{"id":222,"date":"2012-10-03T04:43:43","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T08:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/?p=222"},"modified":"2015-07-12T14:13:04","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T18:13:04","slug":"your-first-sailing-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/your-first-sailing-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"Your First Sailing Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in Chesapeake Bay Magazine, 1989<\/span><\/p>\n

The first sailing lesson – What to expect <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove<\/span><\/p>\n

While a few people teach themselves to sail with a book and a \u0004\u000eboat, the easier and surer way is to take a sailing class. There are \u0004\u000emany commercial sailing schools all around the world as well as \u0004\u000eclasses offered by water-oriented communities and by yacht and \u0004\u000esailing clubs. A little research in magazines and local newspapers \u0004\u000ewill turn up several opportunities to learn to sail.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Most sailing classes – yacht club, community or commercial – \u0004\u000estart with a classroom session. The classroom may be a beach or \u0004\u000epier instead of a place with four walls and rows of chairs, but the \u0004\u000elearning will be similar.\u00a0Before you step into a boat and go sailing, \u0004\u000eyou should know what you are about to experience.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

The first session is usually an introduction to the lore and \u0004\u000elanguage of sailing because sailors speak in unfamiliar tongues and \u0004\u000eboats are constructed in unfamiliar ways. Think of the first \u0004\u000eshoreside lesson as a class in “sailboat literacy”.\u0004\u000e You need to know what the parts of a boat are called so you \u0004\u000ecan communicate efficiently with your instructor and with the other people aboard.<\/span><\/p>\n

You also need to know what makes the boat \u0004\u000ego – how the wind is harnessed by the sails and hull.\u00a0It is easier \u0004\u000eto explain these things ashore using model boats, drawings, pictures \u0004\u000eand hand waving than to attempt to show you what is happening \u0004\u000ewhile you are becoming accustomed to the new surroundings of a \u0004\u000e sailboat.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

The exact format of this first lesson will depend on the \u0004\u000einstructor and the nature of the class. In an adult class all of the \u0004\u000ebasic things you need to know for your first sail can be taught in \u0004\u000eabout an hour. After that, it’s time to go out on the water. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Depending on the way you learn best, you may want to do \u0004\u000esome reading ahead of time. If you are an avid reader, pick up a \u0004\u000ecopy of a good basic sailing book a few weeks before your scheduled \u0005\u000esail and skim through it. Don’t worry about absorbing it all; you \u0004\u000ecan’t do that any more than you can teach yourself brain surgery \u0004\u000efrom a textbook. Just try to get the feel of the new language and \u0004\u000epick up the theory of how a sailboat works.\u00a0A book with lots of \u0004\u000egood drawings will be helpful if you are visually oriented.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people prefer to go into the first class “cold” with no \u0004\u000eadvance preparation and that is fine if you learn best by physical \u0004\u000eexperience rather than by reading. After the first few hours you \u0004\u000ewill probably know as much in your own way as the people who \u0004\u000estudied the material in advance. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the unique features of sailing is that it can be \u0004\u000eapproached in so many ways. Kinesthetic learners will associate \u0004\u000esailing techniques with body movements while verbal and visual \u0004\u000elearners need to see a description in print and pictures first so they \u0004\u000ecan assimilate the information later. For many people, the best \u0004\u000eway is a combination of stimuli: See the information, say the \u0004\u000einformation, experience the sensations.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

What you get out of sailing will be influenced by your \u0004\u000eapproach to learning it. Racing tacticians often see the sport in an \u0004\u000eintellectual fashion and play it as a game of chess on the water. \u0004\u000eTo pure tacticians, sailing is a challenge to be mastered and the \u0004\u000ephysical sensation is secondary to solving the problems of when to \u0004\u000etack, what a wind shift will do to the boat’s relative position and how to maximize boatspeed according to polar coordinate graphs. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Physical, kinesthetic learners are more likely to develop good \u0004\u000e”seat of the pants” ability and be able to tell when a boat is at its \u0004\u000ebest by the way it feels to them. A physical sailor senses the \u0004\u000ewind, waves and boat motion and integrates all of those inputs to \u0004\u000earrive at decisions about how to steer and adjust the sails. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people sail with a combination of intellectual and \u0004\u000ephysical techniques but one of the two will predominate. Those \u0004\u000ewho like to ski, skate, fly and surf are more likely to sail physically \u0004\u000ewhile card players and computer programmers are often mental \u0004\u000esailors. Sailing is always an extension of yourself.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

After the first class session, you will go aboard a boat and \u0004\u000elearn how to rig the sails. Your instructor will point out ways to \u0004\u000ejudge the wind and predict what your vessel will do in various \u0004\u000ecircumstances, including how to leave the dock or mooring. As your \u0004\u000eboat pulls away from shore, you can expect to learn what you \u0004\u000elearn best, so relax and let the new experience flow over you.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

You will notice the sensation of motion without effort. There \u0004\u000eis no engine vibration as the land and other fixed references glide \u0004\u000eby like scenes from a movie with no soundtrack. Tactical sailors \u0004\u000ewill begin to observe how buoys and landmarks change relative \u0004\u000epositions when they move the rudder and adjust the sails. \u0004\u000ePhysical sailors will sense the change in sound of the bow wave \u0005\u000eand the angle of heel as they make the same adjustments.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the boat will tip slightly, or “heel” as the wind moves \u0004\u000eover the sails. That’s no more cause for alarm than the sensation \u0004\u000eof moving from side to side when a car turns a corner, but you \u0004\u000emay need several hours of sailing to become accustomed to it. A \u0004\u000eperson who notices the heeling acutely has the makings of an \u0004\u000eexceptionally good physical sailor and helmsman who can sense \u0004\u000ewhen a boat is moving at its best speed.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

You will become aware of the wind flowing over the boat, the \u0004\u000esails and your body. Some new sailors make mental note of the \u0004\u000eangle of the wind to the hull and which way the yarn telltales \u0004\u000eflow while others get the same information by the airflow across \u0004\u000ethe skin of their faces and arms. You may find the first sailing \u0004\u000esession is the first time you have ever really noticed the ocean of \u0004\u000e\u001cair we all are submerged in.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

You will see dramatic differences between the way a sailboat \u0004\u000ebehaves and the way your family automobile handles. Even \u0004\u000eexposure to powerboats will not prepare you for it, so expect to be \u0004\u000epleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to manipulate tons of \u0004\u000evessel with nothing but the forces of Nature. Sailing does not force \u0004\u000eitself upon the natural world but uses the qualities of the world \u0004\u000eharmoniously to its own advantage.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

You will certainly notice that your mistakes are instantly \u0004\u000erecognized and repaid.\u00a0Sailing is one of the safest sports and errors \u0004\u000eproduce reminders. For example, if you try to turn the bow of the \u0004\u000evessel straight into the wind, the boat simply stops and waits for \u0004\u000eyou to do something intelligent, making a sailboat the ultimate \u0004\u000e\u0014teaching machine. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

Expect the first sailing session to last about two hours for that \u0004\u000egives you about all you will be able to absorb at one time. After a \u0004\u000ebreak, you will be ready for more information and practical \u0004\u000eexperience in tacking, gybing, “reading” the wind and water, right-of-way rules, weather and seamanship.\u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

You will need at least four hours of class and eight hours of \u0004\u000esailing practice to feel reasonably confident in your ability to do the \u0004\u000ebasic maneuvers in a sailboat. Some courses spread this out over \u0004\u000eseveral weeks while others condense it into one intensive weekend. \u0004\u000eChoose the way that suits your learning style best. \u0004\u000e<\/span><\/p>\n

After an intensive weekend of instruction, an average \u0004\u000emotivated adult can learn to rig a daysailing boat, leave the dock \u0004\u000eor beach, sail around without incident for several hours, return \u0004\u000e\u001ahome and unrig the vessel.\u0004\u000e With the basics learned, you will be ready to expand your \u0004\u000eexperience to some of the other joys of travel under sail: daysailing \u0004\u000ewith friends, cruising to nearby waterfront towns, racing or \u0004\u000echartering in exotic locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a different world and one you \u0005\u000ewill be able to spend a lifetime exploring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u000e\u000f— The End —<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A stable centerboard boat like this 19-foot Flying Scot is an excellent choice for learning to sail, and it is also lots of fun to daysail and race.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in Chesapeake Bay Magazine, 1989 The first sailing lesson – What to expect \u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove While a few people teach themselves to sail with a book and a \u0004\u000eboat, the easier and surer way is to take a sailing class. There are \u0004\u000emany commercial sailing schools all around the world as well Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":641,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}