Sailing: A Woman's Guide [Paperback]

Doris Colgate (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ragged Mountain Press Woman's Guides | Publication Date: January 1, 1999

"Doris Colgate knows what women want. Well-known as a sailing role model and a confident yet gentle teacher, she writes with clarity on even the most complex sailing concepts, as well as answering often-asked questions on the safety, comfort, and social sides of sailing. Sailing: A Woman's Guide pulls it all together for the beginning sailor. Finally, an excellent book for women that both teaches and motivates. Bravo, Doris. You've opened up the sport." --Bernadette Peters, editorial director, Cruising World

"It took a person with her fingers on the pulse of women aspiring to sail to write this book, and that person is clearly Doris Colgate. Sailing: A Woman's Guide is as much a source book as empowerment to women the world over desiring to become sailors." --Micca Leffingwell Hutchins, editor of SailNet

"An excellent introduction to the sport of sailing. It will undoubtedly encourage many women to try this challenging, noncontact activity while enjoying the great outdoors."--Betsy Alison, Four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year

"This new series is designed to teach outdoor skills to women in the way they learn. . . . Women of all ages describe how they overcame obstacles, what they enjoyed most, or just how they felt about undertaking a new activity . . . extremely well done and appealing." --Library Journal (starred review)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Doris Colgate takes as a premise that most women approach learning to sail differently from men, and I think she's right. In Sailing: A Woman's Guide, Doris uses her considerable experience to encourage, excite and educate women in sailing and to show them how their inherent female qualities are those sailors need. Written in clear, but accessible language, Doris's book will help women to start sailing or to hone the skills they already have." --Patience Wales, Editor, SAIL

A Woman's Guide to Sailing--by one of the preeminent women sailors on the water

"When I started this book, the women I talked with said, "Wow, that's great! Finally someone is talking to us." So says Doris Colgate, author of this unique guide for women.

For women who want a calm, thorough introduction to sailing, Colgate offers the key. She'll teach you the skills and tricks of seasoned women sailors. Contrary to nautical myth, you needn't be an onboard gorilla or a 22-year-old. Mechanical advantage and woman-smart sailing skills will do the job.

The key to becoming confident, comfortable, and in control of your boat is learning how to handle the boat in every situation. Sailing: A Woman's Guide makes the elements of this exhilarating sport clear and comprehensible:

Sail handling--make the boat go where you want it to go, not where it wants to go. Wind and weather--recognize, anticipate, and handle different conditions. Dealing with healing, seasickness, and other challenges. Crewing for others--what to expect, what not to put up with. Navigation and piloting basics, knots, and safety rules. Handle your crew--family or friends--with the confidence of command. Take it to the next level--racing and getting the last knot of speed out of your sails, and cruising the world under sail.

This book is packed with photos, clear instructions and diagrams, and sea advice from other women sailors. Colgate loves sailing, and her years of conducting sailing courses for women give her keen insight into the learning styles that work best for women. Says Colgate: "Go sailing, however you choose to do it. You'll discover a new world--and a new you!

About the Author

Doris Colgage has been a sailor for over 30 years. She is president of Offshore Sailing School and of the National Women's Sailing Association. Besides thousands of miles of worldwide bluewater cruising experience, she has sailed in many international races, including the Bermuda Race, Antigua Race Weeks, Cowes Weeks, and the Fastnet Race. She also produced the video Take the Helm: Women and the Sailing Lifestyle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070067201
• ISBN-13: 978-0070067202
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and facts of sailing made real, through women's voices., March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sailing: A Woman's Guide (Paperback)

What if you'd been introduced to sailing by a group of wise woman friends, all exceptionally skilled sailors and consummate psychologists, who anticipated your learning pace and nudged you on to triumph with gentle good humor. Impossible? What if someone combined the on-water wisdom of hundreds of women into the only sailing instruction book to address how you learn and incorporate information? That's exactly what this book does. Doris Colgate, president of the National Women's Sailing Association, called her book "a gallery of profiles," stories of women who've made sailing an important part of their lives. Her gallery, a gathering of voices, is what makes the book unique. At every level of sailing, crucial information is made real by women's voices or amplified in a sidebar, explaining how someone mastered the skill. The reader is never left staring at a mysterious paragraph, wondering what the author meant. It helps, too, that there's a thorough index, and you can look up sailing terms in their context instead of in a brief glossary. The book handles how-to-sail information professionally: basic material is clearly organized and well illustrated. But the basics haven't changed and they aren't gender specific. It's the presentation differences that strike you, such as hearing someone admit she had doubts about heeling boats, then explain how she learned to control the boat and her fears. That's what we need--the rationale for a new and, at first, daunting activity. The author, who's operated a sailing school for over 20 years, calls on her substantial trove of anecdotes from the beginners, women who've learned good lessons in her sailing courses, and the experienced women who've presented their wisdom at NWSA boat show seminars Colgate organizes. To add intrigue, Colgate adds tips and attitude from some of sailing's celebrities--women racers, long-distance cruisers, authors and editors whose words appear throughout the book. I've often given friends who want to learn sailing one particular how-to book, hoping they'll get into the sport. Now, I'll give the women, and some of the men, Doris' new book instead.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instructions for Sailing, June 29, 2009

By 

Merilee Buster "mbsentry" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Sailing: A Woman's Guide (Paperback)

I took some sailing lessons in college, but this seems to take up where I left off. Good information in an easy-to-comprehend presentation of text and pictures.

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Beginner Book, October 5, 2011

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ashfault "ashfault" (NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sailing: A Woman's Guide (Paperback)

I sail Lake Erie with my captain sister but wasn't knowledgeable about a lot of what I was doing. I just follow orders. This book explains all about sailing and is a great reference book. It's geared toward women, which is a big plus. I would recommend it to any woman just starting out who wants to know the basics of sailing.