Sailing

Have you been feeling bored and aimless lately? Maybe you need a new challenge in your life. Sailing will open a new world for you, and what you can accomplish will surprise you.

During a boat's normal course of use, it tends to accumulate dings and scratches. Flotsam and detritus in the water can scrape against the hull and weather can damage the boat's surface as well,...

The wind vane on a sailboat serves the same purpose as a tell-tale: it indicates wind direction. While the tell-tale is little more than a strip of ribbon attached to a stay, the wind vane is a...

Learning to sail is best done on small sailboats. You can get the feel for things a lot faster when you have control of everything. The catch is that when you're learning, or just pushing the...

Santa Catalina Island is a marvelous weekend getaway for anybody who lives along the Southern California Coast. It’s 22 miles long, eight miles across at its widest and just 22 miles from the...

Sailing your boat can be more than a relaxing hobby. For some people it becomes a way of life. Maybe you've decided you'd like to try building your own small boat? Though it's a fairly involved...

There is a seemingly endless variety of sailing knots that sailors use for a variety of purposes. In fact, two sailors on the same boat, and in the same conditions, may opt for different knots....

Sailing is a wonderful recreational sport. When you are sailing, you are out in the wind and fresh air enjoying some healthy exercise. The sport sets you up to work with the forces of nature, and...

Are you one of those who stand on the beach or the dock or the pier and gaze wistfully at the sailboats that go skimming by, wishing you knew what those people know so you could join in? Sailing...

Leaving a dock in a sailboat is much like getting out of a parking spot in a car, but with the added difficulty of the waves trying to push you against the dock or against other boats, of the wind...

Charting a course for any boating trip requires meticulous attention. A poorly charted course can lead a voyage into peril and disaster. Many factors will affect your choice of course, such as...

Sail making is part art and science. Sails are made of individual panels sewn together to hold a curve created by the wind. Although sails today are designed on a computer, they are still for the...

A ketch rigged sailboat uses a mizzen, or rear, mast and sail to add power, stabilize the boat and provide excellent sail balance in different weather conditions. Despite this, ketch rigged boats...

Sailing can be a fun and satisfying activity whether you dream of sailing around the world someday or just enjoying the water and sky. It takes time and practice to become a skilled sailor, but it...

Getting a sailboat to move in the direction and at the speed you want takes a subtle hand and patience. However, with a properly rigged boat, some sailing lessons and practice, you can propel a...

A cutter rigged boat, often referred to as simply as a "cutter," is a monohulled sailboat that has two or more headsails. The added headsails allow cutters a level of wind versatility and easy...

A yawl is a sloop rigged sailboat that has a mizzen (or rear) mast that carries an extra sail. The mizzen mast provides the boat with a little bit more propulsion and, importantly, an effective...

Sloop rigged sailboats, or boats with a fore and aft rig divided by a mast that generally sits in the front half of the boat, are the most common and practical sailboats on today's market. Buying...

Purchasing a new sail for your sailboat is expensive but necessary. Sails, a major investment for any sailor, are available from a wide range of boating retailers. Shop online and at local lofts...

The Northeastern United States offers a wide range of areas for sailing. Lake Erie, the rocky coast of Maine, the shoreline of New Jersey and the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland all have their own...

Going to sea, even for relatively short periods of time, is a stressful and difficult thing, even for experienced sailors. Making the best of a sea or ocean voyage requires that you get prepared...

A sailor can end up “in irons” when he or she fails to complete a tack and ends up stopped head-to-wind. This happens when the boat was not sailing fast enough to make the tack, you don’t steer...

There are two ways to turn a boat when sailing, tacking and jibing. Tacking is turning the bow of the boat through the wind and jibing is turning the stern through the wind. Tacking is the usual...

When you finally get out there on the water, the last thing you want to do is spend all day trimming the sails. The easiest thing to do set yourself on a nice reach, tie down the jib and sit back...

A jibe is a very fast and sometimes violent turn of a sailboat's stern through the wind. Since the wind instantly catches the sails and throws them onto their new tack, the boom, sails and lines...

Sailing upwind requires a careful balance between maintaining speed without veering to far from your course. The rush of apparent wind, the pitch of the boat as it rolls over waves and the...

Sailing wing on wing is a technique that puts the foresail on the opposite tack of the mainsail as the boat runs downwind. The result is that the two sails spread out in front of the boat,...

Apparent wind is the wind flow across a sail that's created by the combination of true (or prevailing) wind and the forward movement of a vessel. Many expert sailors pay attention only to apparent...

The beautiful and sometimes foreboding colors of the sky carry a wealth of information about the weather. For years, sailors have relied on the sky's color to predict the weather, with sayings...

Proper weight distribution is a key factor to getting the most out of your sailboat. An improperly balanced sailboat unnaturally hampers its own design, creating turbulence in the water and...

With the right approach and information, you can successfully race almost any sailboat. Paying careful attention to the boat's design, the weather conditions and your crew's experience will give...

The Royal Yachting Association is the most widely recognized international sailing authority. Competent Crew Certification from the RYA allows you to show any skipper, captain or boat owner that...

RYA Day Skipper Certification provides you with a solid basis for all of the essential aspects of sailing a boat during the day and in sight of land. Additionally, the certification allows you to...

Whether you're caught in a violent squall and want to take a restful break or you're sailing through clear water in light wind, the heave to maneuver is one of the most effective ways to passively...

Sailing requires a skillful blend of knowledge, experience and boldness. To become a master of the age-old art of sailing you must work to sail at a continual high level under increasingly...

The figure eight is one of the most useful maneuvers in sailing. As a mainstay of the man overboard drill, an excellent way to approach a dock under sail power and a generally good means of...

There is nothing more rewarding than being out on a warm summer day in a sailboat you built with your own two hands. It takes some woodworking knowledge and a lot of patience but building your own...

The American Sailing Association holds sailing instructor clinics in several locations to educate prospective sailing instructors. A good sailing instructor will master the sailing techniques and...

Sailing and sailboat racing are becoming a popular sport throughout the country. Men, women and even kids are climbing aboard the Flying Scot, a one-design day sailer that happens to go around the...

Trimming the sails on your sailboat allows you to make the most of the wind that is available. By understanding how to trim your sails, you can have greater control over your boat. Adjust your...

Tacking a sailboat is an essential skill in the sport of sailing. Since sailors are at the mercy of the wind (and wind direction), you need to know how to tack expertly in order to sail an upwind...

A catamaran is an exciting but complex boat. Its 2 hulls reduce drag on the water, giving the boat more velocity bang for its power buck. However, with the benefits of speed come the difficulties...

Correctly storing a catamaran extends the life of the boat by many years. Keeping the boat in a controlled environment where it is not vulnerable to corrosion and damage will help you protect your...

Successfully tacking a catamaran is one of the most difficult moves in dinghy sailing. The boat's 2 hulls demand that you build speed and maintain power through the tack. Speed and power, however,...

Catamarans are sleek and fast boats that make use of their minimal surface area to convert power into velocity. Sailing a catamaran in a race requires lots of finely tuned skill and knowledge,...

As the skipper of a catamaran your job is to manage the crew and take responsibility for the safety and course of the boat and people on board. Sailing a catamaran requires that you manage your...

The majesty and allure of tall ships has attracted a great deal of interest in the last few years. While the general public has become fascinated with understanding the past, many more stalwart...

There's an easy way and a hard way to make and install rub rails on a sail boat.

Buying a yacht is an exciting and difficult task that takes knowledge, money and a cautious eye. Once you've found the right boat for you, though, it's a bit like love and makes the long process...

Sailing is a pastime enjoyed by many in the United States and around the world. While some may think of sailing as an activity for coastal regions, this sport can be enjoyed almost anywhere there...