flaws in the DVD and for the most part these are easily sorted by bringing some humour to it and making it fun. However there are moments when this cannot be done like when sailors are miked up and talking us through a start process. Obviously it is hard to talk about any subject for a long time and not have some sort of pause - listen to BBC radio four’s ‘Just a Minute,’ but there are moments when it is clear the sailor is trying to fill space and does not have a great deal to say. This is particularly obvious in the ‘Transits’ section where we are being talked through the pre-start. Hillary is in a Laser with four other Lasers on the start line and he talks almost non stop for a whole minute about how he is looking at his transit. This is good for reiterating how important transits are but we did get a little bored and did not want to hear the word transit for a long time afterwards. Of course we are being fairly picky and would like to mention that it is still done very well but this was the one real issue we had.

The first two thirds of the DVD are amusing in their own right and certainly do a lot to teach a sailor the basic principles of start line technique but the last third is, in places, downright hilarious. Specifically funny is the ‘Usual Suspects’ section where sailors are lined up in a faux identity parade with names like ‘Boat Barger’ or ‘Pin Pusher’ and show on the water what their crime is and how other sailors can prevent it. This is actually very useful and informative but Skandia Team GBR member Lizzie Vickers’ mean criminal face was so funny that we had to rewind and watch again. Just before this section there is a genuinely fantastic piece involving a bet as to whether Kier Clarke, a member of the team, can sail a Laser round a tiny swimming pool that is just over a boat length wide. To find out whether he can or not you will have to buy the DVD.

Most of the video takes place in two environments. The first is in a Laser SB3 where much of the preparation instruction takes place; things like how to get and use a transit are covered here. The other is in a small fleet of heavily branded Lasers where the ideas and concepts are put into practice. This system works very well as a teaching tool and is of particular use to the less experienced racer but the Laser sections are visually more fun to watch than the SB3 where it is just one boat.



The Higher and Faster team have followed up the successful and impressive ‘High Performance Sailing’ with another superb sailing training video. We would not hesitate to recommend it to all but the very top level of racing sailors and even then it would be a handy recap tool to own. It is light hearted and witty but manages to stay informative and useful and is a cut above the rest of the market in just about every way.