I've had some interesting phone conversations over the years and this one was high on the interesting list. A fellow called me and indicated his wife has decided they should buy a sailboat over 35'.That's a nice idea. Before I could ask him about his sailing experience he told me he'd never sailed a boat BUT said it looked pretty simple and could I give him a quick overview of what's involved to sail a boat. I told him he could just raise the main and roll out the jib and call it sailing. He asked me if that was it and I told him that's what 50% of the worldwide sailing population does (the top 25% are experts and the bottom 25% want to know the what/why to improve efficiency - the middle 50% don't know what they don't know).
He asked how efficient that was and I told me not very much. Next he mentioned the owner showed him all the controls for the main & jib and he thought they were confusing and asked how many were important - I told him ALL of them. Additionally, I told him that you need to know the adjustment for each control for the main & jib for every point of sail and wind condition. SILENCE. I asked him to suppose his wife decided they should buy a plane - if you turned a boat horizontally it would be a plane - what would be his first step? He said ground school. Right, because I can't teach you to sail a boat over the phone no more than I can teach you to play the piano or fly a plane by phone.
I said the most basic thing that you must know, as with anything in life, is WHAT each sail trim controls for the main and jib is adjusting - there are only 4 elements and I explained them to him - I showed him using my hand. It's the Bernoulli Principle, since he went to public school he was unfamiliar with Bernoulli, that explains how various pressures of air flowing over and under plane wings (sails) generates lift.
My suggestion to the fellow was save your money - you'll tire of the boat quickly and it's a pain to dump - sell your wife on a cruise or a new sports car.
If you buy a sailboat, a set of golf clubs, a good tennis racket etc get the most out of your investment - spend some time to learn how to use it at least past the beginner stage to low intermediate. A sailboat is not a toy and bad things can happen very quickly and when they do the folks on board turn and look at you - you have no one to look to - you're it!!
To determine a solution to a sailing problem you have to know what the problem is. Beginners to intermediates can't determined a "fix " because they can't visualize the situation. That's where experienced contributors to the forum can help newbies. Newbies will be grateful - can you describe some serious situations you were in where it "went hell to a hand basket" and how you dealt with it?
He asked how efficient that was and I told me not very much. Next he mentioned the owner showed him all the controls for the main & jib and he thought they were confusing and asked how many were important - I told him ALL of them. Additionally, I told him that you need to know the adjustment for each control for the main & jib for every point of sail and wind condition. SILENCE. I asked him to suppose his wife decided they should buy a plane - if you turned a boat horizontally it would be a plane - what would be his first step? He said ground school. Right, because I can't teach you to sail a boat over the phone no more than I can teach you to play the piano or fly a plane by phone.
I said the most basic thing that you must know, as with anything in life, is WHAT each sail trim controls for the main and jib is adjusting - there are only 4 elements and I explained them to him - I showed him using my hand. It's the Bernoulli Principle, since he went to public school he was unfamiliar with Bernoulli, that explains how various pressures of air flowing over and under plane wings (sails) generates lift.
My suggestion to the fellow was save your money - you'll tire of the boat quickly and it's a pain to dump - sell your wife on a cruise or a new sports car.
If you buy a sailboat, a set of golf clubs, a good tennis racket etc get the most out of your investment - spend some time to learn how to use it at least past the beginner stage to low intermediate. A sailboat is not a toy and bad things can happen very quickly and when they do the folks on board turn and look at you - you have no one to look to - you're it!!
To determine a solution to a sailing problem you have to know what the problem is. Beginners to intermediates can't determined a "fix " because they can't visualize the situation. That's where experienced contributors to the forum can help newbies. Newbies will be grateful - can you describe some serious situations you were in where it "went hell to a hand basket" and how you dealt with it?