New to sailing.

[Wansworth]

I am entertained by the fact that the guy who has a reputation for being the forum's greatest procrastinating boat buyer is lauding the idea of just buying a boat and jumping into it! I can't recall a thread here which consisted of someone saying "I'm fairly new to sailing and thinking of buying XXX" which didn't include a significant number of people saying "buy something smaller/more confortable/bigger/faster etc". I can see how anyone could be expected to be in the very initial phase of boat ownership and make good buying decisions without some actual experience of sailing. The first boat I bought wasn't that different to dinghies I'd sailed before - it was still a mistake! My latest boat would have been outright dismissed if it hadn't been something very similar was what I found to charter and I realised that it did actually work for our needs.

Drowning, head injury, lost fingers all far from impossible if you jump in without a clue!

I am quite sure you can, but much quicker to understand why than blindly copy! Observation much easier if you are sure the person you are observing is competent, but also close enough to see the detail of what they are doing - much easier actually on their boat!

In my youth I procrastinated much less

 

[winch2]

This word gets lost sometimes when reading all the good formal stuff.....Fun! Good advice to go down for an afternoon and watch all the big stuff glide serenely by, but there are a variety of ways to learn. Maybe get a Pico, throw on a bouyancy aid, a half wet suit and cast urself off across the river. With a bit of prior reading youll soon learn whats going on....Dont be put off by the techy talk either ... sailing is really simple. Just you, a board and a sail.. thats it. The rest can come a bit later.

 

[DownWest]

This word gets lost sometimes when reading all the good formal stuff.....Fun! Good advice to go down for an afternoon and watch all the big stuff glide serenely by, but there are a variety of ways to learn. Maybe get a Pico, throw on a bouyancy aid, a half wet suit and cast urself off across the river. With a bit of prior reading youll soon learn whats going on....Dont be put off by the techy talk either ... sailing is really simple. Just you, a board and a sail.. thats it. The rest can come a bit later.

Nope, get some help and instruction from a club or just an experienced friend. I little bit of help might avoid getting frightened off.
I was privileged, in a sense, my father designed boats, so I was sailing just after walking.