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By Tom Linskey
The Sailing Life and You
When you’re narrowing your choices to specific brands and models of boats, remember to ask yourself two questions: What attracts my family and me to sailing? What do we want to get out of sailing? The answers will help you choose the right style of boat in whichever category you’re looking. For example, if the relaxation that comes from being on the water is what you most enjoy about sailing and you’re shopping for, say, an off-the-beach boat, choose a stable, easy-to-sail boat over a racer.
Remember, too, that in the sailing life there is always a “next boat” and a new sailing experience, and that in every boat you are using your skills. In my opinion it’s the sheer breadth of the sailing life that makes it incomparable, and to get the most from it my advice is to experience as many different forms of sailing – from lazy cruising to high-intensity racing, from local gunkholing to bluewater voyaging – and to sail every size and type of dinghy, keelboat, and multihull that you can. This, however, does not mean that once you move on from a type of boat, you shouldn’t return to it. The sailing life is a journey that, when you make the most of it, is often not linear but circular.
My father-in-law, Syd Rogers, is a good example of a sailor who, by choosing the right boat for the right reasons, is enjoying a full, satisfying life under sail. In childhood Syd learned to sail in a SHARPIE and a Beetle Cat (both 12-foot, cat-rigged, centerboard trainers); then he graduated to the Sakonnet 18, a keel daysailor. He built on this foundation of skills with years of dinghy and offshore racing and by owning a succession of coastal cruisers from 24 to 35 to 39 feet (boat size grew with the number of children). Now in his 70s, Syd has come full circle in the sailing life; his present boat, which he sails daily, weather permitting, is a Herreshoff Fish Class keelboat, a 20-foot, 9-inch daysailor that is easy to rig and get under way and is spritely to sail – perfect for his current needs.
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