Customer Reviews

Learn To Sail: A Beginner's Guide to the Art, Equipment, and Language of Sailing on a Lake or Ocean

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Having sailed for less than a year, I recently took formal lessons and bought a dizzying array of books to bring my level of seamanship up to par. For all intents and purposes, I was just a step above being an absolute beginner. Conner's book is better than any of the official "sailing association" texts for students who want to progress from knowing nothing to intermediate sailing in an easy to understand and wonderfully clear manner. No intimidating phraseology, and no presumption of prior knowledge. Plain simple talk for plain simple folk who want to begin sailing. Truly the best beginner's text I've seen. And I've seen plenty! My only reservation is that the book doesn't really cover "heaving to" and "heavy weather sailing" as much as I think it could. But a good argument could be made that students would learn that subject matter in more advanced lessons. All in all - the best available sailing text for absolute beginners. A real gem

I'm a sailor and recently purchased this book as a refernce for my wife who is just getting into the sport.

We've found the book an excellent "learn to sail" guide. The text is well thought out and the diagrams are good. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in learning to sail.

The drawback to the book is Dennis Connor's constant references to his own sailing victories (there's one every few pages). He even brags about the shamefull incident where he found that the only way he could win back the Americas Cup from the Kiwis was to use a catamaran and a courtroom.

This aside, this is still a book worth buying.

This text was great for the beginner. It teaches how to sail small boats in protected waters very well. It teaches how sailboats work in simple accurate terms. Topics such as: types of boats, types of rigs, parts of a boat, directions, types of sails, and sailing angles are covered. It teaches: how sailboats work, safety, hoisting sails, knots and sailing effectively at all angles to the wind. It teaches how to launch and put your boat away. I learned everything I needed to sail my small sailboat in protected waters with this book. Whenever I had some difficulties out on the water, I was able to refer to this book for accurate assistance. I feel that this is one of the best books for the beginning sailor.

If you are starting from the beginning, this is a good book. Sailing can be intimidating for the beginner because sailing jargon is almost a whole new language. Connor describes things in simple and understandable terms. It doesn't matter that almost all of the ropes on a boat are not called ropes. Connor clearly knows his business and effectively teaches in a very understandable way. I did not get to read his book until after I had already become a reasonably proficient sailor. I wish it had been available in the beginning

Learn to Sail by Dennis Conner is an excellent primer for someone wanting to learn more about sailing basics. It is an excellent resource containing many valuable tips.

Very easy to read and understand for a beginner sailor. An excellent reference book once you have mastered the basics to refer to. I Highly recommend this book for novice sailors.