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How Did YOU Learn to Sail?

Just as there are many ways to enjoy sailing — daysailing, racing, cruising — there are also a variety of ways by which you can learn to sail. Some neophytes take a battery of lessons from a sailing school or community sailing program, some learn from relatives or family friends, while others do their best to figure out the mechanics of the sport on their own, perhaps after leafing through a learn-to-sail book or watching a few YouTube videos. 

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to each method, but with a little luck and fortitude, each of these approaches can produce a pretty decent sailor — even venturing out on your own in a small boat and figuring out how to get the boat moving via trial and error. (Not recommended.)

Having interviewed hundreds of successful cruisers and racers over the years, we’ve always found it fascinating to learn about how they were first introduced to the sport. And we’d like to extend that conversation to you, our readers: Please take a few minutes to tell us how you learned to sail:

• What inspired you to try sailing?
• Where did you learn?
• When?
• On what boat(s)?
• Who taught you?
• What were your first impressions after being introduced to the sport?
• How do you enjoy the sport of sailing today?

Please email us here and, if possible, send along a few photos from your early days on the water. Many thanks. 

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