Starting out

[Whiskey2]

Hi I am an experienced glider pilot who wants to turn his hand to sailing with very limited knowledge. First thing I am doing is a 5 day competant crew course starting next week in Southampton, then I thought I would look to buy a small 20 foot boat to gain some experience, at the same time possibly doing futher courses. I hope in a few years to sell my glider which is worth about 45K and put the money into a boat to do some extented cruising. Does this all make sense or should I go about it another way?

 

[rogerroger]

this sounds like the right approach.

Have you done any sailing at all ? I'd done only a bit on yachts in Greece and the odd few times on friends' boats and went straight for Day Skipper.

Also, your Comp crew course will probably be on a fair sized yacht and no doubt you'll have a great time going all over the Solent. You might find a 20 footer a little small and it might be a little frustrating. If you've got people to share the cost then I'd recommend chartering for a couple of years, that way you'll be able to do more and will experience more types of boats in order to make an informed decision when buying.

Oh, and if I had £45k I'd plonk it straight in the hand of someone at Opal Marine and walk away with a brand new Bavaria 32.

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[Whiskey2]

Thank's for the promt response, I did a little dingy sailing in my youth but I am a good reader and a quick learner, any advice on books, hire boats, mooring's, marina's and clubs will be appeciated in due course. Gliding has so much in common with sailing that I am hoping the transition will not be to lengthy...

 

[romany123]

Re: Welcome to the world of sailin

Welcome Mate
alrough I have sailed most of my life it is only in the last 12/13 years I have realy taken up sailing as my main sport. I owned a Gemini Flash Microlight that I flew out of gransden in Bedfordshire, alrough I had a PPL D could not tempt my family to fly with me so I bought a boat and have never looked back.
Your navigational skills will stand you in good stead for the air is like the tides same thing realy drift and course made, good, fot depth read contour lines, The sails are also wings but need a bit more tweaking. There is obviously more to it than that but the basics are the same, the only diffrence is I couldent fly and inch but I can swim a fair way if the worst comes to the worst
You are right to buy a smaller boat in which to cut your teeth, bit like gliders and planes there are right and wrong ones depending on what you intend to do with the sport, only then will you know.
my e-mail address is bagheeraspost at hotmail.com drop me a line if I can help .
Dave

Dave

 

[romany123]

Re: Welcome to the world of sailin

Welcome Mate
alrough I have sailed most of my life it is only in the last 12/13 years I have realy taken up sailing as my main sport. I owned a Gemini Flash Microlight that I flew out of gransden in Bedfordshire, alrough I had a PPL D could not tempt my family to fly with me so I bought a boat and have never looked back.
Your navigational skills will stand you in good stead for the air is like the tides same thing realy drift and course made, good, fot depth read contour lines, The sails are also wings but need a bit more tweaking. There is obviously more to it than that but the basics are the same, the only diffrence is I couldent fly and inch but I can swim a fair way if the worst comes to the worst
You are right to buy a smaller boat in which to cut your teeth, bit like gliders and planes there are right and wrong ones depending on what you intend to do with the sport, only then will you know.
my e-mail address is bagheeraspost@hotmail.com drop me a line if I can help .
Dave

Dave

 

[rogerroger]

I did my YachtMaster with a glider pilot. It was hard to tear him away from the GPS which he swore by and has apparently transformed glider racing ? no longer taking pics of churches to prove where you've been. You wouldn't get me up in one in a million years, a plane with an engine is bad enough!

I guess in both cases you're harnessing nature to get where you want - until you stick the yacht's engine on of course!

It's definitely better to do the comp crew first, but if you do a bit of yatching you soon get to the stage where you've learnt most things. It's good to know how to handle ropes, sails, tie knots, move around the boat competently and learn all the daft nautical names for things before doing DS.

You'll get an endless amount of excellent advice from guys on this forum...

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[romany123]

Re: Welcome to the world of sailin

must be getting old you got a double welcome there ......sorry about that

Dave

Dave

 

[Twister_Ken]

Once you've done comp crew, make contact with the sailing secretaries of some clubs that are convenient to you, explain that you're a novice and would like to get some crewing experience on shorter passages and races, and ask if you can join their crew list/scheme.

As long as you're willing, fittish, not too prone to sea-sickness, turn up on time, don't leave anybody in the lurch, do your share of the dirty jobs without being asked, and stand your turn at the bar you'll get all the sailing you can handle! Oh, and knowing a few jokes helps.

 

[PhatBuoy]

Offer yourself as crew on as many different yachts as you can as each type has its pros and cons. Get the right boat to fit your personality (and pocket) If your a glider pilot me thinks something faster and dynamic will appeal more than a traditional long keeler or certain so called modern designs.....

 

[tcm]

This sounds good.

I would say that the general attitude- watching thinking, checking several issues at once, thinking again - is an important and similar requirement. Of course (usually) sailing doesn't demand such very qucik thinking as in a plane or (more? I expect) in a glider. No laybys in the sky, and so forth...

Must be a wow of a glider for 45k?

Fair winds! (haha)

 

[billmacfarlane]

Welcome to the madhouse !!! I can't see much wrong with your approach. Your limited knowledge is easily cured , it looks like you've got plenty of advice already regarding crewing other people's yachts. Don't rush choosing your first boat , though since you're only going to keep it for a couple of years , don't burst the bank on it. It looks like your second boat will be the one that you'll really need to think about. Good luck.

 

[iangrant]

I did the transition from Talgarth mountain soaring - cold airfields low cloudbase wind the wrong way stuff some 9 years ago and worked up boat size from a dingy to a 37 footer. Sailing is more sociable than a single seat glider and there is no 12 hour drink rule! Sailing is inherently more expensive I found - a glider in the the trailer park is cheap - no fly no pay - marinas are expensive - and how - Other boaters are nice people, don't believe the cr*p about power boaters they OK too.
Enjoy sailing - it is far less weather dependant than Gliding.

Ian

 

[lezgar]

About books I can suggest two "The handbook of sailing" Bob Bond ISBN 0720720168 and "The RYA book of Navigation" Tim Bartlett ISBN 0713644095.

Three years ago I bought my first sailing boat. Is 23 ft and for UK weather is enough (weekend sailing) and I charter in summer in hotter climates.