Learning to Sail Questions

[chhe]

So I want to buy a sailboat suitable for sailing around the world, but I don't know how to sail, and I have never been on a sailboat before. Is it possible to teach oneself to sail by just playing around with the sailboat on the water and reading a book like Chapman's "Piloting Seamanship & Small Boat Handling" or is that impractical? Does one really need formal lessons from a sailing school or can you really just teach yourself how to sail by playing with it on the water? Also, what book does one need to read to learn how to circumnavigate the globe?

[barnakiel]

If you are a complete null, I would suggest one (or more) of the following:

- join a racing crew,
- join a basic summer sailing course,
- hire a pro tutor to get you thru the basics fast (-er).

Overall, before you sail rtw, you will want heaps and heaps of on the water hours and some in-class hours (e.g. basic navigation, VHF cert., etc).

It all starts by learning to control a sailing boat in all sorts of weather.

Small steps, one at a time.

Cheers,
b.

[OldFrog75]

Welcome to CF.

More than one way to skin a cat as they say but I'm an advocate of instruction - at least the basic ASA 101 or equivalent.

Racing is the best way to learn about sail trim but I would encourage you to do both. Unless they are just looking for rail meat, racers will appreciate you more if you at least know how all the controls work.

[moctrams]

I bought a book call "SAIL Power" (https://www.amazon.com/Sail-Power-Co.../dp/0394727150) and sailed a CAL 29 from Annapolis to Flag Harbor. That was over 30 years ago and now sail a Cape Dory 30 cutter. The info still applies today.

[SFS]

The week before my dad taught me to sail, I checked out a book from the library and read it. Didn't make much sense to me. I told my dad I was concerned, he said not to worry it would make sense on the water. I had the basics down in the first 30 minutes.

Having said that, this was in a 10 foot sailing dinghy. Nothing bad was going to happen in warm water on a sunny summer day. We capsized the boat (on purpose) a LOT to learn how to right it, and to learn where the limits were.

My point is twofold: a) learn to sail in something small, where the boat, wind, and water will teach you quickly. Things happen quickly in a small boat, but the are almost never remotely serious, as there is not much to break. b) Books can expand your knowledge, and are important for that reason, but you need to spend time on the water, actually sailing. Lots of time, lots of sailing. You will learn something every day, even 40 years from now.

Seek out opportunities. Join a club, crew for racers, ask for rides, takes lessons. Don't be in a rush to buy a boat that will circumnavigate - you would have to be extremely lucky to buy the right boat the first time. Good luck.

[savoir]

There's been a lot of this going around through the past month.

A word comes to mind . . . . . .

[michaelratinter]

In addition to Chapman's, buy a copy of Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes. Then get out on the water with experienced sailors. If you are near San Francisco, California, USA send me a private message (PM) and you can sail with me.

[reed1v]

The vest book for beginners, and for experienced sailors, is Richard Henderson's book Single Handed Sailing. Gives all the pointers, the type of boats, etc. Excellent for beginners for it gives a complete overview of the sailing endeavour. Well written.

[pyroray]

Originally Posted by SFS

The week before my dad taught me to sail, I checked out a book from the library and read it. Didn't make much sense to me. I told my dad I was concerned, he said not to worry it would make sense on the water. I had the basics down in the first 30 minutes.

Having said that, this was in a 10 foot sailing dinghy. Nothing bad was going to happen in warm water on a sunny summer day. We capsized the boat (on purpose) a LOT to learn how to right it, and to learn where the limits were.

My point is twofold: a) learn to sail in something small, where the boat, wind, and water will teach you quickly. Things happen quickly in a small boat, but the are almost never remotely serious, as there is not much to break. b) Books can expand your knowledge, and are important for that reason, but you need to spend time on the water, actually sailing. Lots of time, lots of sailing. You will learn something every day, even 40 years from now.

Seek out opportunities. Join a club, crew for racers, ask for rides, takes lessons. Don't be in a rush to buy a boat that will circumnavigate - you would have to be extremely lucky to buy the right boat the first time. Good luck.

I like this answer, I would like to add, I been at it for nearly 35 years, I wonder a lot about going... really going!!! Am I ready? Will I really like it once I'm out there? Is it really what I want, if my wife won't go? I think all the answers are yes.
I have an opportunity to crew for a couple of months I think that's an awesome opportunity I can't pass up.

[jheldatksuedu]

Buy 3 or 4 books on sailing, read everything you can find. Learn on a small boat with a lateen rig, then move up to a sloop with jib. You can teach yourself, with books and experiment (I did, but then I'm a physicist/engineer and jack of all trades) but it would probably be faster with a teacher. After you master small boats and have sailed in all kinds of winds, (I would say it took a couple years of summer weekends in Kansas for me) then find somebody with something bigger than 20 ft and spend a few days with it. I never sailed on anybodies boats but ones I bought at yardsales, everything from smaller than a sunfish up to 16 foot catamaran, probably 8 different ones and then bought 5 windsurfers and really enjoyed that for a while. Finally I decided it was time to do some real exploring and bought a 30 ft on eBay in Ohio and after spending a couple months getting it ready and outfitted, I headed for the Bahamas via the inland waterways. 3 boats later and I'm planning to circumnavigate.

[Sdwcheney]

In 1965 I was put on a Sunfish, told to use the rudder to steer, and pull on the main-sheet until the boat was moving. Took me one hour to sail out to middle of lake and back. After two weeks I was sailing all over the lake.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by chhe

So I want to buy a sailboat suitable for sailing around the world, but I don't know how to sail, and I have never been on a sailboat before. Is it possible to teach oneself to sail by just playing around with the sailboat on the water and reading a book like Chapman's "Piloting Seamanship & Small Boat Handling" or is that impractical? Does one really need formal lessons from a sailing school or can you really just teach yourself how to sail by playing with it on the water? Also, what book does one need to read to learn how to circumnavigate the globe?

The short answer is yes. Not knowing where you are from, if you have a small lake of bay near you, it might be a good idea to buy a sailing dinghy and learn that way. As mentioned before, you may want to buy a book or two first. This way your initial investment will be small and if you feel it's not for you, you can sell the dinghy. But if you do fall in love with the sport/hobby, you can use the 8' dinghy as a tender for what ever boat you decide to buy down the road. Good luck.

[Three Sisters]

Then you may need to apply all the nautical terms to

direct your crew(sometimes yelling)

Nautical Dictionary, Glossary and Terms directory: Search Results

[Pendragon35]

Originally Posted by Sdwcheney

In 1965 I was put on a Sunfish, told to use the rudder to steer, and pull on the main-sheet until the boat was moving. Took me one hour to sail out to middle of lake and back. After two weeks I was sailing all over the lake.

This was pretty much my experience, except it was 1964. No one in the family sailed. We moved to a small lake in SE Michigan; parents bought me a Sunfish, I got a copy of the little green book, Royce's Sailing Illustrated. Took me a couple hours but I figured it out.
The common thread about "figured it out from a book", though, is we didn't go out and buy a big boat, we started on something small. No docking, no worries about an engine, one sail to handle.
What you're proposing--to buy a bluewater boat when you know nothing?--that's sort of amazing to me. Why? How do you know you'll like it? Personally, after 50 years of sailing, I now sail an Alberg 35 on the Chesapeake. Certainly (with a rigging refit) she could make a transatlantic trip--but I'n not sure I could.
So good luck. But my suggestion would be to start small: learn the basics, get good at them, get a small trailerable boat, learn about anchoring, docking, THEN move up. Meanwhile sail on other people's boats, learn what you like.
Best wishes

[tgv62]

same situation as me but i don't own a boat yet. So i start following lessons for yachtman next month and as from februari with a mate of me, with plenty of sailing knowledge and experience, we go hiring a boat for a full week; after that i follow a beginners course of 1 week in a sailing club, then i do the second course as helmsman and then the third course as skipper. Then we go hire a boat again for a week and at the end of next year, i'll start to look out for a boat.