Who taught you to sail?

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending 6/2/2002:I first learned to sail from...49% Pretty much on my own 30% A family member or friend13% Commercial sailing school08% Youth sailing program1053 owners responding

 

[Jason]

The Wrong Way.... But Fun!!

I always wanted to sail, dreamed about it. I read books and studied how sailors tacked their boats, how the wind filled their sails. One day on my way home I saw a small sailboat in a yard with a sale sign on it. Just for the fun of it I stopped and looked. Before I could leave the owner came out of the house and talked with me. To make a long story short, I left a proud owner of a Hobie Holder 12. My Lady Friend thought I lost my mind when I took it to the lake and informed her that I was going to sail it to the center of the lake and turn around and sail back. I informed her that I had read many books and it didn't look that difficult. I indeed sailed it to the center of the lake and returned to shore (the same place I started from). However, I was a totally different person after that 20 minute excursion. I turned into an addicted sailing monster. I now own a Starwind 22 and am planning on a much larger boat in the next 5 years. It's not really important HOW a person starts sailing, it's more important that a person appreciates the skill, tradition, and beauty of our sport. Sailors are really neat people....

 

[Kenneth Edwards Jr.]

High School Football Coach

My offensive line coach in High School used to race an October series out of the Thames Yacht Club in New London that tended to have heavy air. Depending on the breeze, 3-5 of us would serve as the crew / ballast of his Engisn. That started it. I bought a 16' Hobie, then a 23' South Coast and now a 30' Catalina.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Bittersweet

When I was a lad of 6-8, my parents sent me away to an eight-week camp. They couldn't afford the sailing program, so every time I asked to sign up it was already "filled" with pre-paid campers. I was bitterly disappointed and vowed someday to have my own boat. I moved up from Sunfish to Newport 16 to Rhodes O'Day 19 to Catalina 25 to Hunter 29.5 and sail 100 days a year to compensate -- or overcompenstate. The answer to the question, then, is self-taught and high motivated.

 

[David]

self taught

i was always fasinated with sailing as a youthso i started reading everything i could get my hands on at an early age ... built my first sailboat "canoe" and was hooked .... later on about the time i graduated high school (1975) i set in and built a 28ft. sailboat from my own design which worked out really better than i had planed... now the boat still sails on a near by lake (not owned by me anymore). what can i say its in my blood now and will never leave.... David

 

[willie nelson]

still a guppie class sailor

i went sailing with a friend and decided i wanted a boat. since then i've been learning by trial and terror. what makes me nervous is that my wife don't seem to get knack of catching the wind so i'm always the one stuck at the helm, and i don't know enough about what i'm doing to relax. but i will sooner or later be cool with it.

 

[Guest]

Royal Navy

I was a cadet in the Royal Navy while at boarding school, every few weeks we'd go dingy sailing in a nearby lake.

 

[Elmer Lotshaw]

Learning to sail

About 30 years ago I largely taught myself sailing fundamentals -- tiller in one hand and a book in the other. Mostly though, I learned to sail by joining a sailing club and participated in club races and eventually regattas sailing an Interlake l which I did for many years. After that moving lto bigger boats was simple. And I'm still learning.

 

[Brad]

Regatta Point Community Sailing

Regatta Point Community Sailing in Worcester,Massachusetts. I had the best time learning to sail than any other skill, flying included. I then went to work as an instructor and learned all the interesting ways people thought sailing worked!

 

[Dr. John Ficarro]

My Favorite Summer

I learned to sail at the age of 13. I spent a summer with my cousins in NY. My Uncle, a busy physician and commodore int the City Island based club, signed me and my cousins up for "Juniors" We sailed little Penguins. I was taught how to sail, we had a round robin racing tournament (switched boats) and raced at various events (Larchmont Race Week) etc. It was the happiest summer of my childhood and I was so proud of learning a skill.An accident (power boat) the following year in which two friends died and by some miracle I surprised, tempered my love of the water with a good dose of fear. Almost 50 years later, my trips on the water are still a combination of the joy of sailing and overcoming the fear that started so many years ago.I didn't own my own boat until my youngest daughter was 2. Her grandparents lived on a lake and I just had a great deal of fun sailing my used Sunfish.My daughter is 30 now and I just purchased my 2nd boat. A small Escape Rumba (supplemented by a nice Feathercraft sit on top kayak). I live close to a town launch near the CT River and I can't wait to get the boat ready and get back into small boat sailing.The future probably holds a larger 20+ foot boat when I retire and move south. (Will probably need some lessons on multi-sail boating), But for our short New England season, this low mainenance, fast, and high fun quotient boat should be a blast. (Now if I can only get the hang of backing up the darn trailer!John

 

[Tom]

Lake Lackey

I bought a Venture 222 and through books, trial and a lot of error learned to sail. I think that each time I go out it becomes a learning experience. I still read to learn as much as I can. My sailing is all on lakes, with a variety of winds and from all directions.

 

[Joe Springer]

Boy Scouts

I learned at a summer camp for Boy Scouts near Muskegon, MI. I was the steward, not a scout, but had access to the boats in my spare time. I kind of taught myself.

 

[bill]

self taught

When I was a kid, my father bought a lightning at a boat auction, I had to replace some ribs and planking, caulk, paint, varnish it. I built a tiller because i didn't know you could buy parts. I read a book on sailing and went out and fumbled my way through. I still remember my 1st approach to the dock on a broad reach...whamo. I went home and reread the section on that! I became very good at easing her up to a mooring or dock. What a great boat. Some how i've always been starved for sailing since. I became a good windsurfing, the sailing knowledge really helped that learning curve. I sail small boats occasionally, but I have yet to sleep on a sailboat. I dream of crusing and living aboard someday

 

[BRUCE CUTCLIFFE]

REGATTA POINT COMMUNITY SAILING

I had been around power boats for thirty+ years until my daughter took a sailing course at summer camp in the early 1980's. I subsequently purchased a small O'Day 17 (Daysiler) and signed up for lessons at Regatta Point Community Sailing in Worcester, MA. The director of that program at the time was Al Fern who had formerly been associated with the Community Sailing program on the Charles River in Boston. Al, an accomplished expert sailor in his own right, spent many years encouraging beginners to experience great rewards available in sailing at any level.It was thanks to Al, the enthusiasm of his instructors, and the years of Sunday morning racing at Regatta Point that committed me to sailing as a way of life. I have owned two additional O'Day sailboats since and am looking forward to the purchase of another for an Inter-Coastal waterway trip upon retirement.Bruce CutcliffeChelmsford, MA