Learning to Sail a Yacht - Resources

[gt350]

Good morning Gents & Ladiefolk,

My old man has recently sparked an interest in sailing and I'm trying to help him find well-trusted resources of information on how to sail. Understandably a lot can be learned from lessons at a good sailing club which I've already booked for him, however, I was wondering if anyone was aware of any decent free online resources that helped teach the basics?

I had a little look through YouTube for video tutorials but a lot of them appear to have been published in 2007 so I was wondering if there was anything more current too?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TTwiggy]

What level of knowledge is he starting from?

Assuming nothing at all, then points of sail and the use/handling of the main and jib sheets (ropes) would be the starting point (at least as far as getting the boat to move under wind power alone is concerned).

[Simpo Two]

I know nothing of saliing but have the basics really changed since 2007?

Stick.

String.

Wind.


Or is there some downloadable update for Wind I don't know about?

[TTwiggy]

Simpo Two said:

I know nothing of saliing but have the basics really changed since 2007?

Stick.

String.

Wind.


Or is there some downloadable update for Wind I don't know about?

There was a wind update in late 2010, to sort out some bugs with 'gusting'.

[Benjaminpalma]

Some safety basics here. Wind, too!

http://www.penguinsailing.com/trainingresource.htm...

[the_lone_wolf]

Spend a few quid and get him this:

The Complete Yachtmaster, Tom Cunliffe

It's a bit more advanced than for the complete beginner, but it'll give him pretty much everything he'll ever need to know about leisure sailing in one book

[Marcellus]

The principles of how a sail works and therefore how to make a sailing boat move are the same regardless of what the sailing craft is from the smallest dinghy to the largest yacht.

The RYA do loads on them. Basically search for the "5 essentials" ok in yacht cruising he'll mainly only be using a couple of them (course made good and sail settings) but even so 2 of the other 3 (balance and trim) can be effected and be beneficial on bigger things but the 5th (centre board) is obsolete in yachts.

If he can do these he will be able to basically get any sailing boat moving... But them to get yachting there's a whole host of other stuff he'll need to learn such as radio, power boating, navigation charts, tidal waters etcetc

However, sailing is one of those things that is best taught by doing.... When your dad goes to the sailing club for lessons usually within half and hour he'll be out on the water if he's learning at an RYA approved centre and they're sticking to"the method"

Where's he booked in to?

Edited by Marcellus on Friday 22 February 21:10

[Jaguar steve]

TTwiggy said:

Simpo Two said:

I know nothing of saliing but have the basics really changed since 2007?

Stick.

String.

Wind.


Or is there some downloadable update for Wind I don't know about?

There was a wind update in late 2010, to sort out some bugs with 'gusting'.

I am delighted to hear wind has been updated to remove the gusting feature.

However the version I currently use still frequently suffers from either not enough or too much availability as well as severe directional inconsistency and instability that frequently causes severe operational difficulties such as not being anchored near the pub by opening time.

[anonymous-user]

as others have said, the RYA is the best place to start, there are loads of good books on sale but you'll find a few on Amazon a bit cheaper than the RYA website.

the RYA dayskipper handbook is probably the best place to start but "The Sailors Handbook" by Herreshoff is pretty good too being more of a reference book than a practical guide to sailing.

[gt350]

Thank you everyone for the direction. Will definitely be checking these resources out. I'm pretty sure he's going to a club somewhere along the river Crouch for lessons soon so I'll see how he gets on. Much appreciated!

[Bluebarge]

Lots of sailing clubs start learners out on dinghies - these can involve lots of falling in, particularly if they are single-handed dinghies such as lasers. If your old man is not especially fit, he may find this exhausting and discouraging. If he is no spring chicken and not in the peak of fitness, he may be better learning to sail on a keelboat, which is more stable and forgiving. Available courses are shown on the RYA website.