Sailing Books

srh

New Member
I know there are many books on sailing instruction but would like to know some of your favorites for someone new to sailing.

Thanks
 
For someone new to sailing check out "Sailing for Dummies". It's one of those familiar yellow books on every subject.

This one however is written by a husband and wife team who are both olympic sailors.

They will have you sailing even if you've never set foot in a sailboat before. They cover launching and retrieval plus all the points of sail.

You might think that since they are racers that this would be a race book but it only has a small chapter devoted to racing so it really is a great beginners book.
 
I like "The Handbook of Sailing (revised and updated)". It covers all of the basic topics and several advanced topics. It usually costs about $30, but pre-owned copies can be found cheaper online.

ISBN: 0-679-74063-5
 
My favorite is "The Complete Sailor" by David Seidman. No color pcitures, just a lot of well-done sketches and good explanations of terminology.

Your nearby public library might have a good selection that you can check out. From those, you may come across one with content and style you particularly like which you can then buy. Also, amazon.com rates books, so you can see what others have to say. Most of them also have the contents and part of the text available on-line so you can see if the book addresses your priorities. And, as mentioned above, you can sometimes find them used at a much lower price.
 
I found this book to be very helpful for beginners. "Sports Illustrated Small Boat Sailing, A Complete Guide" by David and Brad Dellenbaugh. 1990, Time Inc., ISBN 0-452-26272-0. The bood assumes the reader knows nothing about sailing and covers the basics needed to get going. It was a lot of help when I was first learning to sail. There was a 12 year period when I was not able to sail until I recently bought a Capri 14. Now I am glad I kept the book as I still refer back to it. I hope you find a good one.
 

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