Sailing Lessons

[Goislands]

Beginning the process of learning to sail with eventual goal of boat ownership and eventual cruising the Caribbean.

Based on research so far, leaning toward Cat over the monohull.

Have had only minimal sailing experience but plan to gain a lot of experience over the next few years, local lake, close to San Diego, and Fasttrack to Cruising sometime later this year.

If I move forward with plans for a Cat - do we all learn to sail on monohull? ie. ASA 101 basic keelboat, then continue learning on monohull before the jump to a cat? are most sailing schools teaching on mono's?

Any advice and resources would be great help in the early research stages.

Thx!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Goislands

Beginning the process of learning to sail with eventual goal of boat ownership and eventual cruising the Caribbean.

Based on research so far, leaning toward Cat over the monohull.

Have had only minimal sailing experience but plan to gain a lot of experience over the next few years, local lake, close to San Diego, and Fasttrack to Cruising sometime later this year.

If I move forward with plans for a Cat - do we all learn to sail on monohull? ie. ASA 101 basic keelboat, then continue learning on monohull before the jump to a cat? are most sailing schools teaching on mono's?

Any advice and resources would be great help in the early research stages.

Thx!

Hola GoIslands,

I've been an ASA instructor since 1994 and run a couple of my own schools. I've taught the full range of ASA classes, including ASA 114 (Cruising Catamaran) many, many times. Currently taking a break from the sailing biz.

Yes, The ideal boat to learn on is a small monohull. Think of it like a small responsive car -- you get a better feel for what the boat is doing so more feedback on your actions at the helm. A larger cruising boat, be it cat or mono, is less responsive so not ideal for initially learning to sail. Smaller cats, like the Hobie 16, tend to be a little quirky to sail so are not the ideal boat to learn on initially (although thousands have -- including me). ASA 101 is required to be taught on a small monohull. The prerequisite classes (101, 103, 104) for ASA 114 (Cruising Catamaran) are all monohull oriented classes. The focus of ASA 114 is on the key differences between mid-sized (approx 35-50') cats and monos.

The more boats you can sail, regardless of number of hulls, before deciding to buy your own the better because it gives you broader experience on which to base your own decisions.

Loads of ASA schools in CA so you should not have a problem finding a school.

Enjoy!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Hola GoIslands,

I've been an ASA instructor since 1994 and run a couple of my own schools. I've taught the full range of ASA classes, including ASA 114 (Cruising Catamaran) many, many times. Currently taking a break from the sailing biz.

Yes, The ideal boat to learn on is a small monohull. Think of it like a small responsive car -- you get a better feel for what the boat is doing so more feedback on your actions at the helm. A larger cruising boat, be it cat or mono, is less responsive so not ideal for initially learning to sail. Smaller cats, like the Hobie 16, tend to be a little quirky to sail so are not the ideal boat to learn on initially (although thousands have -- including me). ASA 101 is required to be taught on a small monohull. The prerequisite classes (101, 103, 104) for ASA 114 (Cruising Catamaran) are all monohull oriented classes. The focus of ASA 114 is on the key differences between mid-sized (approx 35-50') cats and monos.

The more boats you can sail, regardless of number of hulls, before deciding to buy your own the better because it gives you broader experience on which to base your own decisions.

Loads of ASA schools in CA so you should not have a problem finding a school.

Enjoy!

I absolutely agree with starting with a smaller monohull. my first boat was a 25' sloop with an 8' beam. She was tender and did everything I told her to do, no matter how stupid it was. She taught me well.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I absolutely agree with starting with a smaller monohull. my first boat was a 25' sloop with an 8' beam. She was tender and did everything I told her to do, no matter how stupid it was. She taught me well.

Yes, good example. I mostly use a Hobie 33 (33' x 7' beam) to teach for the same reasons -- extremely responsive.

[gjordan]

Make sure your instructors teach you proper anchoring skills as well as proper sailing skills. More boats are lost to poor anchoring skills than are ever lost to poor sailing skills. 2 cents worth of advice.___Grant.

[Eleven]

The type of boat isn't really relevant, it's like a van or an open top sports car to learn to drive. All the skills are very similar. Mono's give you a better idea of how hard the winds blowing, they lean, a cat goes faster. A mono has odd reversing characteristics, a cat (especially twin drive) has different manoeuvring agility. Often very different.
Safe Sailing, navigation and general awareness are the skills you really have to learn. Each boat will have it's own quirks that a good sailor will soon understand. Classroom navigation, especially one to one (or the two of you) will be very good value.