what did you learn to sail on????

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Jan 22, 2008
12
Oday 322 Lake Pleasant AZ
I started on a Sunfish in 1962 then on to a Snark scow before moving with my brother to a Flying Dutchman. I am currently on an O'Day 322
 
Jun 3, 2004
298
'79 Hunter 33' HUN33190M79L Olympia
In my early teens, my dad bought a heavy built Blanchard 33 which was rock solid in heavy seas. Good thing because we lived in Hawaii and used to leave on Friday evening, sail all night through the Molokai channel, and arrive at Molokai or Lanai the next morning. Often Dad would plan the weekend in advance and loath to cancel we would cast off as long as small craft warnings were not in effect. Sometimes we would learn later that the flag was put up after we left. I recall more than once taking my 4 hours at the tiller in the dark night, bow slamming into the large swells, waves washing over the cockpit, my only concern being staying on the compass heading. We would always have at least one other competent man to crew with us and I recall the good feeling I had because my Dad trusted me with my watch at the helm as the rest of the crew slept (one always out in the cockpit with the helmsman) even though I was only 13-14. It didn't take long to be a competent sailor under those conditions.
 
Nov 9, 2009
5
Macgregor 26X Florida
Lightning

I grew up in Glen Cove... on Long Island, in NY
...not my choice, my family settled that part of Long Island.
...back as far as the 1740s...before there WAS a USA!
The ONLY good thing about it was that my Sister introduced me to
boating on Hempstead harbor....taught me to sail on a LIGHTNING...
and what I learned hanging out around the bay enabled me to earn a good living
there AND pay for a move to Florida around 1962.
AND when she died of ALS a few years ago, she left me enough to
retire to a mountaintop in PA
(see my profile on FB AND http://www.WRITERSWEB.org/)·
After lots of years of buying/sailing about 25-30 boats in various
stages of decomposition,
I NOW sail a Macgregor 26X currently parked for the winter on
its trailer in the driveway of my home in the Pocono mts in PA

http://www.WritersWeb.org

Have a NICE day!!!!
Fred
 

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Jun 10, 2004
94
Oday 37 World's Fair Marina, Flushing, Queens, NYC
Town Class and Brutal Beast

I learned to sail at 11 years old under instruction in a Town Class in Marblehead. I then switched to OP's (Other People's) Brutal Beasts and 110s. That was awhile ago.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I think it was called a McIntire 14'. Here is a pic of one (not mine but a friends). It is a sloop rigged dingy. And mine still lives at my mother's house.

r
 

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Jun 16, 2010
495
In search of my next boat Palm Harbor, FL
I first learned (by teaching myself at the age of 12) on a sunfish. I was given a 1 sq mile area by my parents that I could sail in. When I was 15 I bought my first of three Hobie 16's from a neighbor (actually bartered, by cutting his grass for the year). By the time I was 20, I had borrowed or sailed on boats up to 40'. When I returned to sailing 20 years later, it was to get my 10 y/o daughter into it. We bought another 16' Hobie, which we sailed for about 8 months. During that time, she bought (was given from a friend) a sunfish, which she sailed for 6 months, and took sailing classes at the Clearwater sailing center. We sold both of those, and put the money into our Hunter 22.
 

Slade

.
Nov 24, 2010
70
Starwind 223 "Respite" Redwing, Mn
Started around '72' in a Sears Fleetwind..self taught (reading and experimenting) and loved chasing down the Sunfish in the area (Lake Monroe in Indiana). Moved up to a Chyrsler Man O War. That was a fun, fun, boat. First experience planing a sailboat! Started real racing in that when I was 16 or so. Kept it until I was 21 and sold it to my brother. Fast forward to 82 and a Starwind 19. Took that boat everywhere (Keys, Ky Lake, kept it at Lake Monroe Sailing Assoc. for years) and she held up well. Cruising race series was great fun. Easy to sail to PHRF numbers. Boat was a casulty of a divorce. Now waiting to get my new (to me) Starwind 223 in the water. Never buy a boat in the winter...spring takes Forever to get here.

And by the way, Zehag..that is a great old boat!
 
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May 24, 2004
470
Hunter 33.5 Portsmouth, RI
My wife and I, in the early 90's, learned on 27 foot Solings at the Boston sailing Center in Boston Harbor. The Soling is an open cockpit boat the can easily have 4 people in it to learn and coach each other. The classes started with 1 or 2 hours in a classroom each day followed by 5 or 6 hours on the boat putting into practice what was covered in class. It was a 5 day course offered in either 5 consecutive days (which we did) or 5 consecutive weekends. We took 2 courses, "Learn to Sail" and "Advanced sailing" which was on 24 foot sloop. I also followed up with a "Cruising Course" which was 3 evenings followed by a weekend cruise (Fri. nite thru Sun. evening) with an instructor and 4 students. All courses were a graet learning experience. We're glad we did it. For the last 12 seassons we are now sailing our Hunter 33.5 (at age 75 & 72) and are continuing on a year by year basis. While my body is 75, I however am 25 for the third time.
 
Jul 20, 2010
81
Precision P28 Lake Ouachita
I learned on an 11 foot Snark made of ABS plastic I bought from Sears in 1978 or 79. I think it set me back about 300.00. I took the boat up to Lake Loramie in Ohio and my daughter and I took her out. My sailing experience was very limited as I recall. The weather started to get stormy and wind began to pipe up and son-of-a-gun if we weren't planing. I figure between the two of us we had about 225 pounds on board. I will never forget that sail. It was awesome and I was smitten with sailboats forever more.
 
Jun 21, 2009
119
Catalina 30 Mk 1, #3335 Midland, Ontario
My AHA Moment

My ‘AHA’ Moment (as published in the 35th Anniversary issue of Cruising World Magazine.)

My AHA Moment came unexpectedly. I was working as a Detective in an Undercover Unit of the Toronto Police through the 90’s, at a time when a lengthy war between rivals was taking a heavy toll. The work schedule was extreme and massive amounts of overtime, lost weekends and days-off was the norm.

My boss, Al Macdonald, Mac, a man I’d known over years of working with suggested, strongly, that he and I take our scheduled holidays down in Florida so we could have a much-needed Break.

Now as a man who had been involved in amateur road-racing cars and motorcycles for 20 years, skydived, downhill-skied, scuba dived and loved just about every other adrenalin-inducing activity, the stress of the work wasn’t overbearing, but the constant pace of only work and no fun was wearing thin.

So I said, “Why not.”

This is almost a direct quote of the conversation we had back then.

I asked Mac “what’re we gonna do in Florida?”

He replied “I keep my sailboat in Key Largo, we’ll go sailing.”

I, new to sailing, said “ Cool. Where to?”

He answered, “Key West.”

I said, “How far away is that?”

“About a hundred miles.”

“Great” says I, “how long will it take us to get there?”

“Three days” he replies.

“Three %$*#@! Days!!!” I shout, “I can walk there faster than that!”

“Trust me” Mac said, “You’ll love it.”

Now I knew a little about Key West. Mac had brought some Buffett discs into the office for background music while we worked cases, and wearing Hawaiian shirts had become our office trademark. So I figured that with 2 weeks off, 4 days to drive there and back, 6 days sailing there and back, I’d have 4 days to terrorize Key West and party like we knew how to. That became my motivation for the trip, sailing being only the delivery method to the Party!

So despite the unenjoyably glacial pace we’d make sailing, off I went.

The road trip proved great. Remember you never really know someone until you vacation with them, and I figured we were off to a good start. The boat was nice, a 1986 Aloha 32 named “Hummaduffer” after a rum-punch Mac had invented one night. She had cavernous storage and was well equipped and Key Largo was great. We prepped the boat and headed off.

And within mere moments I was a sailing convert. My AHA Moment had begun.

The combination of silence, the motion of the boat, the feeling of her surging when the wind filled the sails just right, the scenery and the company all solidified a feeling growing within me. This was the most relaxing time I think I had ever experienced up till that point in my life. The smile never faded from my face and getting to Key West didn’t seem so important anymore.

Mac let me steer while he navigated, busying himself around the boat, trimming sails and making lunch. He taught me the basics and I ate them up. Any mechanical necessities needed I took care of, glad to use knowledge I had up till then only used on race cars. We sailed, anchored, ate, drank, talked, swam and cleaned the barnacles off and got to know each other better. We told tales, and lies, listened to Buffett, stopped at Plantation Yacht Harbour on Islamorada to tank up and partied the night away with the locals, sailed more, anchored off Lignum Vitae, hooked a hammock between the mast and jib that I rocked away in until the freshening wind made the pendulum effect too great, repeated and continued on to Key West, where we had a blast draining the town dry.

The sail back was a repeat of the fun we had on the way down, but leaving the boat proved to be harder than I could have imagined. This had been a blast and I was in no hurry to return to “The Life!”

So when Mac suggested the following year that we do it again I leaped at the chance.

Stepping back aboard I knelt down and kissed the deck, saying “Hi Sweetheart, I’m back!”

And so I became a sailor.

Four times we made that trip together, before Mac sold the boat. Each time the lure was the sailing, not the destination. Four times I fell in love again with sailing.

Since then I’ve subscribed to, devoured and saved every issue of Cruising World, completed one 7 week delivery from Trinidad to Fort Lauderdale, aboard a nightmare of a boat that proved to be a great experience, and sailed aboard everything I could get on.
I even picked up a nick-name, the Shameless Sailing Slut, because I’d sail with anyone, anywhere, anytime on anything. My wife Dolores and I married at The Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke on a charter in the Caribbean 3 years ago and we continued to charter in the Caribbean each winter. I’ve done some racing too, as a mate twice in the Lake Ontario 300, although I much prefer a lazy cruise.

Hummaduffer’s gone now, renamed and in new hands. I miss her and hold fond memories of how she and Mac changed my life. I don’t make that statement lightly. I’ve given up racing cars for slower passions, started a Parrot Head club in Toronto and formed a Trop-Rock band. Last year I retired from the Police Service after 31 years and we moved from hectic Toronto north to the quiet shores of Georgian Bay. Last fall we bought our own boat, a 30 foot Catalina we named “Guilty Pleasure” which lived on our property all winter.

Today, Monday the 18th of May 2009, was the first day I sailed her. The smile returned tenfold as I took the helm of my very own sailboat. Fittingly, Mac was right there on board her with me.

We’ll be sailing the North Channel this summer, embracing the life Hummaduffer introduced me to, coincidentally where she began her own sailing life 23 years before.

Mac and his wife Margaret became two of our best friends and are happily about to buy a new boat and sail off on their own retirement. We look forward to many new experiences afloat.

Mac took my picture on that first trip, while I was at the helm, and the smile on my face said it all. He told me many years later that he knew then and there he’d made a convert of me. I have that smile still, every time I step aboard a sailboat, and I experience that very same AHA moment again and again. Just like I did today.

Norm and Dolores Marshall
Penetanguishene, Ontario,
Canada.
 
Nov 23, 2009
17
Pearson 33 Mt Vernon, MD
Learned to sail in a 17' Thistle that a friend gave me. I leaned what the term "Project boat" meant as well as restoration, when to duck when tacking and righting a capsized boat. Eventually I learned proper sail handling along with balancing techniques. Mostly I learned alot about single handling a boat since I scared the bejeezus out of everyone who came along for a ride. I had a great time!
 
Sep 15, 2007
69
Hunter 22 Temple Hills, Maryland
19' Flying Scot.

To this day I don't know how I became involved with sailing. I remember seeing bumper stickers that read "I'd Rather Be Sailing" and I'd wonder, "Why?" :doh:

In my defense, I liked what I later learned were sloops and thought they were beautiful and graceful, but I had absolutely no idea of how to go about learning to sail. :confused: Unlike many of the posts I've read, none of my acquaintances sailed. :snooty:

Still don't know why but oddly in the early 90's I bought a book entitled How to Buy a Sailboat. I guess something was at work subconsciously. :) About 10 years later I began to dream more and more about sailing to the Carribean. Around 2005 I visited SCOW (Sailing Club of Washington) and was taken for a short ride on a Flying Scot and I was hooked. I couldn't believe the boat actually moved, and quite well, solely under the power of the wind.:)

I found an organization call DCSail offering classes and I saved my money and began taking lessons on Scots in the spring of 2007. A week after graduation my fellow students and I capsized. I wasn't much of a swimmer but this didn't stop me. The following weekend and practically each weekend the rest of the summer I took a boat out and honed my skills. Although I learned the basics in my lessons, for me, they didn't really come together or make sense until I started sailing on my own.

I didn't fully understand at the time how what I'd learned on the Scot would transfer to larger boats so during the summer of 08 I joined another club that offered lessons on boats in the 22' category.

By this time I'd determined my the 33 Hunter dreamboat would be a nightmare for me logistically so I started looking at the Hunter 23.5. A chance exchange of emails exposed me to the Hunter 22 and I eventually bought my boat Adventure July, 2009.

I haven't sailed my boat yet but hope to this season. :)

I believe the Lord had His hand in this because I'm humbly amazed at how far and how quickly my dream was accomplished of not only learning to sail but buying the perfect boat for myself. It's by far, one of the most wonderful, amazing, satisfying, things I've ever done.
 
Sep 15, 2007
69
Hunter 22 Temple Hills, Maryland
"Never cleat off your mainsheet on a small boat!"

I too have read this but is it also applicable to large (22') boats? Like you, I'm still learning. I've thought "not" but I could be wrong. Thank you.
 
Sep 15, 2007
69
Hunter 22 Temple Hills, Maryland
My wife and I, in the early 90's, learned on 27 foot Solings at the Boston sailing Center in Boston Harbor. The Soling is an open cockpit boat the can easily have 4 people in it to learn and coach each other. The classes started with 1 or 2 hours in a classroom each day followed by 5 or 6 hours on the boat putting into practice what was covered in class. It was a 5 day course offered in either 5 consecutive days (which we did) or 5 consecutive weekends. We took 2 courses, "Learn to Sail" and "Advanced sailing" which was on 24 foot sloop. I also followed up with a "Cruising Course" which was 3 evenings followed by a weekend cruise (Fri. nite thru Sun. evening) with an instructor and 4 students. All courses were a graet learning experience. We're glad we did it. For the last 12 seassons we are now sailing our Hunter 33.5 (at age 75 & 72) and are continuing on a year by year basis. While my body is 75, I however am 25 for the third time.
You started sailing in your 50's which is what I did in 2007. I've wondered if I'd be able to continue sailing through out my 70's and I see I can. Thanks.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
"Never cleat off your mainsheet on a small boat!"

I too have read this but is it also applicable to large (22') boats? Like you, I'm still learning. I've thought "not" but I could be wrong. Thank you.
My experience was in the beetle cat boats and an old wooden sloop when I learned that lesson. They hadn't invented cam cleats back then! :)

The C22 has a cam cleat on the mainsheet fiddle block, so you can easily release it. Don't think I meant for you to have to hold it all day!

The only cleats on the boats I learned on were standard horn cleats - not a good idea!
 
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zeehag

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Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
my uncle sailed eleanor until he was 95 or so-- there is no reason to not sail--it makes ye young. no--she has no engine. she is alll sloop. he was all sailor. have fun and be heartened by that no age limit to sailors lives thing...lol --have fun and smooooth sailing.
i cheat-- i have engines. oops do i hear uncle phil rolling around in his grave.....
when i sailed dinghies--i had a kite--lol fun!! i held onto my sheet and was always using it!!!
 
Sep 19, 2006
14
Hunter 37.5 Legend Chestertown, Md
After many years of wanting to sail seriously in 2004 I chartered a day sailor out of Havre de Grace Maryland's Tidewater marina with a friend and have been hooked ever since. Now own a 37.5 Hunter legend
 
Feb 6, 2008
7
cape dory 28 28 Annapolis md
Learning to sail

My dad was a sailor who loved to go out into Little Narragansette Bay which is located between CT and RI. I sailed with him for a few years as a youngster. I bought my first boat an 18' Cape Cod Knockabout for $50.00 and sailed it on the Bay and up and down the Pawcatuck River which separates CT from RI. When you're out in a boat alone you either learn to sail or you get back to the dock by luck and never go out again.
 

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,249
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
Re: Learning to sail

I am not sure that this counts but I windsurfed for 20 years before I purchased our first Sailboat. It was a MacGregor 26X. I was 60 at the time and have since purchased my second and current boat a Hunter 33. My wife (who had never sailed before) and I have both taken lessons, been certified and continue to teach ourselves and learn every time we go out. Additionally, we have a wonderfully supportive group of sailing friends that support us and try to help us advance. I only wish that I had started sailing when I was 10 years younger.....we both love it!
 
May 21, 2004
7
Freedom 20 Sandy Point, Md
My first attempt was on one of those fiberglass dinghy's with a sail they sell in hardware stores. I was trying to impress a girlfriend, it was her boat. Her father towed us back to the docks. Many years later I bought a MacGregor 21 daysailor, checked the American Sail Assn. text book from the library and taught myself how to sail. I found ASA's text book so helpful I "lost" it and paid the libray six bucks for it. Now every spring I find that text book in my boat bag and refresh my memory.
 
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