I learned to sail on dinghies more years ago than I care to admit. I still sail dinghies, though my preference is now to roomy boats like the 420; not too motivated to sail a Laser these days. Dinghies (1) are fun, (2) keep my basic sailing skills alive, and (3) keep me humble. No matter how many big boats I skipper now, a dinghy can still get me in the water pretty quickly.
Dinghy sailors make the best helmsmen for yachts. Yeah, it may be a 40-footer or a 60-footer or whatever, and the seas can build big offshore, but that primal feel of how a boat moves on the water driven by the wind still works. I developed that feel on little tipsy things on the Charles River in Boston, and it works in the middle of the Atlantic, too. I've seen a fair number of big-ego big-boaters who steer a sailing yacht like a car. That or punch in the auto pilot and never bother to trim the sails properly to balance the boat. It drives me crazy. This being said, dinghies may be unrealistic choice, if one starts sailing late in life or has limited agility for other reasons. Small keelboats (maybe with an outboard?) could be a good choice in this case. From the C&C family, I have only sailed a 1970s C&C 43 so far. One of my favorite boats ever - she sails like a dream! - but she is not a beginner's boat. In any case, it is never too late to fall in love with sailing! :-) Violeta On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 6:36 AM, Kurt Heckert via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Good morning, I teach sailing for an ASA school in Atlanta, we use the > Capri 22 as our teaching platform because it is small enough to get a real > feel for the boat, such as weather helm but large enough to learn all of > the skills you need for bigger boats. When our students move up to larger > boats the biggest thing they need to learn is the difference in power and > mass and the care and feeding of the diesel. > > Kurt Heckert > Heart & Soul > C&C 35 mkII > Atlanta GA > > -------------------------------------------- > On Wed, 8/30/17, Marek Dziedzic via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: > > Subject: Re: Stus-List Learning to sail in a small boat > To: "C&C List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Cc: "Marek Dziedzic" <dziedzi...@hotmail.com> > Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2017, 6:22 AM > > > > > > > Actually, I don't find windsurfing as a learning tool > for sailing. Totally different technique. It is like > snowboarding and skiing- both are done on snow, but one > skill does not translate to the other. > > > > Dinghy, on the other hand, will teach you a lot. Some > older people (and I don't mean old) may find them > uncomfortable or challenging, but you can learn much easier > the basic techniques of sail trimming and general > sailing. > > > > Of course, this would not help with big boat handling. > You need to learn how to dock, moor, anchor, do a MOB, stop, > or what a prop walk is. Even the proper technique of > hoisting sails. That you need to learn on a big (bigger?) > boat. > > > > Marek > > > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: John Irvin via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Date: 8/29/17 21:44 (GMT-05:00) > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Cc: John Irvin <skis...@outlook.com> > Subject: Re: Stus-List Learning to sail in a small boat > > > > > > Very good points. Windsurfing will substitute nicely > for mall boat sailing. > > > > sailing schools that I have heard of start novices out in > Catalina/Capri 21's or J24's. > > > > > > > > Neil > Foxfire C&C 32 > Rock Hall, MD > > > > > Neil Andersen > > 20691 Jamieson Rd > > Rock Hall, MD 21661 > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our > members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our > costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! >
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