Self taught sailor

[spinner55]

Who's had the experience of going on a lake with book knowledge only and learning to sail. I recently purchased a 14.2 and day by day she is getting closer to seaworthy. I had planned on taking a class in March but my "Captain" has informed me Easter weekend is not an acceptable time frame. I think I can do it, but am I just inviting disaster? Please cheer me on or set me straight.

Mark

 

[Roger Lohrey]

Mark:
I had NEVER sailed before I bought my 14.2. A friend took me out in his Flying J once when I was deciding what boat to buy. I bought a book an sailing and read it before I went out for the first time. My first time out went OK. I went back and forth accross the lake about 90 degrees to the wind on a broad reach. I could not get the boat to point into the wind. I then read the book more and talked to my friend and he told me what I was doing wrong.
In my opinion the 14.2 is a great boat to learn to sail on. for your first times go out in lighter winds, around 5-8 MPH and have fun. If you know someone who can get you started or can take a class I would say do it.

Roger L

 

[My-Ria]

Self-taught sailor; Just do it!

Just do it! But be safe and use a PFD. Suggest that you be prepared for a steep learning curve and that you initially choose mild conditions and a small inland lake on a low breeze day and in a low traffic area for the first few times out.

Be sure to read up on wind and sail positions and work through the mental mechanics of sail and rudder positions relative to the direction of the hull and wind. Also suggest that you stick with sailing on the main for a few episodes before raising the jib sail.

About 33 years ago I ventured out for the first time on a very small sheltered lake with a new out of the box Sunfish. I learned what not to do, by making some common mistakes. I did not do my homework. I quickly realized why they call one of the spars the BOOM!. Fortuneately there were several sunfish boats out that afternoon and all I had to do was copy their tactics and hope that I may get back to the dock.

The next time out was on a wide river where there was normally more wind. It was not until I placed a thin strip of cloth at the top of the highest spar that I learned to work the wind and figure out how to control the boat and move from point A to B with some degree of prediction.

Control over the mainsheet by keeping the wind in the sail was due to learning to watch the wind vane strip of thin cloth blowing behind the mast and over the sail. That thin stip of cloth that afternoon taught me to effectively use the rudder, fill the sail and then learn to dump the wind and pull in the sail before I learned to begin tacking back and forth beating against the wind. Next came learning to use a reach to increase hull speed before learning to run before the wind. The last thing I tried was to jibe.

After about a month of sailing every weekend I became caught up in learning to harness higher wind speeds and also learned how to better control the hull speed by reading the wind to find the highest wind areas including predictions seeking convection breezes to be in a position to consistenly plan the hull. My confidence increased by mid-season and I would leave the shoreline when a cold weather front could offer an opportunity to test skills in 20-25 knot blows.

Everything I learned on that Sunfish transferred to sailing a variety of single and multihulls over the years I have owned 4 other sailboats and enjoy seasonal crusing on Lake Erie on a Catalina 320. I recently acquired a 14.2 to teach the grand kids how to sail this season. Never had a formal sailing lesson, just got out and applied what I read and learned by building upon one experience after the next.

So...if you like to figure out puzzles, just go out and do it, but choose a safe, calm sailing area that has all of the conditions for success and learning. Don't forget to attach a strip of cloth or yarn to the top of the mast!