Thread: Learning to Sail.

I taught myself, a few swims but the VJ was unsinkable so we then learned how to get it up again, all good fun. The water police brought us home a few times but they had nothing else to do anyway. One time they asked my mother to stop us going sailing for a while but she never did. I think the overriding concern for new sailors once it gets going is what to do next as the thing has no brakes!! Nothing beats being on a 3/4 reach in a really quick boat out on a board or trapeze to keep it trimmed flat, brilliant! I will never do it again but I can always dream and remember.

I taught myself to sail many years ago with the help of two books details below. Once i had some of the basic concepts reasonably mastered I went on to the occasional weekend sailing school course (in UK many more opps there).

I wish you luck but beware the bug will get you and there's no escaping it. Have fun wear a life jacket fall out of the boat, tip the boat up that's how to learn.

Best book I found "This is sailing Richard Creagh-Osbornbe Published by Macmillan

"Sailing a programmed learning course - Gerry Smith published by Barry and Jenkins

Best of luck

The act of making a boat go by mother natures breath, is fairly easy to pick up and quite intuitive initially. You'll over trim and learn to let go of the sheets, when you get scared quickly enough. With some practice, you'll build confidence, without ever having read a thing about the process. This said, to sail well is a whole different story. This requires some training and lots more experience. A book or two will help in this, but a good instructor will make the biggest and quickest improvements in your abilities. One of the best ways to get this experience and instruction is to serve as crew on a racing dinghy. You'll learn quickly, though it is a bit of luck which skipper you end up with, if you just volunteer at the local sailing club, which are always looking for bodies to fill out their rosters.

As a kid I sailed for a few years without a single bit of instruction. It came naturally to me and then I got old enough to crew for some weekend racers, which opened up a whole new world of adjustments and things to look for. I learned how to read the water, the subtle adjustments on each sail, to get the best shape for the given wind strength, etc. Some of the most important things I learned were racing tactics and light air boat handling.

So, if you really want to learn, just go out and do it. If you want to become good, sail only on days when there's very little wind. Anyone can make a boat go pretty well in 8 - 10 knot breezes, but the good sailors can make the best of a zephyr and this trait separates the men from the boys on race day. I can't tell you how many times I've clobbered a competitive fleet on very light air days. I learned in light fluky winds and had a sympathetic skipper teach me light air techniques. Simply put, if you can get the boat to do what you want in 1 - 2 knots of wind, you're going to kill them in 10.

In the end, you just need to get out there and have fun. You'll figure it out soon enough and before long you'll be refining your skills.