Customer Reviews

Handbook of Trailer Sailing

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third highest rated book in our Ensenada 20 library, just below "Frugal Yachting", which is just below "The Complete Sailor".

I would strongly recommend any would-be sailor whose considering to take the plunge, to get all three, read them cover to cover, and keep them close at hand always.

The Handbook of Trailer Sailing provides rafts of information that would otherwise be difficult to aquire for those who are considering purchasing a trailerable sailboat.

While it could provide more depth on the trailering aspect, it compensates with lots of real life experience in all the places a trailer sailor may end up going.

This book contains a lot of practical advice about small boat sailing, and some information about dealing with transportation of the boat on a trailer. I was disappointed because I wanted more information about the actual trailering process - the book doesn't even touch on tow vehicles, and needs more on things like launching and retrieval, trailering different sizes of boats, safety with the trailer (like don't climb on the back of a boat on a trailer and tip it over backwards!), and so on. I'd also like to have seen more of an approach where there would be a statement of the problem, then here are different options to solve it, rather than Mr. Burgess' (admittedly inexpensive and effective) own way of solving the problem. I have to say this is the best book on trailering sailboats that I have seen, but there's a lot more that could have been included.

If you have, or are considering buying or borrowing, a sailboat, then this book is for you. While the focus of the book is on trailerable boats up to about 28 feet, many of the activities suggested are fun with a boat of any size. But again, the key here is how to wring the maximum enjoyment out of a boat that most people can actually afford. Mr. Burgess has had plenty of experience with this. He shares those experiences eloquently and with an eye for frugality. In fact, this book is a much better reference for sailing on a budget than "Frugal Yachting". This latter title focuses heavily upon boat selection. In "Handbook of Trailer Sailing" Mr. Burgess will tell you how to enjoy your boat no matter what the size. Best of all, he tells you how to inexpensively enjoy all of the activities which are possible from a small sailboat, not just how to sail cheaply. Whether you sail, want to sail, or just are curious as to what sailing has to offer, then you will enjoy this book.

This is one of the first books I bought on sailing, and it's still one of my favorites (I have read dozens and dozens by now). It is aimed squarely at the trailer sailor, someone who is going to take a 16-25 boat, go to a launch and go off for the day or the weekend. Details ways to make all of this more enjoyable and more comfortable. Does not go into much detail on how to sail, there are other books that do that much better. But for advice for small boating, I think it's great.

quite good tho' curiously silent on the realities of trailering, especially topic of how to fit your choice of boat to your existing vehicle and vice versa. Just as Portland OR says elsewhere

This is an interesting little book but I didnt find that it provided the answers to some of the technical questions that I had. Although the author had owned a Com-Pac 16 Trailer Sailer and he used this to illustrate much of the text I still didnt learn anything that common sense would not otherwise have provided.
If you have the money, then by all means buy it, but I think there must be some more technically usefull books out there.
For example, I wanted to know how to rig the genoa on my Com-Pac 16- it wasnt their in sufficient detail to solve my problem. In the end I got the information from the on-line forum.I also wanted to know how the drop keel worked: again it wasnt their in any detail.
Perhaps I am being a little too hard: it was quite an interesting read for a trailer sailing enthusiast.

There are others that I have gotten more from, but I've already read them. This did add to my knowledge, especially as I am planning a Keys trip myself. This was the most useful part for me. Good winter reading!

This book seems to have detailed information but as a certified instructor I only found a few sections that caught my eye when I was skimming through it. I don't particually like the way the book is layed out. Definitely not a book I would read cover to cover. There are better books out there...