Guidance on becoming the best sailor I can be

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Time Theory

Even though my sailing instructor said that I was good to go, I don't consider myself a "sailor". I have yet to obtain the necessary skill set that I think would justify me in calling myself a sailor. Strange right? Sometimes I think the word Sailor is used in vain.

Back in 2008, I took the ASA 101 class but did not pursue any sailing after that which was a huge mistake. Currently I read and read about sailing, and scope out this forum. Hopefully one day I can call myself a sailor.

Sailors are a dime a dozen.. aim at being a good seaman.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Time Theory

Thank you all for the Excellent Advice. It is truly greatly appreciated. What I think is fantastic is the age of the top two racers in both the MC Scow's and the Flying Scot fleet's. One is 75 and the other is 77. To see them sail is like an artist painting a portrait. It's like they know where the wind is before it even exist. I would give just about anything to be like them.

If they are racing on their home course or race courses they have been racing on for many, many years, they probably do know about what the wind will be doing and where in most any condition which gives them a huge advantage over a new sailor/racer

To race one of these guys and win, about all you can do is get the lead at the start and cover then don't make any tacking/gybing mistakes

And don't split tacks unless you know for sure what the wind is doing

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Time Theory

There are two types of members at this club. The cruisers and the dinghy racers. From what I have seen so far is that the dinghy racers sail their boats three times a week. The cruisers very seldom take their boats out at all. I don't understand this? The cruisers already have have their boats in their slip ready to go so there is no need to hook up the trailer (like the racers do) and launch from the boat ramps.

That seems to be the case most places. (when are not near popular cruising areas) The most boats sailing locally are usually the racers

This could be due to the race scheduling or just the fact that in racing there seems to be something that each skipper wants to try differently for each race which is a great motivator.

Then there's the competition, tension, and excitement, some folks just like to compete and experience all this.

Check out the Sailing Anarchy Form sometime which is geared toward racing and watch how those guys go at each other and argue boats

When I was racing hard, the cruisers would be at the dock working on their boats when I left and still working on them at the end of the day when I returned

They were usually planning/preparing for a certain cruise or two each season plus a few day sails

Then some cruisers just enjoy being around their boats and tickering a bit which I also find to be fun/relaxing.

I might even buy a second boat which is an old racing boat (1972 Viking 33 PHRF 141) bring it back to decent condition while using my present boat, and then making it my number one and maybe racing distance from time to time.

I say racing distance because to be good at buoy racing you have to practice with the same crew and most folks just don't have the time for that especially those 60 and over

[thomm225]

And speaking of old guys racing, there are quite a few still racing these A Class Catamarans.

They are 18' long and must weigh at least 165 lbs. Most are carbon fiber these days . They are mainsail only and have daggerboards. (lifting boards nowadays)

The older folks are still racing because they are still winning. It takes years of experience to compete with them.

They start showing a few of them about a minute or so into this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XO3ENVSuSM

[Don C L]

If you were in my neighborhood I'd say come sailing with me, and you can borrow my helmet! I'm 61 too but I've been at it a while. Still, nothing about 61 that should hold you back as long as you are still somewhat flexible. I'd say find a mentor, and that mentor may be a teenager, I don't know. (I learned A LOT from one particularly gifted teenager many moons ago.) Just find someone who is willing to take you out and sit back and let you do it all. It should be a small enough boat that you can feel the responses and acceleration and really have FUN, and yet big enough that 2 of you can move around easily. I'm thinking of something like a Victory 21 perhaps. Once you get what's going on in your gut, all that reading suggested will have A LOT more meaning to you.
I think you'll find there are folks or kids around who'd be happy to take you out to get you started. I know that I always enjoy sharing it with anyone who is genuinely excited to learn.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Your 61 so are making a late start into the boating world, personally, speaking as a non competitive person I would say forget the racing idea.. its valuable time wasted which could be better spent taking a keelboat sailing course and boat hunting and buying your 30-32ftr to go cruising.
Leaping around dinghies is for the younger folk and not needed experience for the cruising life where everything moves at a slower pace.. I have never raced in my boating life but still gained the ability to push a boat to its max when I get the urge..

I think for the goals of the OP this is good advice. Get out on a small day sailor as much as you can, learn the mechanics of sailing and general boat handling, then get to your 30 footer sooner rather than later.

That said, being a racer does make a better sailor out of you. But for purposes of cruising, it's only useful up to a point. Once you have mastered the mechanics of sail trim, course plotting and lay lines, and localized weather effects pretty much all you gain from extended racing experience is strategy that is applicable only to racing itself.

I sailed a Flying Scot for 20 years as an occasional day sailor. It is in fact a very easy boat to single-hand and would be a good choice as a learning boat before moving up. They have been made since the sixties, are easy to restore and maintain, and can be picked up for a reasonable amount.

[barnakiel]

To become the best thing you can be (a very noble target in fact - stick with it!) you need to do the following:


- start early,
- exercise a lot,
- make mistakes,

- learn from mistakes.


Other important factors will be:


- make sure you do what you like (otherwise you will not exercise a lot!),
- learn some meta skills up first - e.g. using the mistake-feedback-repeat loop,



Be warned, there is a lot of (self censored word omitted here) - urban legends, or, if you will, lore, drifting around - ideas that are not true, but repeated ad nauseam at Facebook and Twitter and Instagram (and social forums .....) like, say, that you need to do something for 10.000 (10k) hours to become fluent. Etc. It is smart to skip this lore / urban part (pay wide berth to heaps of hipster rubbish, I think so they say).



Being 5 y.o. and racing an Opti under the watchful eye of a master coach is probably the happy minimum optimum. As long as you keep it up till you are about 25 (sure, evolving to bigger and different boats over time). Some alterations are possible - for not all CF members are 5 y.o. (even though at times you will doubt this).



My biased advice is also this: ALWAYS try to sail and compete with sailors who are BETTER than you are. Getting better implies a lot of learning fast, and this is only possible when you are learning from the best.


Aim higher. Make mistakes. Reload.



Cheers,
b.

[Lake-Effect]

I'm in/around the median age here, too.

We are still looking for a larger boat, but one of the things that keeps us enthused about our current 19' microcruiser is that with its 300 lb keel its stability is yacht-like, but its responsiveness is lively and fun. A blast to singlehand, too. Fun to sail and dirt cheap to own. I sail a lot; certainly more than most of the cruisers at our club.

It's been a great size of boat for building skills on as well. It's helped me be better crew on larger boats. Together with two other couples who also own the same type of boat as us, we've now bareboated on a 41' monohull, and sailed it fast!

I've sometimes crewed for races on other boats... but it's not my favourite way of being out on the water. Great learning and camaradarie, though.

[thomm225]

First off, read this book then try and figure out whether you are a racer or a cruiser. You can probably get it for a couple bucks on amazon or Ebay

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-95898-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKKvBfE88YY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf6ydmgW2VE

I've been trying this cruising thing now for 8 years (after racing for 15 years) and I have learned a lot, but it is very slow paced. If you make a mistake anchoring or navigating, you can lose or heavily damage your boat

I day sailed today. It was nice but the winds were somewhere between 16 knots and 3 knots and my cruising boat is totally easy to handle in these conditions. When it's gusting to near 30 knots is when I really enjoy it …….on this boat

If making the boat go where you want it appeals to you and living off the grid, then cruising is the answer, but if you want to see if you can match the skill of others then racing is where it's at

But it does take time to learn.

[JPA Cate]

@Time Theory:

Now that some time has passed since you got hit on the head by the boom, figure out why that happened. Did the skipper "know" that you knew he was about to tack? Why you weren't aware what was about to happen? Usually, the skippers I sailed with would say, "the helm's going down....tacking!" or gybing, but there was plenty of warning. Skippers would call for "weight to windward" or leeward. It is something to remember when you are skippering a boat of your own, the communication has to be there for *things* to happen when they should. Sailing our own cruising boat, we still announce "tacking" to each other. Think processes through before you execute them.

Something to consider, is wearing a helmet. Some people use them all the time. We never have, but Don C L does. The hardness of the hit from the boom on a 30-32 ft. keel boat will be a lot harder than the dinghy's. Other things to be aware of: avoid getting hit by the s/s rings in the clews of sails, let the spinny pole come to rest on the forestay before you unhook the sail, so the pole doesn't leap forward and strike your face, if you're sailing singlehanded.

There are many joyful moments sailing. It is worth pursuing. Just remember the sea doesn't care for your welfare--you have to do that.

Ann

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

@Time Theory:
Something to consider, is wearing a helmet. Some people use them all the time. We never have, but Don C L does.
Ann

I don't wear it ALL the time! I just have it handy for when I think I MIGHT need it... and then I will cuz that big hit I took (from falling, not a boom) left me with only one brain cell and I'm not sure it was one of the better ones.

[DreamCatcher37]

“Never let anything mechanical know that you are in a hurry.“

Adapt daily and fine tune situational awareness.
Nail them and you’ll be a good sailor and seaman.

Bryon

[Time Theory]

You folks have provided me with a text book full of valuable knowledge and I cannot thank you enough. I think there maybe hope for me yet to become a skilled Seaman / Sailor.

When the boom hit my head I was solo on an MC Scow. I accidentally jibed the boat to avoid a collision. One of the racers in the fleet wears a helmet. I think it would be wise to wear one especially on this type of boat.

This past Saturday I was scheduled to crew on a Flying Scot. Since there was no wind the race was cancelled. The Skipper and I still went out to practice. One thing we did was to raise the rutter out of the water and steer by using the sails only. It was interesting to do that. I wonder if that would work on a keel boat?

Thanks Again

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Time Theory

One thing we did was to raise the rutter out of the water and steer by using the sails only. It was interesting to do that. I wonder if that would work on a keel boat?

Thanks Again

YOu bet! But the response will not be as immediate. Still works though and a great thing to practice. That skill came in handy for a big boat I was on once that lost its rudder!

[TrentePieds]

Depends on the boat. In old-fashioned boats that is, in fact, how you steer, or at least keep them on a steady wind-course. Modern boats don't really permit it. The reasons for that are complex, and you needn't worry about them at this stage. You'll learn them as you gather experience in cruising boats.

TP