Sailing: The Basics: The Book That Has Launched Thousands

With Sailing: The Basics, acclaimed teacher and racer Dave Franzel moves you quickly from book to boat. It is his firm conviction that the best and most effective way to learn to sail is to be out on the water. Accordingly, he treats the theory of sailing in a straightforward, no-nonsense fashion—just the way he’s done so successfully for decades at his Boston Sailing Center, and more recently, his St. Thomas Sailing Center. The essential information in this book is comprehensive, effectively reinforced, and clarified with more than 100 excellent line drawings. New to this edition is a discussion of advances in electronic navigation and weather apps. Also new is a section on the use of asymmetrical spinnakers.

Sailing: The Basics is exactly what it says it is. After studying this book, you’ll understand the fundamental concepts well enough to be confident of your abilities when you board your boat for the first time. You’ll learn how to sail on and off moorings and docks, how to trim the sails, and how to balance the boat properly. You will be introduced to the rules of the road, anchoring, navigation, spinnaker sailing, heavy-weather sailing, and basic seamanship. In short, you’ll have all the keys to a successful, fun, and safe time under sail.

Dave Franzel is the founder and former director of The Boston Sailing Center, where hundreds of men, women, and children learn to sail each year. In 2016 he established the St, Thomas Sailing Center because there really is no better place to sail. He is one of the more successful Soling and Sonar racing skippers in the country and currently campaigns a J70. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.