Why you may not want to be anchored anywhere close to a mini-mega or mega yacht, a little bit of hope, and why am I not surprised there was profit involved...
I'll let you in on a little secret...
I'd really love to take a sailing class and I've been sailing for fifty years. Point of fact, I noticed Tom Cunliffe was teaching a couple of short Master classes (Gaff Master Class & a Master Class on Lady Emma) and, I expect, Tom would be able to cure me of a couple of bad habits in short shrift given the opportunity...
Of course, I'd have to do a six-month cruise with someone like Cunliffe to be able to sort out all of my sailing based bad habits!
When you come to think of it, "bad habits" is really the name of the game... Which is why going to a good sailing school will make you a better sailor because it goes a long way to preventing you from developing bad habits which will, down the line, play havoc with your ability to become a better sailor.
You can read a book... Books are great and a few like the "New Glenans Sailing Manual", "The Complete Day Skipper: Skippering with confidence right from the start", "The Complete Yachtmaster: Sailing, Seamanship and Navigation for the Modern Yacht Skipper", and, even the much more basic "Competent Crew: Practical Course Notes" will go a long way in making you a more proficient and better sailor.
Then again, the downside of books alone is that there is no feedback to help you through the problematic bits which is why a hands-on class with a flesh and blood instructor makes all the difference.
Sad to say, sail education in the US of A is pretty dire... I certainly can't recommend ASA and the only thing I'll say is you'd be better off keeping a barge pole length between yourself and anything reeking of the ASA.
Truly great sail training programs can be found at the various Glénans schools and the RYA and while you may have to travel a little further the better training/education will pay off in no time at all.
Listening to The Persuasions
So it goes...
Bruce+
4 days ago
