# Is learning to sail hard? Tips and advice?



## aimcat (May 2, 2010)

My husband and I are new to sailing - had power boats for years and want to give sailing a go. Is sailing hard to learn and teach yourself? We dont have anyone on our lake that we know that could teach us so we wanted to teach ourseleves. We are thinking of either getting a Hunter 22 or a RL24. Is it possible for us to teach ourselves? Or does that sound crazy?! Haha. Thanks any tips and advice are much appreciated!


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

I read a lot and taught myself to sail many years ago. Had been out a few times on other people's sailboats, but that's about it. That said, I made a lot of dumb mistakes early on that I would have avoided if I had taken some classes. If you can take a course somewhere (make it a vacation!) that would be the way to go. 

Sailing is like a lot of sports. The basics are pretty easy, but it takes a lot of time, experience, and study to get really good at it. Even after almost 40 years of owning a sailboat I am still learning new things.


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

aimcat said:


> Is learning to sail hard? Tips and advice?


No at all. Take a few ASA lessons is much easier and then read and read everything in sailing. This will eliminate frustration and make sailing a positive experience. Good luck.


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## Piratesoul (Jun 22, 2008)

*self-taught sailing*

I learned to sail by reading, Invitation to Sailing, by Alan Brown. I would read, sail and experiment, and read more until I got it right. I also started on a small boat, 12', which helped tremendously when I moved up to bigger boats.


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## tomperanteau (Jun 4, 2009)

The wife and I bought an old Columbia 26 several years ago with the idea that we would learn to sail and then upgrade. We read, watch others, watched Youtube, talked to the old salts, and then took the boat out. We actually had our first outing the day after we bought the boat.

Research before you go out, but sailing, or at least learning the concepts of sail trim, seem to come naturally when you're out there.


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## TimofBlindSquirrel (May 21, 2009)

As a former instructor, I would recommend starting on something smaller. 16' X-Class or a Flying Scott. They are very forgiving boats and it will help you understand what is happening with your weight distribution, sail handling, and steering.

Read everything you can on sailing, but I do recommend taking a few lessons. Contact your local power squadron, community rec center, etc. If you take lessons you will fall in love with sailing. If you try to teach yourself, you may end up frustrated and not wanting to pursue it.

Good luck and have fun.


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## koconnell (May 5, 2011)

If you have never sailed before, I would suggest taking some type of class before going out on your own. After that, a 22-24 ft. boat should be a fairly stable boat to start on. If you begin in calm winds and also have a small motor on board, you will be just fine. 

I think the most important thing to realize is that you will make mistakes. Don't let them ruin your day, learn from them and move on. Good luck!


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## Bump (Aug 23, 2004)

*Learning to sail*

When I was 10 my father bought me a 10' Sailfish.After he and I rigged it (took a while as neither of us had ever been on a sailboat) we put it in the water, put me in it and I went sailing. I spent a wet and wild summer learning to get that boat from point A to someplace else but did not drown and learned to love sailing. Been doing it off and on for 55 years now, stll no lessons and now own a 28 keel boat that I dearly love. Just watch the weather, do some reading and go for it. Lessons would be nice though.


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## Cptken (Apr 23, 2008)

It depends on your personalities. If you or one of you are easily frustrated, get lessons. Trying to teach a spouse while you are learning yourself may or may not work. The concepts are pretty simple, but are different than a power boat, sometimes a good instructor is needed to make the light go on. No matter which way you try, learn from your mistakes, but stay at it. It is a life time sport that will bring hours of enjoyment. Stay safe and definitely get a motor on anything big enough to have one. Virginia summer time weather has a habit of turning nasty quickly.


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## Piratesoul (Jun 22, 2008)

If your ever in Daytona Beach give me holler, I have a business where I teach people how to sail on the water in one day....no classroom stuff


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I highly recommend driving somewhere to take 2 lessons. First, read an intro book to know the names of things aboard and, most importantly, be able to recite the points of sail. Very easy. The two lessons will have you sailing on your own without question. You may not be a racer or ready for heavy weather, but you will be able to move the boat anywhere. 

I've told this to many who find the act of sailing to be rocket science. Originally, only the most ignorant and uneducated of our population went to sea. It was extraordinarily dangerous in those old boats, with no radios, etc. They all learned to do it very well. In modern equipment, you are guaranteed success.


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## cb32863 (Oct 5, 2009)

I took ASA lessons a couple years ago. There are a few books that I think are pretty good, who knows what others will say but...

On Amazon;

Sailing Fundamentals Text book for ASA 101 - Basic Keelboat.

The Complete Sailor Lots of folks seem to recommend this one.

ASA Learn To Sail page.

There is a recommended reading post around here as well.

Good luck and welcome to sailing. Nothing quite like it!


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## smallboatlover (May 11, 2011)

lessons are the best thing you could do. ive taken them $200 for a 2 week class and we went sailing the first day of class. Try to get a 14-18' sailboat first you will be happy you did. because if you make a mistake on a boat that size you won't have the chance of killing someone or harming them. a boat that little the boom doesn't hurt as much as a 22-24' boom to the head. ive learned this first hand what a 14' sailboats boom does in light wind snapped my glasses in half and cut me up a little. starting small will be better than starting big.


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## aimcat (May 2, 2010)

Due to my situation and where I have to keep the boat since I cant really trailer it I have to get a boat that I dock at my marina. Maybe the 22 would be better? I would love to have one of those little West Wight Potters but they are too much. We are going El Cheapo for first boat to make sure we like it! Have been watching many many many youtube videos, will also get into reading those books suggested. Problem with lessons is closest lesson place is 6 hours from us. Ive checked and checked.


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## rawsonnut (Sep 18, 2006)

The biggest problem with teaching yourself is knowing what is "normal". The first time you get to a 15 degree heel you will swear that you are going over. I have seen people scare themselves so bad that they never want to sail again when nothing was wrong. Having said this I taught myself many years ago and I am still unlearning some of the lessons. Drive the six hours, make it a weekend away or something. It will pay for itself in the long run.


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

Is it hard? Oh yeah hardest darn thing I ever did...
Wait a minute you asked about SAILING not quitting smoking:hammer 

Learning the basics of sailing is not hard, mastering the intricasies is proving downright impossible. I should start approaching mastery in another 30-40years at the pace I am going. No hurry though, this is sailing, not offshore power boat racing.

If you can at all manage it I reccomend taking a weekend vacation to take lessons. Stay in a nice hotel the night before classes start and a night after they finish if you can. Six hours isn't too far to go for a sailing vacation IMHO. Heck really do it up and go someplace further afield for lessons if your situation allows. 

Have fun!


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

Piratesoul said:


> I learned to sail by reading, Invitation to Sailing, by Alan Brown. I would read, sail and experiment, and read more until I got it right. I also started on a small boat, 12', which helped tremendously when I moved up to bigger boats.


Great book. If it is the same one I'm thinking of, it was around back when I learned to sail as a kid. My folks taught sailing and would give that book to their students. BTW, that was about 45 years ago.

Dave


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## SJ34 (Jul 30, 2008)

Depends on how particular you are. To be good enough to get a boat from point A to point B can be achieved in a couple of outings or a lesson or two. I've been sailing most my life and I'm still learning. 

One of the things I enjoy most about sailing is that there's always something to learn and a better way of doing just about everything.


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## richardbur10 (May 12, 2008)

I still say the only real natural law of sailing is that you can't sail directly into the wind. Other than that everything is pretty simple. Learn what the names are of the different points of sail, the parts of the boat, the lingo of sailing (lines vs. ropes, sheets, halyards, shrouds, stays, fore, aft, port, starboard) and the rules of the road as regards right away and then go sailing. You can get most of that out of a book but it helps to go out with a knowledgeable sailor first. After that there is years of learning the finer points of sail, trim, wind shifts, tactics in racing (all sailboats going in the same direction are actually racing), wind conditions, weather, navigation, etc. Once you have the bug it can become a way of life.


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## Piratesoul (Jun 22, 2008)

It is the same book dhays, and it is still in print. Brown has the gift of simplifying learning for the novice or the "no-nothings". Aimcat, if you have the opportunity to learn on a sunfish, you will be way ahead of the curve when you move to bigger boats. I say this because to become a real sailor, you have to "feel" sailing, not just learn the basics, which is what a small boat will do for you. I speak from experience: I started on a (8-10ft)? snark when I was 12yrs old, and worked my way up through numerous bigger boats, until 41yrs later I settled on (for now) an Irwin 33'


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## richardbur10 (May 12, 2008)

I had a Snark one time also. I had almost forgot about that boat. I put a broom handle in the mast to make it a little stronger and just screamed across the lake. Light enough to toss on the roof of the car and take anywhere.


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## WDS123 (Apr 2, 2011)

Get a dinghy like a Lido 14 or even a Sunfish - Cost lese than $1k


Mess around, get wet, learn to capsize and right yourself - once you taught yourself These skills then go and buy a keelboat.


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## tomperanteau (Jun 4, 2009)

rawsonnut said:


> The biggest problem with teaching yourself is knowing what is "normal". The first time you get to a 15 degree heel you will swear that you are going over. I have seen people scare themselves so bad that they never want to sail again when nothing was wrong. Having said this I taught myself many years ago and I am still unlearning some of the lessons. Drive the six hours, make it a weekend away or something. It will pay for itself in the long run.


Subjective, as you have pointed out.

Some people feel one thing and some feel another. Its's dependent on the person.

I say buy a cheap boat, research, take her out, listen to those that have gone before, and learn on your own.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

Go buy your boat say a Catalina 22 or Hunter 22 and find someone with sailing experience to take you out the first time [ or two ] to show you the 'ropes'.

As others have said getting from A to B under sail is not rocket science.

Most useful tip I got "shorten sail the FIRST time you think about it".


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## HopefulRookie (Jun 12, 2011)

My wife brought me home (Sailing for Dummies). I have found it very informative.


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## [email protected] (Feb 16, 2017)

Piratesoul said:


> If your ever in Daytona Beach give me holler, I have a business where I teach people how to sail on the water in one day....no classroom stuff


Tom, are you also the guys that rents his sail boat at the marina over night. My husband and i are really exploring a sail boat. If so we would like to meet up. Debbie


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

Given that this thread is 6 years old Tom might have changed his name and joined the resistance since then.

By the way also bad idea to post your phone number in a forum... not saying don't but, you may want to remove that.


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## Yamsailor (Jun 7, 2006)

Find a good sailing school with good instructors--best way to learn.



aimcat said:


> My husband and I are new to sailing - had power boats for years and want to give sailing a go. Is sailing hard to learn and teach yourself? We dont have anyone on our lake that we know that could teach us so we wanted to teach ourseleves. We are thinking of either getting a Hunter 22 or a RL24. Is it possible for us to teach ourselves? Or does that sound crazy?! Haha. Thanks any tips and advice are much appreciated!


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

Like Bump, taught myself to sail on a Sailfish that I built from a kit when I was 12. Sailing is all about learning how to take the best advantage of whatever the wind gives you. The smaller the boat, the more responsive it is and the more sail and boat trim effect performance. Expecting an adult to jump on a Sailfish or other similar vessel for an entire summer is not realistic but renting one for a couple of days and doing some intense practice solo would be a good way to start. Beyond going out and doing it, devoured every book on sail and boat trim, boat set up, sailing and cruising I could find. So far it's worked for thousands of miles of sailing on both coasts, SoPac and Hawaii. 

I know you love your husband but for your own learning would suggest you sail solo as much as possible. My wife never really understood how to make the boat move under sail even after several thousand miles sailing with me. On her own initiative or possibly self preservation took a short sailing course from the town when we were getting ready to head for SoPac. A short two weekend course in Sabots made a world of difference in her understanding and ability to sail our boat.

As others have said, littler is better to learn on. Might think about buying a Sabot, El Toro, Opti or other small sailing dinghy for practice. Can use it as a tender for your bigger boat when you have one. Many yacht/sailing clubs/associations have acting racing fleets if you really want to hone your sailing skills. All of these boats are small enough to fit on even a 20' cruiser.l


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## Towguy (May 8, 2016)

Hey Roverhi,question ..is there anyone or outfit that would do some sailing lessons in kona,we hope to get to hawaii this winter again,wife wants to go to maui again ,friends there ,but I would like to see the big island,and can't find any lessons on maui..Oahu I think is out ..not going to a city ..to many people's there I think..,I would like to learn how to handle around a 26 footer like my s2 7.9......Ralph


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

Is it possible to learn to sail yourself? That depends.....

Are you millennials? No probably not. :-( You need 6 years of training, first aid training, ASA 1007 certs and the entire internet to learn from 

If you are GenX...yes, but its not easy so most quit after a couple years.... and sell their boat for $500.


If you are the Greatest generation = hell yes...just get out there and put the damn sails up! 60 footer ketch? No engine? No problem!!


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

Alicia Starsong teaches sailing on a Cal 20. She seems to go out regularly. Believe she has access to a 30 footer or so if you wanted to practice on a larger boat. Google her or get in touch via facebook. I'd take you out for a few beers as I'm not licensed but also not a professional instructor though have played one on TV occasionally.


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## Towguy (May 8, 2016)

Thankyou ..I love going down to the docks,so I will try to find you ,beer in hand,Mmm long board...and Kona coffee,doesn't get any better.course that's if we can shake loose this year??..just had 1st calf so?? Who knows will be there next year for sure..have a wedding in maui and onto the other want to go to the big island I will look up Alicia starsong.......Ralph


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

*Re: Learning to sail*



Bump said:


> When I was 10 my father bought me a *10' Sailfish*.After he and I rigged it (took a while as neither of us had ever been on a sailboat) we put it in the water, put me in it and I went sailing. I spent a wet and wild summer learning to get that boat from point A to someplace else but did not drown and learned to love sailing. Been doing it off and on for 55 years now, stll no lessons and now own a 28 keel boat that I dearly love. Just watch the weather, do some reading and go for it. Lessons would be nice though.


That's funny. My dad gave my younger brother and me a Sailfish for a summer when we were in the bahamas for a short summer. He was running a construction project and we had the vacation of our lives.
We dumped that boat tons of times, used it as a platform when finding interesting things along reefs, and found lots of lobster with slings.
The boat dumped when gybing in anything over a breeze..so I did roundies.
Never took a class until my 30s when some charters/rentals wanted ASA cert.

Learn really fast on something small.


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

What about us nearly boomers???



Sal Paradise said:


> Is it possible to learn to sail yourself? That depends.....
> 
> Are you millennials? No probably not. :-( You need 6 years of training, first aid training, ASA 1007 certs and the entire internet to learn from
> 
> ...


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Sal Paradise said:


> Is it possible to learn to sail yourself? That depends.....
> 
> Are you millennials? No probably not. :-( You need 6 years of training, first aid training, ASA 1007 certs and the entire internet to learn from
> 
> ...


:wink

Well, speaking from the GenX group I actually think sailing is pretty easy. It's not hard to understand the basics and get the boat going more or less in the desired direction. As long as you can tell where the wind is coming from, and have a basic grasp of how the world works (physics), I'd say most people can learn to sail pretty quickly.

Now &#8230; getting really _good_ at it takes a lifetime . This is what makes sailing such a fascinating way to travel, and to live.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

According to the history books, I am in the "Silent Generation" category. I learned to sail on a 27 Catalina sloop that was a derelict I managed to pick up for $2,000 in Baltimore. It had 5 sails, 3 of which were new and never used, a beat up A4 and was filthy inside and out. I had it towed to Bay Boat Works in North East, Maryland, where I worked on it for 3 months to get it back in shape, during which time I took a sailing course at the local community college. It was a 4-day course, one in the classroom and 3 on the boat. I was able to attend the first and last day of the course because of work conflicts. 

When I finally got the boat's engine running, I ventured out, raised the main sail and the engine was shut down. From that point on I was on my own and managed to get through the day without killing myself or anyone else, traveled about 30 miles, and docked the boat without hitting someone else's boat.

The jib on the cat was a hank on system, which I changed because I knew that most of the time I would be single handing the boat. This cost me about $700 from Alado, and by far it has been the best roller furling system I've come across. I sailed the Cat for about 5 years, several trips down the Chesapeake and back, then decided to step up to the plate and get something large enough to live upon, my current boat, a Morgan 33 Out Island. Love the Morgan, it handles very, very well, sails like a dream, no effort in some of the worst weather conditions, very comfortable to sail and live aboard, which I did three years ago when I ventured to the Florida Keys.

Sailing, at least to me, is not rocket science. It's just a matter of setting the sails properly to the angle of the wind that makes the boat move forward. I'm not a racer, and if I wanted to go real fast on a boat, I would have bought a hydrofoil. 

Good luck and enjoy that boat to the fullest,

Gary


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## Heller Gregory (Jun 3, 2016)

Sailing is all about wind, make sure you know where the wind is @ all times. Head into the wind to raise your sails, fall off & go! Look up youtube videos on sail trim, you especially want to be careful in a downwind & smoothly gybe so the boom doesn't nail you. 

Even though it's just raising two sails and finding the wind, be prepared for everything to go wrong. You always want enough speed to have rudder


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## Towguy (May 8, 2016)

Heller Gregory said:


> Sailing is all about wind, make sure you know where the wind is @ all times. Head into the wind to raise your sails, fall off & go! Look up youtube videos on sail trim, you especially want to be careful in a downwind & smoothly gybe so the boom doesn't nail you.
> 
> Even though it's just raising two sails and finding the wind, be prepared for everything to go wrong. You always want enough speed to have rudder


Mmm,like the first time out with my c/l 16 ,on a windy day..the rudder shears off,and my son and I learned to steer with just the jib sail,after many circles..exhilarating,didn't dump her and we got to a different boat launch lots of lessons learned(plastic backup paddles are useless)....Ralph::2 boat:


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## twoshoes (Aug 19, 2010)

A life-long friend of mine, former stinkpotter turned avid sailing-crew after one day out on my boat, made an analogy that I'm sure has been made by many others in the past....

Powerboating is like playing checkers, and sailing is like playing chess. While in order to play chess all one requires is to know how the pieces move, it takes a lot of experience to get good at it.


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## br3nt (Mar 28, 2009)

Sailing is easy, docking on the other hand...


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## livinzlife (Oct 8, 2012)

br3nt said:


> Sailing is easy, docking on the other hand...


As a novice sailor, this is the truth! Learning to sail... it's great to get out and practice, find a spot that's not too crowded, start with reasonable weather conditions and don't stray too far from "home".

I suppose the same is true for docking - practice practice practice - but damn it always seems like there's an audience at the dock.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

aimcat said:


> My husband and I are new to sailing - had power boats for years and want to give sailing a go. Is sailing hard to learn and teach yourself? We dont have anyone on our lake that we know that could teach us so we wanted to teach ourseleves. We are thinking of either getting a Hunter 22 or a RL24. Is it possible for us to teach ourselves? Or does that sound crazy?! Haha. Thanks any tips and advice are much appreciated!


Sailing is pretty easy and much easier than the "how to sail" books make it sound. Now sailing well is harder than just sailing, but the difference really isn't all that much except to someone who believes themself to be a racer.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

It's easy to say sailing well doesn't matter when you fire up your diesel everytime you encounter a narrow channel, a counter current, unfavourable winds, need to dock or maneuver in a busy Marina or harbour or your speed drops below 5 knots. But that isn't sailing is it? It's motoring.

When you fire up your engine during a race your disqualified. If every time a cruiser fired up their engines they were disqualified you'd hear a lot fewer of these comments.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

typical response by someone who thinks that because a cruiser is OK with using their engine that it means they can't sail


sailing is easy, if you don't think so it means you probably haven't done a lot of hard things


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

If it's so easy, what percentage of your trip from Boston to the Bahamas did you travel under sail alone?

If it's not because it was too hard, then what was the reason you motored as much as you did?

Enquiring minds want to know. We want to learn from the sailing experts who are "out there doing it"?

Sailing that is, this is a sailing thread.


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## ColoGuy (Jan 7, 2010)

The questions is "Is learning to sail hard?" Merely learning to sail is one of the easier things. Learning to deal effectively with the myriad of possible challenges takes a long time. 

It is, like so many other things, a matter of perspective. This particular board may tend to look upon anything less than ~1000 hours to be "greener than grass." 

The internet is often not a place for beginners to sharpen their skills. The internet is the king of the pissing match.


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

It is like everything else, you get out what you put into it. If you are diligent in study and apply what you learn in a constructive manner on a boat with sails in breezy water you will either "sail or swim." How hard that is depends on your own judgement of what constitutes "hard" or "easy".


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## Steve513 (Apr 5, 2017)

Your idea is not crazy at all. I was like you once in that growing up we only had powerboats, never had any interest in "blowboater" stuff. Bought our first sailboat about 15yrs ago now I wish I had bought one sooner.

Here is my advice and some things I wish someone told me;

1. If you have a basic grasp on boat handling, docking, etc... skip paying for lessons. Buy some sailing books and study them, learn sailboat nomenclature. 
2. Do not learn to sail on a dinghy, they are harder to sail than big boats. My Cal 31 is easier and far more forgiving to sail than my first sailboat, Oday 222. 
3. Do NOT even think about going out if the wind is over 15knots until you have some sailing time under your belt. The boats you have mentioned will quickly overwhelm you in high wind conditions. Look for days where the wind is 8-10knots. More wind doesn't always equal more fun. 
4. Reef early!!!


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

Not only is the thread six years old, the original poster hasn't posted since then.

Too bad. Great thread for anyone thinking about sailing...


I do find it interesting that most of the suggestions are pretty obvious (read a book, watch a video, take a lesson)... to the point of didn't everyone do that?

I bought a LoneStar 13 in the early 80's. I had read sailing magazines and the boat shop set me up with a 20 something boat guy (I was a younger 20-something) who showed me how to rig the boat and a 25 minute sailing lesson.

After that some books, but mostly out sailing. Learning things like, if you are not paying attention to the wind forecast, sail up river, so you can drift home.

I don't have any friends that sail, but that seems like it would be the best way to learn... or find out you don't want to sail.

I had a couple friends go out with me once, basically, we sailed 200 yards so we could dock at a bar and say we sailed there. In hindsight, one guy had been around boats his whole life, jumped on the boat and said: "let's go" 

Ironically that caused the boat to rock and the other guy (who didn't know how to swim) started (and never stopped until we trailered the boat) sweating. I think to this day he gets nervous on a car ferry. 

Like a lot of things, the best way to find out if you like something is to do it.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

livinzlife said:


> As a novice sailor, this is the truth! Learning to sail... it's great to get out and practice, find a spot that's not too crowded, start with reasonable weather conditions and don't stray too far from "home".
> 
> I suppose the same is true for docking - practice practice practice - but damn it always seems like there's an audience at the dock.


same is true with trailering. I always get nervous when I show up at the launch and there is a line up.

of course practice would make sense, but it seems to be the least interesting aspect of sailing, second by docking. That is, practicing makes sense, but I always want to get out on the lake, not spend an hour in the parking lot


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

Sailing must be pretty hard indeed, the OP hasn't posted since 2011.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

SHNOOL said:


> Sailing must be pretty hard indeed, the OP hasn't posted since 2011.


Maybe s/he found out how hard sailing is...

.... the hard way


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