How hard is it to learn how to sail a 10 metre boat

[Adetheheat]

I have a motor cruiser that I'm ok on and confident. The fuel guzzling is a drain on my money.
How difficult is it to learn how to sail say a modest 10metre or so sailing boat? Bearing in mind I've never put up a sail before.

 

[Clancy Moped]

I would go on a short RYA course before committing, you never know you might hate it.

 

[wingcommander]

Only half as hard as you expect as 50% ofvthe time you'll be under engine

 

[Refueler]

Only half as hard as you expect as 50% ofvthe time you'll be under engine

But at least usually at far less GPH !!

 

[Refueler]

My suggestion is get friendly with a few sailboaters and ask to crew ... be honest that you are looking to change to sail (take the jokes and snubs - bound to happen - but will be in fun) ..... go and enjoy.
Once you get a feel and see what it is .... then a RYA course could be a good idea.

Why casually first ? RYA courses often have max number of people on board and can be a bit daunting. Going casually first - often the number of people on board is less and you can get to see more as well as being less serious.

I can easily recall a number of boaters who only did RYA and TBH - I wouldn't want them sailing my boat !! I know - vast majority are not like that ...

 

[bedouin]

I think the best way to learn to sail is in dinghies - much easier to understand and feel the way the sails respond to the wind - and much cheaper when you hit something else

 

[neil_s]

Get a book - you'll soon catch on, Most of the seamanship stuff you already know. Lots of folk get by just unrolling the genoa!

 

[[3889]]

I have a motor cruiser that I'm ok on and confident. The fuel guzzling is a drain on my money.
How difficult is it to learn how to sail say a modest 10metre or so sailing boat? Bearing in mind I've never put up a sail before.

Do a dinghy course in Greece or similar (UK if you don't mind discomfort) That will teach you wind awareness and sailing skills. Most other yacht sailing stuff is the same as MoBoing.
I'm sure there will be howls of outrage from non-dinghy sailors but that's what I, as a
Cruising Instructor and sail boat owner recommended to Mrs Q and neither she nor I regret it. You will not learn wind awareness from any number of books over any period of time.

 

[Tranona]

It is not difficult, and contrary to some views not necessary or even desirable to spend any time on dinghies. Many, particularly older (now) people started in dinghies and worked their way up, but much of dinghy sailing is not relevant to handling a 10m boat. The actual sailing bit - making it go and where you want it to go is a small part of running a boat of this size. Preparation, planning, understanding navigation plus parking and unparking the boat are just as, if not more important than the finer points of the sailing and motoring bits. You learn none of this in dinghies.

So starting point is crewing if you can or short RYA course to get to know how everything works and more particularly find out if you like it. If you are relying on family for crew then find a way of engaging them in the process. A common way is to have a sailing holiday somewhere nice and warm like the Greek islands either a mix of land based sailing activities followed by a week on a cruiser about the size you are looking at, or a skipper assisted week on a bigger boat.

As suggested in post#7 if you are confident about managing a motor boat of similar size, then a book on sailing followed by taking the boat out on your own can be just as effective. Of course this means buying a boat first and arguably better to try one of the ways suggested first before committing. You will also get a much clearer idea of what sort of boat would be suitable for you. It could be an expensive mistake if you discovered you did not like it after you bought the boat!

Good luck. Look forward to your "what boat" question where once again you will get a wide range of opinions.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Done both. Very different "feel" and for us more importantly different relationship to time. We used mobos when we were working to enjoy quickly getting to a destination and back home after - the time moving on the boat was relatively short. Now its all about the journey - of course the destination is important but at around 5 Knots you are on the boat for a long time. The other thing is I find myself doing much more "tweaking" - mobos are much more point and shoot apart from some work to optimise your relationship to the waves, trim etc. On a sailing boat you can play around with the sails to get the best almost continuously if you want. In terms of difficulty you know the sea, you know tides, you know your harbours. You need to learn wind awareness, sail handling. Make sure your crew (and you) are comfortable with heeling and being out there in the weather (assuming you had a cabin boat). In some ways I found a sailing boat easier - the keel reduces the immediate windage effects and gives directional stability compared to a single engine mobo

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I agree with Tranona and Stewart although I went the other way, sail to power. The biggest difference between the two aside from the obvious is that the low speed handling is utterly different and you have to unlearn what decades of experience has taught you. Training is helpful.

One idea would be to do a combo RYA day Skipper and flotilla holiday in eg Greece or Croatia. Sunsail offer these.

 

[Refueler]

It is not difficult, and contrary to some views not necessary or even desirable to spend any time on dinghies. Many, particularly older (now) people started in dinghies and worked their way up, but much of dinghy sailing is not relevant to handling a 10m boat. The actual sailing bit - making it go and where you want it to go is a small part of running a boat of this size. Preparation, planning, understanding navigation plus parking and unparking the boat are just as, if not more important than the finer points of the sailing and motoring bits. You learn none of this in dinghies.

So starting point is crewing if you can or short RYA course to get to know how everything works and more particularly find out if you like it. If you are relying on family for crew then find a way of engaging them in the process. A common way is to have a sailing holiday somewhere nice and warm like the Greek islands either a mix of land based sailing activities followed by a week on a cruiser about the size you are looking at, or a skipper assisted week on a bigger boat.

As suggested in post#7 if you are confident about managing a motor boat of similar size, then a book on sailing followed by taking the boat out on your own can be just as effective. Of course this means buying a boat first and arguably better to try one of the ways suggested first before committing. You will also get a much clearer idea of what sort of boat would be suitable for you. It could be an expensive mistake if you discovered you did not like it after you bought the boat!

Good luck. Look forward to your "what boat" question where once again you will get a wide range of opinions.

mmmmm cannot help but think your first part of post is not for him as he is already a Motor Boater ... so berthing etc should already be in his 'knowledge' .... he needs to add the wind / sail bits to his 'knowledge' .....

Dinghys give one of the best 'feels' for sailing ..... something that I think many large boat owners never learn .... judging by the way you see some sailing.

 

[Crinan12]

I bought a sailboat (9 meter) a few years ago. I didn't know anything about sailing and had never sailed dinghies or anything.

I found learning to sail pretty easy and I'm quite a slow learner. You just put the sails up on the right side of the boat and you're off.

It's all the other stuff that can be quite intensive. From knots to tides to engine maintenance. The list is pretty endless and it can be time consuming especially if you do it all the maintenance type stuff yourself.

 

[johnalison]

I believe that Chay Blyth hadn't a clue how to sail when he set off for the first time. He did, however, have the advantage of having a lot of sea room. Other than running into a rock, you are not particularly likely to get into trouble when out at sea, and the embarrassment of hoisting a sail upside-down will probably not be witnessed, but handling a sailing boat in narrow spaces, whether tacking up a river or coming into harbour, can be challenging even for the experienced. It is perfectly possible to learn to sail on a larger boat, but in my experience those that do so never develop any finesse and often have to rely on power of a bow-thruster in order to manage. Small boats and dinghies are much cheaper, and learning is quicker, and the skills can easily be transferred onto larger yachts.

 

[Refueler]

I believe that Chay Blyth hadn't a clue how to sail when he set off for the first time. He did, however, have the advantage of having a lot of sea room. Other than running into a rock, you are not particularly likely to get into trouble when out at sea, and the embarrassment of hoisting a sail upside-down will probably not be witnessed, but handling a sailing boat in narrow spaces, whether tacking up a river or coming into harbour, can be challenging even for the experienced. It is perfectly possible to learn to sail on a larger boat, but in my experience those that do so never develop any finesse and often have to rely on power of a bow-thruster in order to manage. Small boats and dinghies are much cheaper, and learning is quicker, and the skills can easily be transferred onto larger yachts.

I second that.

 

[Wansworth]

I second that.

He had rowed across the Atlantic with Ridgeway,must have helped a bit?

 

[scottie]

I decided to try dinghy sailing at my local sailing inland centre after many years sailing keel boats
they first thing they said was to capsize the boat
it was just so against my instinct that I ended there and
having been upside down in a mirror a couple of times in the past no way was I paying to do it again

if anyone is used to 20plus foot boat I personally think it might be too late to start with dinghies

I also found trying an illusion miniature keel boat bizarre

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Yes I agree, I am not a fan of the dinghy route. Teaches you how to be broken, cold, wet, knackered and miserable. For someone used to a bigger mobo or a bigger yacht for that matter, suggesting dropping all creature comforts simply to learn a skill that can equally well be learned in other ways, is not relevant. Obviously if someone actually wants to do the dinghy thing then by all means, it’s a great sport.

 

[Stemar]

Assuming you're used to a planing mobo, the biggest difference is the time it takes to get anywhere. You may love it or you may hate it, which is why I reckon Refeuler's suggestion to get out crewing for other yacht owners a few times is a good one. If you still want to do it, get a suitable boat and get an instructor to take you out on her a few times. You'll get plenty of contradictory advice on what you need right here, but it's really horses for courses; you want a nice safe plodder if you don't want to scare the crew, and a thoroughbred to win races. There are very few really bad boats out there.

This sail handling malarkey is supposed to be complicated but, in essence the sail is either pulling you along (wind on the beam or forward of the beam, or it's pushing you (wind aft of the beam). If it's pushing you, let the sails out as far as they want to go to keep full of the wind. If it's pulling you, pull the sails in until they look happy, nicely full , and not flapping. That'll get you moving. Now add 20 years of experience, and you'll understand why that's not quite all there is to it and you'll start to win races.

 

[Refueler]

Yes I agree, I am not a fan of the dinghy route. Teaches you how to be broken, cold, wet, knackered and miserable. For someone used to a bigger mobo or a bigger yacht for that matter, suggesting dropping all creature comforts simply to learn a skill that can equally well be learned in other ways, is not relevant. Obviously if someone actually wants to do the dinghy thing then by all means, it’s a great sport.

We will agree to disagree.

The best sailboat guys out there winning regattas representing their countries - near all started in Dinghys.

There really is no need to be "

broken, cold, wet, knackered and miserable

Some of the best fun can be had in a dinghy .... note that GP14 ... Wayfarer .... Enterprise .... all old but good dinghys are not the wet ones like Toppers etc. Even a Mirror Dinghy can be dry.