Invitation to Sailing [Paperback]

Alan Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1971

This book will teach you how to sail. It doesn't matter if you've never been in a boat in your life, if you've had only an occasional outing with friends (picking up a lot of enthusiasm but almost no real knowledge). if you're a young prospective skipper or a Sunday crew-Alan Brown's instructions will bring art and the joy of sailing within your grasp.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (June 15, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067121134X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671211349
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for every sailor's bookshelf, January 29, 2000

By 

D. White "boat builder" (Orange, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invitation to Sailing (Paperback)

In-depth, even includes boat care and tuning. But the part of the book that struck me the most was chapter entitled 'What Makes a Sailboat Go' which included demonstrations helping to explain how a sailboat moves in the wind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for beginners to racing starters, August 28, 2007

By 

Louis Mauriello (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Invitation to Sailing (Paperback)

This has to be one of the better books that I have read written for someone new to the sport, covering the basics of both sailing and seamanship all the way to starting in racing to intermediate helmsmanship. The opening words of the dedication "...to Junior Sailors everywhere..." basically says it all.

Brown's objective was clearly to provide a training manual for Junior Sailors and even included a section on how to develop instructors. If you already know how to sail the first half of this book is a good refresher. The later sections are an excellent primer for the sailor who wants to start getting involved in racing. The chapter ending tests are a little tedious if you already know how to sail.

Though this book doesn't cover the material at the level of say Richard Creagh-Osborne's "This Is Racing" it does cover most of the same information in a much more digestible manner. Osborne's book is a masterpiece all in and of its own but he is writing for a more advanced sailor then Brown is addressing with "Invitation To Sailing". Brown's diagrams are much easier to understand on a first reading. He covers the topics at hand selectively whereas Osborne's diagrams are extensive covering too much and jam packed with many possibilities.

Reading the two in conjunction with each other will provide an excellent foundation in both the aspects of seamanship that are missed in most other books and racing from beginning to intermediate and advanced levels.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on learning to sail, September 19, 2011

By 

Mary Evans - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invitation to Sailing (Paperback)

I learned to sail by reading this book and sailing on a 15 1/2 foot daysailer. The book is easy to understand and should be required reading for all beginning sailors. Although dated, the instruction is timeless. A word of caution---sailing can be habit forming; my husband and I circumnavigated.