First time's the charm

[UnBelizeable]

My Joy

I purchased a Catalina 22 #3058 this year as my first sailboat. She was well cared for and has been a dream to sail. Her swing keel has allowed for some forgiving groundings...in mud thank god.I sail her on the Chesapeake in the Deale Md area, Herrington Harbour North Marina. Rigging is sitting at the house waiting for the fall to install and am looking for a main now. Her past owners took EXCEPTIONAL care of her and I'm overjoyed to finally be back on the water after 15 years without a boat. I highly suggest getting smaller boat till you learn the basics. Seen too many go out on a 30' and lose control due to lack of skills.See you all out there....

 

[Jack]

Laser love

My dad came home with an old, used Laser when I was about 15--we sailed that boat through two broken masts, a sudden thunderstorm with 70 mile an hour winds (try to reef a Laser!)and finally gave it to a summer camp after ten years. I currently have a Hunter 31--but that Laser will always be my favorite boat--looking to buy one for my 14 year old son so he can learn the wind the way I did...the truth is that was the most difficult boat to sail I've ever been on--big boats are easy compared to trying to keep a Laser upright in 20 knots of breeze....

 

[tom]

My first boat was a sunfish but my Laser

was the boat that taught me to sail better. I sailed in Murrels inlet SC some and in those long narrow channels learned what the laser could do. One surprise was how much difference the location of my butt made. By watching the shore I saw that moving my butt three inches fore or aft changed the boat's speed. Sailing through the surf at Myrtle Beach,SC was the most fun!! I never learned the boats true potential and would bury the bow and pitchpole when things got interesting. I know there has to be a way to surf down a wave without burying the bow in the wave ahead. Unfortunately I moved away from the coast before becoming proficent. But after being an amatuer in the ocean there were never lake conditions that caused much concern.

 

[Ken]

love of a lifetime

When I was seventeen I read a book called The Mercer Boys (cruise of the lassie)Two brothers and a friend cruising offshore on a thirty foot sloop.Forty year (and many dreams later)I bought my first and only boat.A 1973 catalina.The first day out, was as out of a nightmare,strong winds and knocked over too many times to count.But I had a dream and a love of the water,so with the help of other 22 sailors I learned to sail this little boat.I am not thinking of moving up to a larger boat.But I love all sizes of sailing boats and the sailors who sail them.

 

[Roger]

Saw and Hammer Class

Actually, that was only the original name for a pram bow 13 foot catboat which was designed in Riverton that was my first boat; it became the Duster (for reasons I do not fathom). The origoinal name wa because you were supposed to build them out of plywood in your basement. Even the boom was a flat piece of plywood!They were great fun to sail, as they planed like crazy downwind. They also were decked over, so you could get knocked down without swamping (if you were lucky). Of course, your abdominal muscles did get a workout in any breeze.I think the class has passed into history, but we sure had fun 'messing about in boats', and there was quite a lot of serious racing at the nold Riverton Yacht Club(but not by me). RogerC27 #5012& Mabel Cape Cod

 

[David Clonts]

Small Boat, Big Thrills

I Started out wind surfing, fast & crazy ( thats what you are when your 18 ) I thought this would be more fun shared with friends but since all my friends were broke or in school I bought a Hobie 16 then a San Juan 21 Now a Oday 25 I'm a lake sailor so I think I will top out @ 27' until I retire. One things for sure. Bigger is slower,But less painful

 

[Tom Gorman]

jumped right into a 31 footer

Although my wife and I spent a few years sailing on other peoples' boats and day sailing on rented 22 ft Capris when we decided to buy we went to the Catalina 310. At our age we need all the creature comforts we could afford to make it fun vs. work

 

[Jeanne Bromberg]

First sail a Catameran, learned on a Teal

My first sail was with a best friend. We got to the lake at 7 p.m. (after much nagging on my part to go sailing). We sailed a 15' Catameran until midnight under a full moon. Later, we bought a 17' Teal for $400 w/trailer that we literally dug out of a field. But, it was a tight ship and fun to sail. We graduated to a 17' O'day II. I will die owning this boat! Next for me is to go to a 22-23 ft. trailerable. But, if I make it to retirement, the house goes and I will be living on a 25-30'.

 

[Stanley Hansen]

What size should your frist sailboat be?

A new sailor's forst boat should be one of at least 19 feet. The reasons for this are many. First a 19 footer(eg Rhodes19 , Cape Dory19 or a 22 foot Ensin)will handel some what like larger boats do. You will get the feel of what larger boats sail like and how they handel. Second reason, this is a good confortable lenth to start sailing with. You should be very confortable in a Rhodes 19 , Cape Dory,Ensin or simular boat in ruff weather.Also that they have wonderful resale value when you dicide to move up to a larger boat. The last and best of all, is that you can purchase these boats at a very low cost. An Ensin in good shape ready to sail should run about 4 to 5 thousand.

 

[Jason]

Started with a Bluejay but moved around quickly

My first memories of sailing are from when I was 4 or 5 years old on 32 foot wooden sailboat of which type I have no idea. However the first boat I sailed myself was a Bluejay (14' I think). But I was surrounded by boats as a kid so that quickly progressed back and forth between Sunfish to a 30' Pearson to a 19' wooden boat (no cabin, a lightning I think). The first boat I ever purchased myself as an adult is my O'Day Outlaw.

 

[Jeanne Bromberg]

Try a 17' O'Day Daysailor II

I have sailed on some bigger boats and I agree with the hearding. I love sailing my 17'. Your all but in the water and the "FEEL" is unbelievable. I will always keep one!

 

[J. Deily]

First Sailboat

I started with a 19 foot Cape Dory Typhoon. Not the "Weekender", but the open cockpit day sailor. A wonderful, sturdy, reliable vessel. The odd thing about the boat was that it was unnamed when I bought it, and I never got around to putting a name on the transom. It has always been "the boat" to everyone in the family. Now I have a 35 foot Pearson built Alberg that came with the name "Velero". I still have "the boat".

 

[Tim]

Stanley, what do you do when

an inexperienced sailed capsizes a boat this size? I would much rather be on a sunfish, snark or laser when turtle.I agree with everthing you say but I beleive this to be a second boat.As far as value and resale you get the same benefits from a used dinghy. Or when you are done give it to the kids to learn on.Tim

 

[Jason]

Forgot to give an actual opinion below.

I'd say start out with a real small, lightweight and trailerable boat for a few reasons.1) I am of the firm belief that any sailor needs to learn some limits by pushing the envelope too far. Simply put, get a boat that you can (and will) capsize and right yourself.2) You will get a much better feel for sail trimming on a small responsive boat verses something large.3) You won't complicate things by having to learn how to motor a sailboat, docking etc. Launch of a trailer and/or beach and have no worries.4) If you hate it or break it you only have a small investment to lose when having to sell it or fix it. In addition you will not be commiting to a full season of dock fee's if you never end up using it.

 

[john d brannan]

one of the best ways to learn sailing

if you can take a class in small boatssnipes lasers or lightningsthen spend some time racing the small boatsthen if you wish move up to larger boats

 

[Henry Dondi]

14' Hobie on vacation

I also had my first sailing experience while on vacation in the Bahamas, on a Hobie Cat 14 footer and I'm HOOKED! I've taken sailing lessons in my home town on a Sunfish, a 14' laser, a 17' Rebel and a 20' Holder. I'd really like something around 25 to 27 feet, so I could trailer it to larger lakes and rivers and maybe even Long Island Sound, but I've got a lot of looking to do for what I can afford. Also, my wife is also not big on sailing, but I hope to change her mind! Haven't had much luck with that though, over the last 20 years! She liked the 4 masted schooner we went on up in Maine, but she's not interested in "small" boats. There is nothing like sailing!

 

[John S. Spooner]

The Beetle Cat

The first sailboat I ever owned was a Beetle Cat. It was gaffed rigged and 12.6 feet long and 6 feet wide and made entirely of wood. It was a very forgiving craft and I learned a lot from it. It is a type I would recommend for any sailor, although it required a great deal of maintainence. It did not do well on a trailer, because the planking dried out if it sat out of the water for two weeks. I would then have to pour two gallons of water into it a couple of hours before launching to let it swell up. Once in the water,though, it was a wonderful trainer with a low center of gravity and a whole bag of tricks which stood me in good stead when I went to a larger boat.  I wish I still had it.

 

[Dave]

O'Day 22

O'Day 22 what a great boat to learn on. Ours had a shoal keel and could handle 4 people on a day sail and 2 on an overnight.

 

[j. Puckett]

Lake Sailing

The sunfish is the first sail boat that I sailed. 9-9-03

 

[Darryl Crockett]

Styrofoam sleeper

My first was a cartop upgraded snark otherwise known as a "Sunflower". It was a 50 pound lateen rigged, plastic enclosed styrofoam snark hull. My wife would come along with me and our combined body weight provided sufficient ballast to stabilize the boat in gusty conditions. It was an easily sailed boat that would ghost with only a whisper of a breeze. A condition that was prevalent, along with quick wind shifts, on Greenbelt Lake where I first launched it.