Learning to sail - building a foundation for Sail and boat trim.

This is an earlier and shorter version of what has become our …

… that cover all aspects of sailing upwind and down, all manoeuvres and how to sail efficiently – which is where sailing safety comes from.

All Free Online Sailing Lessons – Index

Sailing Upwind with less effort
Increase confidence in Stronger Winds
Downwind with less distress
Gusts, Gybes and tacks easily
Not hitting other boats and more

Learning to sail lessons on your own sailing boat

Knowing how to sail is GENERAL and Transferable.

This article applies to any sailboat. The principles are the same.

Although I am a great devotee for alternative sails like balance lugs and sprit boomed sails for their much lower cost this article applies to almost any sailboat with any type of sail.

SAILING BY NOT SAILING – IT SOUNDS A BIT ZEN?!?

It is very possible to learn to sail by yourself. The basics are not rocket science.

There are two overlooked parts … maybe three … that seem minor but have big repercussions for the rate of learning.

Most lessons teach the wrong thing and have done so for decades with the assumption that is easier. In fact the latest methods used by the very best sailors are much easier to learn AND you won’t have to unlearn everything.

See our Free Sailing Lessons Here – they are much simpler than most others and use the most modern sailing techniques.

Before your first Sail – Checklist

All these become ingrained for the better sailors as they develop their skills.

Life Jackets and Bailer – you’ll need them no matter how good a swimmer you are. How to get kids to wear lifejackets.
Wind direction – should be “onshore”. The wind should be blowing toward the land to some extent. One person I know was picked up on his windsurfer 6 miles out from the beach.
Wind Strength – it should feel like a nice day to be outside. If the wind feels brisk … leave it until next week. Under 12mph (or 12 knots is ideal).
Clothing – Small boats are strongly related to swimming. When you are learning to sail … if you wouldn’t go swimming with the clothes and gear you are wearing .. you probably shouldn’t go sailing. If the water is cold you should wear a wetsuit or something you can stay warm in. In Australia or Texas in summer there is less risk of getting too cold but you still need to think that maybe you will be in the water for an hour if something goes very wrong – it won’t happen – particularly if you are ready for it! In sunny climates – hat, sunscreen – long sleeves.
Water – Sailing is very dehydrating. For years I had recurring headaches the days after sailing. Not sunstroke – DEHYDRATION HEADACHE. Water while sailing and heaps after and the next morning. If you aren’t weeing much then you are dehydrated! Sorry if that is a bit personal :)

Basic Boat Trim – Sit in the right place!

Sit in the right place. The right place is not at the back of the boat unless it is a 30 footer – and even not then!. The water behind the boat will go smooth if you sit in the right place because the bottom of the transom will be just kissing the water. It is usually when the crew is halfway along the boat or very slightly behind that.

This usually means that you start to use a tiller extension from the beginning.

This is me standing in a Goat Island Skiff steering with the tiller extension. See how moving around the boat is only possible with an extension. Usually you can’t sit in the right place unless you use one.

learn to sail - without steering using a tiller extension you cannot sit in the right place for best speed.

It’s no more confusing than a tiller (if you haven’t used one much) but easier to start the right way rather than find it confusing later. It is very easy to transition the other way. The tiller extension usually can be in front of your eyes when you change sides you can steer it through the ropes etc.

Probably most important is to get the boats rig – mast and sail setting – all worked out nicely. That is super important as a poorly set up boat will not give you the feedback you need to see if you are doing the right thing. A nicely set up boat will accelerate nicely as soon as you do the right thing. It is immediate and obvious. A poorly set up boat won’t give you any idea of whether it is you or the boat failing to make progress.

This is a super cheap OzRacer with a home made sail and everything looking very nicely set up. A cheap sail well set up is far superior to an excellent sail bady set up.

Learn to sail - a well set up cheap sail is way better than a badly set up expensive sail

The nice thing is that boat set up can be sorted with “lawn sailing”. Set up the boat in your back yard or street (WATCH OUT FOR POWER LINES when rigging or MOVING the boat!!!!!). Then take photos and post them here. We’ll all check it out to get everything set up nicely.

Lawn sailing is trying out a lot of this in an open area with the boat on grass or on the trailer – WATCH OUT FOR POWER LINES)

SAIL TRIM with ONLY ONE TECHNICAL TERM

This section has been superseded by a full article!

Sail Trim With ONE Technical Term

SAILING TOWARD THE WIND – STEERING.

This Section has also been replaced by a full article!

Sailing Upwind is easier with a good explanation.

Capsize is simply Floating – Next section is how to avoid capsize with good Technique.

First of all .. a boat capsize has another name – swimming. And you will be near a large floating object. And you are wearing a life jacket. So safety is quite good. Never leave your boat – which is a large floating object that will help YOU float.

Also once you are swimming you can see the value of a Flotation vest :) You don’t have to spend energy to keep floating. Energy is the big struggle.

If you have practiced capsize and recovery you will save a lot of energy and also will not go into a cycle of capsize after capsize. If practicing DO NOT TETHER THE BOAT WITH A ROPE – it makes getting back into the boat much more difficult.

We have a page here to help with capsize.

But every boat is different. So you should test your boat in calm conditions with the wind blowing towards the shore. You will need enough depth of water to get the centreboard oe leeboard down and might need the recovery line in the link above if you have a leeboard on one side of the boat only.

Keeping the boat upright the Easy Way.

But how to stop the boat from going over in the first place?

Yes – we have a new section on how to control the power so the boat doesn’t heel much.

I was wrong and had a bad technique without realising it – even though I was winning races. Now strong wind sailing is less tense – and I am going faster then ever.

The Modern Simple Techniques for Keeping the Boat Flat in Gusts

Wrong Methods that make sailing harder in gusts are:
“pointing up”
“luffing the boat”
Pushing the Tiller”

The new methods are much much better and way simpler!