DK Complete Sailing Manual [Hardcover]

Steve Sleight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1999

The sailing guide for all sailors from the novice to the experienced skipper -- everything you need to master the sport with over 750 images.

From daysailing to handling a cruiser on the open sea, the DK Complete Sailing Manual gives you the confidence to master every aspect of seamanship, whatever your level of experience. Features excellent instruction and practical advice, the DK Complete Sailing Manual is both a basic training manual for beginners and a completely up-to-date source of reference for the more experienced sailor. From handling ropes, tacking, and mooring, to boat maintenance, safety equipment, and sailing etiquette, it forms a comprehensive guide to practical seaman ship whether you are sailing a one-man daysailer or a multihulled yacht. Over 750 superb, full-color photographs and detailed artworks demonstrate the principles of sailing in step-by-step sequences. Including full instruction in navigational skills and meteorology, the DK Complete Sailing Manual provides all the technical skills you need to sail your own boat, safely and enjoyably.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With a dedication that cites the lovely passage from The Wind in the Willows about how there's "nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats," the DK Complete Sailing Manual tacks into a welcoming breeze from the start. It's an unpretentious, simply written, well-organized (by color codes for easy referral, no less), and comprehensively illustrated instructional that starts with the basics and, step by understandable step, builds from there.

Steve Sleight, a British National Champion racer, charts a course that beginners can quickly pick up and the more advanced can hold onto for ready reference. Emphasizing essential principles and techniques, he gets you into the boat, familiarizes you with both theory and practice, and then launches you safely with more than enough knowledge to keep you afloat. Before returning to port, he'll have you relatively ship-shape in knots, navigation, maintenance, safety, equipment, weather, and etiquette in vessels and situations ranging from one-person dinghies to multi-hulled yachts and calm lakes to high seas. "For those who catch the sailing bug, there is rarely a cure," he writes. Given this, the Manual comes through handily with the requisite life support. --Jeff Silverman

About the Author

Steve Sleight has worked as the Royal Yachting Association Coach and an instructor at the National Sailing Centre. He has handles all types of boats, from 10-foot monohulls to 130-foot multihulls, and has been a successful racing yachtsman and British National Champion. He is also a successful author and broadcaster. The book includes a forward by Jonathon McKee, 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist for sailing. McKee was also the U.S. sailing coach at the 1996 Olympics, where the U.S. won nine medals.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789446065
• ISBN-13: 978-0789446060
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Sailing > Instructional

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent balance - tons of information - fun to read, October 7, 2000

By 

David Franzel (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DK Complete Sailing Manual (Hardcover)

The biggest challenge facing the author of any sailing text is to communicate comprehensive information on a technical subject in a manner that is still readable. Many of them fail at this, being either too dry for most people to read or not sufficiently comprehensive to be very useful.

Steve Sleight's Complete Sailing Manual is one of the most informative and engaging books on sailing I have ever encountered. The writing is highly articulate and flows in a manner that draws the reader into each topic. It is sprinkled throughout with gem-like details of seamanship, history and personal experience that expose the author's formidable knowledge of sailing, communicating and teaching. It can be used as a reference or text -- read and enjoyed from cover to cover or kept on board to be used when you need to look something up.

The subjects range from dinghy and high performance sailing to racing, design considerations, all aspects of cruising, navigating, weather, storms, maintenance, safety, line handling and very much more. Each is handled thoroughly, and presents specific details that most writers are not sufficiently articulate to include. There are excellent sections on anchoring and docking under power or sail with consideration given to almost any possible wind and current strength and direction. Included is a discussion on techniques for using warps to turn a boat at a dock or on a med-moor.

The work is a beautiful balance between images (clear precise diagrams as well as excellent photos) and text. In short it is a complete sailing manual - extremely responsible in its content and fun to read.

As the director of one of the largest sailing schools in the United States, I am very pleased to have discovered this treasure and plan to use it as a text for our more advanced courses.

Dave Franzel Director Boston Sailing Center

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good beginners overview, March 4, 2001

By 

Laura Butler "Big Dog Mom" (Southern CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DK Complete Sailing Manual (Hardcover)

I think all the DK series books are interesting to read. Sailing is such a varied topic that illustrations are important to help the reader quickly grasp the concepts. I read and enjoyed Sailing for Dummies, but wish I had bought the DK Complete Saiing Manual first. I used it to supplement my sailing lessons. Although it is not as in-depth as Chapman's, I feel this is a great book to introduce beginning sailors to the many areas of sailing such as sailing basics, weather and cruising. Once a reader has the overall basics from this book, then learning the extensive details offered in a volume such as Chapman's will seem more easily digestible.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An objective testement, June 7, 2001

By 

M. Putegnat "michaelby" (Brownsville, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DK Complete Sailing Manual (Hardcover)

Here is one that stands out among the many. Steve Sleight's book "The Complete Sailing Manual" takes no chances at overstatement. The design and layout of the subject from the most elementary to the most sophisticated is managed with charm and grace. Each section teaches and inset boxes confirm. A glossary aids short memories. Little by little the reader is delighted into learning a great deal about sailing in a little space. The illustrations are clear and entertaining. The photographs well selected and nicely shown. It was a pleasure reading the book. I'll read it again.