Here are my 2 cents. - I didn't grow up sailing or on the water but was always drawn. - After undergrad, I signed on as crew with a friend of a friend to sail his Camper Nicolson 32 down the East Coast and out to the Bahamas. When I went aboard I did not know how to sail and when I left 6 months later I still didn't know how to sail, though I thought I did. (Offshore sailing on a 32' boat with a wind vane will not teach you how to sail.) - Later I moved to Seattle and volunteered at the Center for Wooden Boats in trade for free sailing time. This is where I learned basics of sailing. Small sloop rigged JK boats <https://cwb.org/exhibits/blanchard-jr-knockabout/>, with proper sails, leaving and docking under sail, constantly changing winds from all directions on Seattle's Lake Union. Other boats, airplanes, kayakers, etc. etc. to deal with. Forces that make you learn. - Got busy with grad school moved to Portland, got married, bought a US 27 with my wife and then started sailing again. Had the basics down and felt like I knew what I was doing. - Dumped the US 27, bought a C&C 30-2. - Then I started racing...mostly on others boats. - Racing is taught me how to sail. I thought I knew how to sail, as others think they do, but I really didn't. Racing taught me proper seamanship, offshore at night with Pacific swells, currents and counter wind waves. Racing taught me rights-of-way without thinking about it. Racing gives me confidence in different conditions with symmetrical and asymmetrical chutes, reefing, sail trim, etc, etc. Racing gets me out multiple times a week, on a variety of boats, regardless of clouds in the sky, rain, high winds, or no winds. - Racing introduced me to a whole community of people, of all different stripes, who love sailing. Way more than I would have met on the docks in the marina. These people have become friends, on and off the water. - My advice is to get the C&C 25' if it seems right, but do all you can to get out racing on someone else's boat and smaller boats too. This is where you will actually learn to sail and you meet an excellent group of people doing so.
You will also an excellent group of local C&C owners and racers, like Alan and Fred in Portland. Best, Kevin On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 4:07 PM Randy Stafford via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > I’ve had learning experiences on boats of many sizes. I capsized a Hobie > 16, then sideslipped into a mega-yacht with it, all on the same afternoon > in Maho Bay, St. John. Single-handing a Coronado 15 in 20 kts a couple > years back, I capsized and couldn’t right it by myself. A microburst > knocked down the J/22 I was sailing several years ago on Chatfield > Reservoir. For ASA-104 I sailed a Bavaria 46 from Long Beach to Catalina, > and slewed around in a 38-foot catamaran on the way back. In 2013 I > roller-coastered through 15’ waves and 37-kt winds crossing the Bequia > Channel in a Jenneau 45, burying the bow in every trough. In my limited > experience sailing for about the last decade, I think every boat can teach > you something about how boats handle, comparatively. > > My main complaint about dinghy sailing is that it is a lot of work before > and after the actual sailing part. At minimum you have to launch and rig > the dinghy, then unrig and recover it, and possibly also tow it to / from > its storage place. Maybe I’m lazy, but I prefer a keelboat in a slip - a > lot less work every time you sail it. > > That said, here’s a picture from a bowsprit-mounted GoPro of my daughter > and I sailing a Topaz dinghy in 25mph winds last month: > https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-NqAxQ6JxFTeXVMS3Z2OWdNUGs. We didn’t > capsize that night but we kept a rail wet the whole time :) > > Cheers, > Randy Stafford > S/V Grenadine > C&C 30-1 #7 > Ken Caryl, CO > > > > On Aug 30, 2017, at 3:36 PM, Mark G via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: > > I didn't start sailing til my early 30's. I started out in Tech dinghies, > cat-rigged 12 footers. Dinghies are a great way to learn. Things happen > fast in a dinghy. And since you're the ballast, you really learn to > balance the boat. But they require a certain level of fitness and > athleticism - particularly when you flip them and you have to right them in > the water and climb back in. I then moved to 14 foot FJ's, a little more > performance oriented but basically more of the same. Then to a J24, which > is a completely different experience: you're in a cockpit, you have a > foredeck, etc. Honestly, if I hadn't graduated to the J24, I might have > stopped sailing. Little bit of time in an Etchells 22 around that time as > well. From there I knew I didn't want to race so I moved into more > cruising-oriented lessons. Boats were a 22 foot Soling, then a Pearson 26, > an Albin 28, a J29, a Pearson 31, a Pearson 303 and a Cal 33. So I've > taken starter lessons in both a 12 footer and a 22 footer. For an adult, I > think you're much better off starting in a 22 foot keelboat than a 12 foot > dinghy. > My first and only boat has been the C&C 25 Mk1. I initially looked at > everything made in any kind of quantity between 21 feet and 28 feet. I > settled on the 24-26 foot size. I wanted something you could overnight in, > without the complexity of a diesel. I continued to look hard at everything > made in any kind of quantity in that size range. I loved boat donation > auctions - a chance to see a lot of boats at once without an owner or a > broker breathing down your neck. And the best way to identify a > well-maintained boat is to see some poor ones. After seeing my first C&C > 25, I settled on that make / model. Looked at a few examples, then bought > one. Inexpensive, good condition, my only regret being I didn't buy a boat > with more upgrades. I've since converted to jiffy reefing, put on a > furler, a boom vang, a stern rail, an adjustable traveler, a backstay > adjuster. This stuff in total far exceeds what I paid for the boat. > If you sail in any kind of wind, a newbie sailor needs to know how to > depower the boat and needs the gadgets on the boat that allow him to do > so. Newbie sailors tend to sail with friends and family who know nothing > about sailing and won't be much help when things get exciting. If the > newbie sailor can't depower the boat from the cockpit with minimal > assistance from "crew" (guests), they'll be terrorized and probably won't > come back. > Mark > C&C 25 > Dartmouth, MA > _______________________________________________ > > 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! > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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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