Product Description

Interested in learning to sail but feel like you’re navigating in murky waters? Sailing for Dummies, Second Edition introduces the basics of sailing, looks at the different types of sailboats and their basic parts, and teaches you everything you need to know before you leave the dock.

In Sailing for Dummies, Second Edition, two U.S. sailing champions show you how to:

• Find and choose a sailing school
• Use life jackets correctly
• Tie ten nautical knots
• Handle sailing emergencies (such as capsizing and rescuing a man overboard)
• Launch your boat from a trailer, ramp, or beach
• Get your boat from point A to point B (and back again)
• Predict and respond to water and wind conditions
• Read charts, plot your course, use a compass, and find your position at sea

Sailing for Dummies shows you that getting out on the water is easier than you think. The authors keep the sailor-speak to a minimum where possible, but give you a grasp of the terminology you need to safely and effectively communicate with your crew. A textbook, user’s manual, and reference all in one, this book takes the intimidation out of sailing and gives you the skills and confidence you need to get your feet wet and become the sailing pro you’ve always wanted to be. Anchors away!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19005 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780471791430
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Attention landlubbers: If you don't know your port from your starboard, tacking from jibing, then you need to experience clear sailing with the Dummies. With the usual cargo of good humor and demystifying tone, this mast in the Dummies armada lifts the fog on confusing nautical language, teaches the basics about maneuvering a sailboat from dock to open ocean, floats important safety information, and offers advice and info on a variety of related issues (knots, racing, sailboards, how to buy a sailboat). Whether you want to learn to sail or just talk like a sailor, Sailing for Dummies is your anchor to life on the water.

From the Back Cover
Covers the latest advances in electronic navigation

Get the know-how you need to sail safely and have fun

Want to sail into the sunset but don't know port from starboard? Don't worry! Now updated with the latest on boats, gear, and racing, this hands-on guide helps you chart a course to sailing success, from getting familiar with nautical terms and seamanship basics to setting sail, navigating, anchoring, and docking — even riding out a storm.

• Get your feet wet at a sailing school
• Launch a boat and maneuver under sail
• Navigate, anchor, and dock
• Charter a boat or enter races
• Choose and care for a boat

Praise for Sailing For Dummies

"Provides an interesting read, easy instruction, and a handy reference work."
—Walter Cronkite

"Peter and JJ's enthusiasm for the thrill and fun of sailing brings the comprehensive guide to life in every chapter. Whether you're a novice or several years into this fascinating sport, the Islers' knowledge and insight will speed you along your course to sailing mastery."
—John Burnham, Editor of Cruising World magazine

About the Author
JJ and Peter Isler have been sailing for most of their lives. JJ grew up around boats in San Diego, California, learning to sail in a little 7-foot dinghy called a Sabot. Peter started out loving powerboats and fishing (boys can be so strange!), but took up sailing after his family moved to Connecticut when he was 13 years old.
The Islers are well known throughout the world of sailing as top competitors and teachers. They both have taught sailing to people of all ages and experiences. Peter played an important, early role in developing US Sailing’s educational program. He also coached at the Olympic level and helped found the American Sailing Association, which accredits sailing schools and certifies sailors and instructors.
Peter has twice won the America’s Cup, serving as navigator aboard Stars & Stripes with Dennis Conner in 1987 and 1988. An accomplished small-boat sailor, Peter was Intercollegiate Sailor of the Year while at Yale University. He was the top-ranked U.S. sailor on the professional match-racing circuit for five years and has won many of the world’s major ocean races, including the Bermuda Race and the Transpac (where he navigated Morning Glory to an elapsed time record in 2005).
Peter has also been very active in the media. In the 1990s, he shifted his America’s Cup energies to television, where he was a featured analyst in ESPN’s Emmy Award–winning Cup coverage in 1992 and 1995. More recently, he covered sailing for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), including its coverage of the 2003 America’s Cup. He is the author of several books on the sport and is presently Editor at Large of Sailing World magazine. In his spare time, Peter enjoys playing guitar and keyboard with his band, The Water Brothers.
JJ is the only American female (so far) to have won two Olympic medals in sailing, and she is the first female inductee in the Sailing World Hall of Fame. With crew member Pamela Healy, JJ won the Bronze Medal in the Women’s 470 class in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she and crew member Pease Glaser won the Silver. JJ is a four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (in 1986, 1991, 1997, and 2000) and has won three World Championships and numerous national titles. She was the first female to compete in a number of events on the international matchracing circuit. And in 1995 she was the tactician and starting helmsman for the America3 Women’s America’s Cup team. She graduated from Yale University where she was captain of the sailing team and a collegiate All-American.

Customer Reviews

Very informative and entertaining summary of sailing!!
As a novice sailor, I found this book to contain an introduction to everything I needed to know about sailing. The Isler couple, both world class sailors, spice up the material with personal amusing anecdotes of their sailing experiences (and occasional mishaps). Plenty of illustrations add to the book's educational value. I can't imagine a better intro book to the subject.

Sailing for Dummies
This is an excellent sailing textbook - as the cover states it's "A Reference for the Rest of Us!" That is, it can be used as a beginner's book and then kept for use as a reference manual. I have read and re-read this book several times and each time I re-read it, something I didn't understand or fully comprehend "jumps out at me" and I become a better sailor because of the information contained within and imparted by this book.
Also, some people know their subject but are unable to teach others what they know. Both JJ and Peter not only know their subject, sailing, but are also very adept at transferring that knowledge to their readers, sailors and wannabe sailors!

Enjoyable, Simple and Interesting ... a great beginners book
I used this text as a secondary supplement for an American Sailing Association "sailing certification" , and I found it refreshingly helpful. Well known today, and with hundreds of titles, the "For Dummies® Books" collection offers you valuable basic information on hundreds of subjects, from "Accounting for Dummies" to "Yoga for Dummies".

"For Dummies® Books" strive to make a subject enjoyable to read, interesting and simple enough to understand so anyone can grasp the concept . In "Sailing For Dummies", J. J. Isler and Peter Isler accomplish just that: enjoyable, interesting and simple. This is a very basic text for the first 140 pages, then, for the remainder of the book, the Islers add to your foundational knowledge of sailing ending with subjects such as: sailboat racing, chartering and buying a boat.

"Sailing For Dummies" is livened up by the use of cartoons, interesting quips and quotes and engaging icons found throughout the book in the margins. The icons denote sections of information that promote "tips", "safety", "danger", "nautical words", "sailing stories", etc. Add the above with b&w photos, great diagrams and an excellent index, and you have a book valuable to any novice who wants to know more about sailing. Recommended.