Thinking of learning how to sail

[Sailor_pup]

I've been watching this forum for a few days now as you all seem pretty switched on and quite helpful.

I've never sailed before but i want to start.
I called a local water activity centre close to me (Grange Water in south ockendon incase anybody knows it) and they have advised me to take the Royal Yachting Association Level 1 Sailing, Start Sailing - 2 Day Course

Found here >> http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/grangewaters/content.php?page=yacht_dinghy

Is this the right kind of course i want to go on?

I would like to aventually get a sailing yacht about 27 - 30 ft 4 berth maybe and sail the French or Spanish coast line.

How long do you think it would take me to get to this level ?

Am i being realistic seeing as i'm 27 years old now?




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[Evadne]

Dinghies possibly the best boats to pick up the basics on, you can learn most of what you need in a few hours then spend the rest of your life learning the rest.

There many ways to go about this, e.g.
Pay for tuition as you describe, then get your own Topper or Mirror for a year, and see how it goes.
Sign up to the local sailing club and find someone who wants a regular crew. Being there every Sunday morning come snow or shine will make you more useful as a crew than the experienced person who is less regular.
You may find you like this so much you never want to own your own keelboat, but if you do then the sailing club or crewing for a friend is still the best way to start - cheapest, easiest to back out of - then go on some flotilla charters or RYA courses as you feel able to.

I bought my boat when I was 25, although I'd done a fair bit of dinghy sailing in hte past, and picked had picked up navigation and boat handling from friends' advice, magazines and books. I'd done a lot of background reading of the same over the previous 2-3 years as well. There's no reason why anyone with common sense, rudimentary mathematical skills and a sense of self-preservation should not do the same today. Courses will teach you the theory but it is experience that gets/keeps you out of trouble.

Good luck.
Dave

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[Sailor_pup]

Thanks Dave that's very helpful

How long do you think it will take me untill i can start to go it alone and maybe just sail around a bit of the english coast in 27 to 30 ft boat ?

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[Bodach na mara]

Dave's ideas are good, you learn fast in dinghies (or get wet) and joining a club and crewing for others is a great idea.

I started as a student and spent the money I earned in my summer job buying a clapped-out GP14. I then found the local class was Yachting World Dayboats, so the GP was sold to pay for one of them. (We are talking under £100 here in 1966 and maybe under £500 today). I joined the local yacht club and crewed on keelboats, picking up experience until (after about 4 years) I knew enough to buy an old six-metre (£130) and sail it without killing myself.

Running and maintaining a boat, pilotage and navigation have all been developed since so I now feel (after about 45 years) that I am not too much of a danger to myself or my crew. The secret of safety is never to let yourself think you are completely competent. There is always something else to learn.

<hr width=100% size=1>Ken Johnson

 

[Evadne]

Well you could go tomorrow, especially if you took along someone who had done it before. Based on the above, if you start now and sail all winter and most of next year you'll have a lot more sailing experience under your belt than a lot of new big boat owners do by this time next year. Then if you take a coastal Skipper theory, and read a lot, I don't see why you shouldn't be confident enough to give it a go the following spring.
On the other hand, living near the east coast as I guess you do, you could do a lot worse than buy a Swift 18, or similar, and go sailing around the creeks and rivers of Essex. You'll have a centreboard to help you when you ground, but a lid on so you can sleep overnight and make a cuppa when its wet. And it won't cost a fortune: you won't need a berth, just a trailer, nor do you have to visit marinas all the time. Later you could trail her anywhere, and with experience you'll be surprised just how much coastal sailing you can do in a boat like that. She would also be easy to sell when you felt the need for something a bit bigger. Try reading "The Riddle of the Sands" or any of Maurice Griffiths' books if you want inspiration! If I didn't have Evadne (with no intention of selling her) its what I'd be doing in the Solent.

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[oldharry]

Dont hold back - go for it! Get yourself a Mirror dinghy or something like it, and it will quickly teach you what you can and can not do - usually dunking you in the water to reinforce the lesson! Its a very quick way of learning....

The bigger boat will not dunk you the same way, and if you hit things with it, you will do quite a bit more damage - not least to your pride!

But at 27 you have stacks of time ahead of you to learn and enjoy. Its never too late - or too soon to start.

Good luck!

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[dralex]

In general, people have very variable opinions of their own level of aptitude and confidence. By this I mean that some people will think they know enough after a couple of weekends to go and buy a boat and sail it, whereas others will go down the lines of spending years sailing with other people before feeling they had the confidence to venture out on theiir own.

I think either way of learning to sail is great ie all big boats or dinghies first. Personally I did dinghies first, but that's because big boat sailing was not an option at the time. I feel dinghy sailing gives you a huge headstart in terms of sailing well because they give you a lot more direct feedback and you can quickly notice when you're doing it right.

If you look at the definations of RYA courses, Day Skipper Practical should get you to the point where you would consider going out on your own and getting experience as a skipper. I would however suggest trying to do a lot more miles than suggested, on other peoples boats as crew.

<hr width=100% size=1>Life's too short- do it now./forums/images/icons/wink.gif

 

[aitchw]

Go dinghy sailing for the winter and into the warmer weather next year and move up from there. Take every opportunity to sail with others and in different boats, both dinghies and cruisers and just enjoy it. If you make a fool of yourself laugh it off, we've all been there and continue to go there from time to time as we push a bit harder.

I started in my 50s and just wish I'd done it at your age. Your can't be too young and you're never too old.

If you do go for dinghies this winter try to get yourself a drysuit. You will enjoy it much more for being warm and dry even when you go for a swim.

Good luck and good sailing.

Howard

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[Spuddy]

Dinghy sailing is certainly the best way to pick up the feel of handling a boat. Crewing for somebody else might only involve leaning out and pulling some string, so you might want to do a course. There's no doubt that dinghy sailing gives the most time on the water.
Since your ultimate target is cruising, however, what about a competent crew course with one of the sailing schools- the purpose of these is to give you a taster and pick up basic skills on yachts.
Many people have an image of sailing that doesn't match the reality, so it,s usually sensible to try a few things out before spending serious money; but then again I don't follow my own advice so why should you.
good luck and fair winds....spuddy

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[Joe_Cole]

"There's no doubt that dinghy sailing gives the most time on the water."

Shouldn't that read "in the water"? /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

I agree with what you are saying though. Do some Dinghy sailing first....even if it's only a bit. Then do a Competent Crew course.
By the time you've done that you'll know whether or not you want to take it up seriously.


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[Anonymous]

Dinghy sailing is totally different from sailing a cruising yacht - which is the sort of boat you say you want to sail. There really is no need to start on dinghies unless you want to. Why not talk it over with a local sailing school and discuss the options? I know one chap who took a fast-track yachtmaster and sailed his own 42 footer around the Med less than a year after his first lesson. So while I don't disagree with the advice others have given, do consider going for a yacht from the outset if that appeals to you.

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[BrendanS]

Dinghy sailing may be very different to cruising yacht, but it is a very worthwhile experience for the skills it teaches......... not least of which is knowing what racing dinghies are likely to do when you are trying to enter or exit a harbour or estuary! <G>

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[cliff]

Agree with Lemain, If you want to go cruisiong then forget teh dingies - go for a small cruiser ~27' mark, join a club and get someone to take you out in your own boat. It is amazing how much you can pick up very quickly. In the meantime go some of the courses available such as compentent crew, day skipper etc.

Let's face it experience is a good teacher and there are many sources for help and training however informal.

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[temptress]

Best way to learn is to ge out there and do it.

dinghgy sailing is by far the best way to learn to sail. Do this first then get a small crusing boat.

It will take you a lot longer to learn to sail in a Yacht. In a Yacht make a mistake and you get a big bill. In a dinghy you get wet and carry on.

Learn in a dinghy and then get into a yachy.

RYA level 1 is a great place to start then go on a level 2 course before you do the competant crew or start crewing on a YACHT. Competant crew will teach you nothing about sailing just how not to get hurt in a yacht.

But either way GO FOR IT. Most sailing clubs are desperate to get new crew fro Dinghys and Yachrs, crusing and racing.

GO down to a local saiuling club, ask about learing to sail and get into the BAR. Start talking there and you asre off.....


<hr width=100% size=1>Temptress of Down
Southsea Marina
Hants

http://hometown.aol.com/temptressofdown

 

[Mudplugger]

Bearing in mind where you are and what you want to do. Its probably fair to say that the Thames is not the easiest water to learn to sail on...Port Control might get a tad agitated! so doing a an intro course at your local inland water will at least give you the basics. Would strongly suggest that you make yourself known @ Thurrock Y.C., and while winter rears its ugly head, there may still be some of the yachts in the water, and the possibility of at least seeing what cruising in your neck of the woods is like.Apart from that, posted repliesall seem to make a lot of sense. Oh by the way welcome to the Madhouse.

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony W.

 

[Gunfleet]

I don't agree. I learned to sail in a dinghy but - on reflection - I don't know what the hell it's got to do with sailing a cruising yacht except one or two knots and a bit of sail-handling. It's fun in itself and has its own value but I really think if you want to sail a cruiser start there or in a keelboat. In either case a taster day as you've suggested for yourself is a good idea. Crouch Sea School isn't a long way from you and they do taster days. So, I believe does Essex County Council through the sailing school in Bradwell on Sea

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[William_H]

Learning on dinghys is a lot of fun but very physical cold and wet. I think the most important part of learning to sail is learning whether you like it or not. Learning on dinghys could put you off sailing while not being all that advantagious to learning to handle a big boat. i suggest something in the 18 to 20 foot range that won't capsize or get you too wet but is of a size you can make mistakes in. Try hanging around a yacht club or marina people are always looking for reliable crew. Beware however that sailing in the winter may put you off. regards will

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[Shakey]

This is a copy of a recent post of mine on the Scuttlebutt forum.

This is from an instructor's point of view, hope it's of some help.

Best wishes and good luck with the sailing!

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I used to be a keelboat instructor (but on yachts) in the Ionian in Greece.

Some people pick up the practical side of sailing fairly easily, some people struggle.

I never met a 'natural', those who were good had already sailed dinghies or been on boats before.

The one thing that really sticks out about teaching people to sail is wind awareness, a lot of people have difficulty working out where the wind is coming from when they start, and this can lead to tacking and gybing difficulties but is especially noticeable when dealing with spatial awareness and the whole beam reach/tack/broad reach/luff up aspects of man overboard.

MOB under engine with bows to the wind many beginners find difficult and often allow the bows to be blown off one way or the other.

I also found many beginners relied too much on the windex, despite being told not to look at it!

So yes, the best way to learn to sail is in a dinghy, even if you only do level 1.

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The best way of learning the five essentials of sailing is to get in a dinghy. And yes you will capsize it! If you want to learn seamanship then you have to get into a yacht. You can be a dinghy sailor or a yacht sailor, but most yacht sailors have served some time in dinghies. Dinghy sailors never automatically make good yacht sailors though!

<hr width=100% size=1>It could have been worse - it could have been me.

 

[Seafort]

Went the dinghi route with a level 1/2 course over a weekend at Neilson in the Ionian, they are in the Grenadines too but there seems to be many places that provide this sort of holiday.


Have fun

Dave.


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[mireland]

Dinghies are not forgiving so you soon learn what effect your actions have. Your sensitivity to changes in wind direction and speed is honed especially when racing dinghies and gives a real head start in a slow unresponsive first cruiser. It might actually 'move' for a dinghy sailor!! It's not the only way however - just a bit quicker at developing the skills. Big boat stuff then takes a lifetime to learn whilst having loads of fun I guess. I was a dinghy instructor. Now I hate being dunked so have given it up for being scared and sick on proper boats.

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