How does one get into sailing?

[maby]

Dinghies are a great way to start and will teach you wind awareness in ways that a yacht never can. Since you are in London, go to Queen Mary Sailing Club which is on one of the reservoirs just south of Heathrow. Frinedly place that runs lots of courses and has a wide range of boats for you to learn on. The clubhouse is nothing too posh, but will serve a wide range of things to warm you up after you have been dunked into the water several times in late November!

 

[davidej]

If you want to get into bigger boats then a dinghy, clubs that run regular racing would almost certainly have a skipper who is short of a crew member. If you are prepared to commit to a regular schedule of races, they are likely to be prepared to take on a novice.

Drive about a bit (on weekends) and visit a few clubs, talk to poeple and find out what suits you.

 

[johnalison]

Unless you are going to spend a fortune, you are simply not going to spend enough time on courses to bring yourself up to scratch and at some time you will need to get into a boat and just mess about, for hours and days and weeks. I have no experience of courses myself but I have no doubt that they can provide a useful boost and give confidence to those who need it. Some people are "naturals" in boats and some have to work at it but with a few dishonourable exceptions almost everyone can manage a sailing boat given time.

The quickest way to learn is to race, even if it is only five chaps in hack dinghies. Most folks enjoy racing, except for some contributors to these forums, and although I haven't rqced for a few years I look back on my racing years as being the most instructive.

 

[chinita]

I was simply trying to point out the absence of logic in Chinita's post based on the experiences of someone who never did it.

....and then i went on to give you the experiences of someone who did do it - Me.

Or didn't you read that bit?

 

[lustyd]

Unless you are going to spend a fortune, you are simply not going to spend enough time on courses to bring yourself up to scratch and at some time you will need to get into a boat and just mess about, for hours and days and weeks. I have no experience of courses myself but I have no doubt that they can provide a useful boost and give confidence to those who need it. Some people are "naturals" in boats and some have to work at it but with a few dishonourable exceptions almost everyone can manage a sailing boat given time.

The quickest way to learn is to race, even if it is only five chaps in hack dinghies. Most folks enjoy racing, except for some contributors to these forums, and although I haven't rqced for a few years I look back on my racing years as being the most instructive.

Actually, the reason the courses were suggested here is that it's the easiest way to start for someone who doesn't know how to sail, doesn't have a boat, doesn't live near the sea, and doesn't know anyone who sails. Although
joining a club might be nice, it's not easy in these circumstances.

 

[lustyd]

....and then i went on to give you the experiences of someone who did do it - Me.

Or didn't you read that bit?

if you're going to be pedantic you actually said you did a course 30 years ago and couldn't remember the name of it, so technically you didn't say that you did the competent crew course

 

[prv]

....and then i went on to give you the experiences of someone who did do it - Me.

Or didn't you read that bit?

That wasn't in the post I was talking about.

Pete

 

[chinita]

That wasn't in the post I was talking about.

Pete

Oh, that's ok then

 

[Lakesailor]

Most folks enjoy racing, except for some contributors to these forums,

It's strange that.
I used to be motor-sport mad and would have a go at anything, mainly at club level, karts, autotests, hillclimbs, rallies, sprints etc.
But I've never been tempted to race in boats, despite the fact that there is racing 3 or 4 days and nights a week. There's even handicap dinghy racing on Monday nights (as I speak) and I have a Solo dinghy. But it just never attracts me.
Odd, Can't explain it.

 

[ProDave]

It's strange that.
I used to be motor-sport mad and would have a go at anything, mainly at club level, karts, autotests, hillclimbs, rallies, sprints etc.
But I've never been tempted to race in boats, despite the fact that there is racing 3 or 4 days and nights a week. There's even handicap dinghy racing on Monday nights (as I speak) and I have a Solo dinghy. But it just never attracts me.
Odd, Can't explain it.

My activities over the last 3 days highlighted the difference.

On Saturday I was crewing on someone elses boat in a race in rough conditions. In a race you have to pass certain markers (and on the correct side) so have no choice where you have to get to.

Today I was sailing my own boat in light winds. We were out for fun, and didn't really mind when the wind changed, and it became more convenient to head in a different direction.

 

[brother52]

Thanks for the wonderful replies everyone! I am surprised and amazed by the wealth of information you've been so kind to provide. It seems that dinghy sailing is what I want to do at this point as I prefer to start with the fundamentals and think I can cope with getting cold wet.

On that subject, has anyone had any experiences with Broxbourne sailing club: http://www.broxbournesailingclub.co.uk/ ? They placed a leaflet in my local gym advertising dinghy sailing and seem to be well located (I'm based in N8.)

 

[Reptile Smile]

How does one get into it?

Like everything else in my life, I'd much rather learn it myself, than learn it from someone else. I took two windsurfing lessons, then read voraciously. Sailed a few Wayfarers in VI form (a great opportunity), but then read the Tom Cunliffe's Complete Guide to Day Skipper book, which really does teach you how to sail.

I think if you go the 'teach yourself' route, you have to be sensible about it. And plenty of people, no doubt, think that sailing can't be self-taught, in the same way that they think languages or guitar can't be self-taught (am self-taught at those too).

I'm certainly not knocking the RYA qualifications - one day, I might even do Day Skipper, but only so I can charter overseas. But I really think getting out there sailing, reading lots, talking to people and above all, joining a club, crewing for everyone, watching a million different ways of doing things with everyone convinced their way is right, is absolutely priceless, yet in fiscal terms, a fraction of the cost of a Dazed Kipper ticket.

Lakey, I couldn't agree more. You couldn't pay me to race. Doesn't interest me at all. TBH, I don't really understand it, and I don't really want to...

 

[Twister_Ken]

Lakey, I couldn't agree more. You couldn't pay me to race. Doesn't interest me at all. TBH, I don't really understand it, and I don't really want to...

In defence of racing (I only did it for 30 years or so) it teaches you more about trimming, navigating, light airs, kit maintenance, strong winds, close quarters boat handling and bull****ting than any amount of pootling about on a nice day with no objective in mind.

 

[Jamesuk]

I have been interested in cruising for a long time and came to think that this lifestyle will suit me best at a certain stage in my life. That stage is, however, about 8 years away from now. Naturally, I would like to use this time to become as competent sailor as I can.

What avenues, if any, are available for me to do that? I'm 37 y.o. man based in London. I never sailed before as where I come from there's not much opportunity to do that.

I've met up with few sailing groups that you can find online and while the crowd was quite nice the focus seemed to be on recreation rather than on sailing skills. I realise there are RYA courses, but I reckon it would only make sense to take them now if there was a way to apply the skills right away lest they get rusty over the years?

I gather there are races, which seem to be more of my type of thing as I like pushing the boundaries and the sports element. But is there a path for a complete novice to become a racing team member? I'm happy with a long path if it is a reliable one. I checked out RORC website and it seemed to require a good number of offshore miles logged to be eligible. Are there events with lower barriers to entry? Or is one better off building their miliage up with RYA courses?

Sorry if all this sounds naive or incoherent, I am just at the very beginning. Any advice or comment would be greatly appreciated.

Do a few RYA holidays with Sunsail, take a few trips down to Hamble school of Yachting to learn the ropes (write down day skipper course) ask around at Hamble to do some weekend racing on Keel boats and in the process buy some sailing gear from marine and outdoor

You may find the cheapest way to be a brilliant sailor in a season is to ask around at Hamble to join a boat for a season. They (yacht owners) are looking for committment and could train you up in no time.

 

[martyn78]

Reading the above varying opinions of day skipper and competent crew, I'm inclined to suggest you do what we did:

Go and buy a boat. Read some books on sailing. Go and sail it. Make some mistakes. then get a friend at the sailing club to sail with you to put your mistakes right. Then go and sail some more.

Couldn't agree more.
Bought the book,
Bought a folkboat (ahhhhhhh),
Read the book,
Untied and motored into a quiet bay (picking my weather of course),
Switched engine off - picked up said book.........
Never looked back.