Getting Started
Roadmap — Four
If
you are curious about sailing, or you know some of the basics, and
are considering buying as boat within the next two years, here are
a recommended set of steps. The first three steps are really learning
to sail, and are done independent of the club. Then you start getting
the club and its members to help you to learn how to race, and,
eventually, buy the boat. It is a rather deliberate path. Rush or
skip some of the steps if you are sure of your interest in the sport
and what kind of boat you will be happy with.
a)
Sign up for a local learn-to-sail
program. This is a good way to get started. An American
Sailing Association (ASA) accredited course, such as the one at
Lake Crabtree, for example, will give you a good command of the
basics of how to get from one point to another in a sailboat. Taught
on simple Sunfish sailboats, the principles you'll learn will apply
to any kind of sailboat. See Learn
to Sail Classes.
b) Go sailing - Practice.
Once you know some of the basics - including the essential safety
rules - you will be amazed at how fast your skills will improve
if you can practice 3 times a month. A good way to do this if you
don't own a boat is to use one of the rental boats available in
the Triangle. See Triangle Area
Sailboat Rentals.
c)
Read up on sailing. Many
people find it helpful to read about sailing technique the night
before they go out to practice, and again at the end of the day
when they've been on the water. It gives you a chance to learn how
a technique or move is supposed to work, try out the technique on
the water, and then consolidate what you've learned after you've
had some experience it. See the References
section for suggestions.
d)
Join CSC as an Associate member and
participate in Club events. Being an associate member is a low-cost
alternative for non-boat owners. One of the biggest advantages of
belonging to CSC is the opportunity to learn from others. Most sailors
who have moved beyond the beginner stage have done so by learning
from other sailors and spending time on the water. You'll find CSC
members are more than willing to share what they know and help you
increase your knowledge and skills. So attend Club meetings, come
to the social events, help out on a committee, and ask lots of questions!
At your skill level, membership does not guarantee rides - but they
are easier to get if you are a member.
e) Register on in the crew-finder.
(Crew list is visible only on the members-only side of the web
site. You also can do your registration there if you are a member.)
Do not exaggerate your background: the knowledgeable skipper will
rapidly understand what you know once you get on the water.
f)
Crawl though the web site (carolinasailingclub.org) to get
a feel for club activities. (For later use, note that in the members-only
side there is a Rogues Gallery of names and pictures of all members
to help you put faces with names and vice versa.)
g)
Go to the next Third Thursdays
Social to start meeting members and get the lay of the land.
h)
Read about racing.
Most racing crew are long on skills built up from experience, but
short on understanding of the underlying theories and ideas. You
can learn the theories and ideas from a book - not completely, but
more than most crew know. Read. Not just the sailing magazines,
but books.
i)
Serve on a Race Committee (You must be at least an associate
member to serve on a race committee.) By assisting an experienced
Principal Race Officer to run the races, you can observe the other
boats - their strategy, tactics, and boat handling. You can become
familiar with how the races are run, and begin to learn the essentials
of the racing rules. See the Events
page for dates and information on the various racing series.
When you joined the club you were asked for preferences about dates
for your obligatory race committee duty. Contact the Chairman of
the Regatta Operations Committee, Dave
Batchelor, and tell him you are willing to do more RC duty.
k)
When you get crewing rides, ask questions. No question is
too dumb. Keep asking till you understand. The skipper is interested
in whether you are interested in learning and can learn fast. Never
sign up for a date unless you are sure you can make it; don't cancel
later. If you sign up, make it - and be on time.
l)
Learn about the CSC Fleets.
Discussions with members will tell you what boats are actively raced
in the area. The CSC fleets include one-design classes that race
with crews of one, two, or three. They include both catamarans and
monohulls. Some are better suited to family racing, others to single
competition. Some are physically demanding and built for speed,
others are more forgiving. Each fleet has its own personality. The
fleet captains are listed in CSC Fleets.
m)
Identify with a CSC Fleet. You are
not only picking a boat type and fleet that will be fun to crew
on / sail with, but you are also probably selecting the type of
boat you will eventually buy. As you build up racing experience
racer you will become attractive as crew, but you need to become
known among the skippers. A good way to do this is to focus on a
particular CSC fleet. Get to know the fleet members. Ask them to
tell you about their class. The Fleet Captain can be a helpful first
contact. (See About CSC Fleets.) The more fleet members you talk
to, the more they will recognize your experience and look for you
when they need crew. As you gain experience on that class of boat,
demand for you as crew will grow. Learn how best to rig and tune
that class of boat. Consider joining the fleet's national class
association as an associate or crew member. Many of these associations
have Web sites, newsletters, or other publications that provide
tips & techniques for rigging, tuning and sailing that class
of boat. (If the class association is not active, sometimes the
builder has a Web site.) The CSC Fleet Captain is likely to be able
to tell you how to find written or on-line resources for learning
special sailing techniques for that type of boat.
n)
Purchase a boat. The preceding steps will have prepared you
to take the plunge. If you really want to learn to sail well, there
is no better way to do it than to own a boat. You don't have to
be an expert to own a boat - but it does help to know some of the
basics, which the previous steps will provide. It is usually best
to buy a boat that is popular in this area, for several reasons.
First, you can learn from others who have the same kind of boat.
Second, there is a natural camaraderie among owners of the same
kind of boat. Third, when you're ready, you will have an opportunity
to race with boats that are exactly the same as yours, which makes
it a lot easier to gauge how well you're doing, and to learn quickly
how to sail the boat better.
In
the actual process of selecting and buying the boat, the fleet members
can be a lot of help. They know what's available, what to look for,
what you should look for. They also know how to fix up or make changes
to the boat.
Once
you have the boat, then you have another set of goals, covered by
one of two other sections, depending upon whether you learned
a lot about racing before you bought, were still
a racing novice, or are still a sailing novice.)
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