Yesterday, I made a 5 hr round trip seeking to purchase my first sailboat. Sadly, the boat wasn't the one, however, your audiobook, "Introduction to Sailing," was the perfect companion for my journey. I downloaded it in the driveway before I left. I have wanted to sail since I was 12, watching high school kids at camp who were able to take out Sunfish sailboats while we were only allowed to use rowboats. Now 59 (life gets in the way), I completed my ASA certification this summer, crewed on my first race boat, and looking forward to exploration and adventures on my own boat. I am so glad I have found your channel.
did you buy your boat? I just closed on a little 26 footer, just in time for the weather to turn to shit and me to get sick for a week when i had vacation time scheduled... oh well, theres always the weekend. lol
@@fakiirification, I did purchase a boat last year, a restored 1964 Pearson Commander 26. This past summer was my first season of ownership and sailing her was a blast. Enjoy your new boat!
I'm a decent swimmer, but I found that if you capsize, a lot of your strength is used up righting the boat, and having to stay afloat at the same time. It gets doubly hard as you get much older.
I'm nearing retirement age and thought my bones and joints may not be agile or flexible enough for a laser. But you, Christian, have inspired me, yet again! And I enjoyed your Philosophy of Sailing video! Thank you!
I remember the day I went from a Mirror dinghy to a Laser. What a wonderful day that was for me, over 45 years ago, but still feels like just the other day. Thanks for bringing back the memories! All the best Richard 🇬🇧👍🏼
My first time on a sailboat was 48 yrs ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. My oldest sister and her husband (who already knew how to sail) had bought an 18' Interlake and invited me along. I was 12 and was instructed, "Don't touch anything, just watch and learn." I did just that, and the don't touch part had me wanting to come back for more in the hopes that I could become more than a spectator.
I love this guy. I think I’ve listened/watched all of his vids and books. When I hear your voice sir it reminds me of an old friend. Thanks for the vid.
Best sailing channel. Period. Christian is the very best writer and narrator. Love his books and eagerly await new videos. This is the internet at its best. Thank you Mr. Williams!
Sailing a Laser is what freedom feels like - bought mine about 2 years ago and have been sailing off the Latvian Baltic Sea coast at every possibility ever since. Thank you kind sir for showing people how additive it can be!
Christian, I love your videos, very relaxing, something about the tone of your voice and the delivery make you a very easy watch! Maybe a bit of jazz to finish off with!
Sir, you just make me laugh and laugh and laugh. The sequence where you’re talking about age and then finding the end of the rope and eating the rope had me laughing out loud. I see myself in all of it. Your humor is subtle yet brilliant. Thank you. Once again, you’ve made my day!
Loved seeing the kids learning to sail! Brought me back to my first sail , my brother and I sailed as kids off Sicily then bought my first boat a 23 ft sloop! 45 years later and many boats I’ve retired with my Beneteau “O” 40. Your videos bring back so many memories for a solo woman sailor whose sailed multiple oceans around the world! Thank you and keep them coming my friend!! 💙👍🏼
Having just learned to sail on Monday, and just learning to sail a Laser yesterday, I absolutely loved this video, your narration and humor. I will download your audiobook for my 11 hour drive home!
Thank you for a very entertaining and educating video. Just bought your book on audible, can’t wait to read it. I can’t wait for my first sailing trip hopefully soon.
I love each video you make, not only is it wonderful accurate information, but so enjoyable to watch. Thank you so much for taking time to make them!!!
Great video. About a thousand years ago I learned to sail in a Sabot. In Alamitos Bay. Just put her in the water, as you suggested, and off we went. A cold winter day but I could not wait. Had never sailed and it showed as we bounced back and forth across the water, coming close to every think stationary in the water that day. But, oh what fun and over years, through all kinds of weather, including some serious Santa Ana's, the Bay became my home away from home. I do remember those meals of rope. Later, in a Lido 14', much the same fun in Marina Del Rey. I've enjoyed your transpacific crossings so much. Thanks for sharing all of it.
I got my first sailboat after reading 'alone together', it was a Catalina 22. A few months later I got a Whistler 11, that little 11 foot boat is the most fun I have ever had. I regularly sail it on Lake Huron.
Cheers to that! I loved mine (13' 9" I think it was) and wish I had it again. It was a great way to enjoy all Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys had to offer.
Christian, I am a huge fan. I enjoy the idea that most America’s Cup sailors started in dinghies. I know my daughter’s gained much of their confidence from being a skipper in a dinghy. I’m impressed by your mastery of a Laser. Thank you for all you do. ;-)
As a dinghy (Sunfish) sailor I throughly enjoyed, with a huge smile on my face,hearing how you, a world class ocean sailor, described the Laser and its simplicity. You’ve got it in your blood, which is why I enjoy your videos so much. Fair winds from NJ!
My instructors decided to teach us to tip over and upright using a Laser setting stationary just off the dock. It came in VERY handy for my first solo in a Newport Kite.
I learned to sail on a Laser early '80 and I bought one as well. I did regatta at my local sailing club and harvested a few first positions trophies. What a nice boat.
Great video Christian! I got my first Laser at age 14, using every cent of delivery papers for the better part of two years. Over forty years have passed and I have always had a Laser in my personal fleet of boats. It is a boat that is easy to sail but challenging to sail to full potential - I am always learning, and it keeps me in shape. The masters racing scene is phenomenal - I expect to see you on the line soon Christian!
Loved "Introduction to Sailing"! Just like "Alone Together" and "Philosophy of Sailing", once I started it, I didn't want to stop. They all end far too soon.
@@elmin2323 it's an unsinkable dinghy, dingus. 🤣🤣🤣 not useless. But wear your life jacket as your boat sails away faster than you can swim.. let us know how that works out for you.. 🤡🤡🤡
Didn’t see a PFD. Even though the water is warm there when you go over(the first lesson: getting the boat back upright) the aforementioned PFD will help identify the body. Love your videos Christian!
Love how christian teaches you, throwing in a couple of golden nuggets here and there, what i got is that you don't have to be perfect and you're allowed to make mistakes for without them one would never learn!
Love your book, I listened to it last week. Trying to afford to sail😢. Unfortunately, sailing is more and more becoming an activity primarily for the rich. I took lessons a year ago, hadn't been able to afford to sail since.
Absolutely love the video and timing couldn't be more perfect. I'm looking to get into sailing and finding a boat this winter in time for spring. Would love a detailed look at rigging. Best Thank you for sharing and looking forward to the series.
Hello Mr. Williams!! It is so wonderful to see this new video from you. I throughly enjoy all your videos that you share with us. I believe that the designer and builder of the Laser sailboat just passed away recently. Perhaps in the last 6 months or so. It is a fantastic design to learn the principles of sailing in. Plus those lessons can easily be applied to larger sailing vessels as the basic principles are all the same. Thank you for this video again. Sincerely, Trey. P.S. I am wondering if you knew Irving Johnson?
Good instructional/demo video ... but since it's aimed at beginners ... life jacket much? The kayakers and little kids had them, and so did the elite laser sailors at the end ;-).
@@ChristianWilliamsYachting @Patrick Lane, Mine, ones bought while doing a refit, and missing sailing. A van der Stadt pre Laser Era dinghy. With a theethneeded foresail, main and rudder. Refit done i still do go out on the dinghy because on a yacht the distance to the water is so great it feels indirect and detached sometimes. Likes driving though lavender fields in La douce, Provence, with the windows closed, airo and music on and exteriour becomes just a decoration. So please Patrick do, give it a try if you like sailing you will like it.
Hi Christian, What a brilliant video and amazingly coincidental as I am collecting my first Laser dinghy on Sunday! After watching this I can't wait to sail it. I've sailed larger boats for most of my life but I think the Laser will teach the most important lessons. I've listened to all your books and find them truly inspirational, keep up the good work! 👍👍👍
You will love it. I'm almost 57, took up sailing 4 years ago after windsurfing for about 10 years, got a beater of a Laser two years ago, joined a club that sails Albacores and Lasers, even though I own a 30 foot yacht and sail it a lot, the dinghy experience is where you REALLY learn to sail.
As a Brit from the Cotswolds, about as far away as you can get from the sea in the UK, I am always craving it. And to go sailing/boating. I follow a few boating channels which are very entertaining and sometimes informative, however I am so glad I have happened across yours! A good sense of humour, a very 'easy to get along with' way about you, most importantly, educational. Which I guess is what you done a lot of! Excellent
Great info and entertaining, as usual! I loved the fact you put that race at the end for inspiration. You weren't kidding that the Laser will give a lot. Watching those guys flip-flop to balance the boats was great -- everything moving so quickly. Thank you!
Well done! I like your method of instructing, just enough information at the moment for students to understand, but not too much to overwhelm them. And using commands and terminology in the moment, sometimes without explanation lets the student learn without making them feel stupid. 👏👏👏
Its so refreshing to see a person with so much knowledge not full of themselves. And any sailor knows that if it weren't for the little mishaps, sailing would be boring. Although im certain that you dont allow boredom on board.
I learned to sail on a Super Snark which was about 15'. It had a small jib and a too large for its size mainsail. They were made in Central New York. My father, brother and I on Lewis Bay, Cape Cod. We would sail from the end of Lewis Bay where we were staying up towards the ocean and sail past President Kennedy's Compound, this was back in the 60's, the guards would yell at us to not sail so close to the shore even though we were so far away you couldn't see anything. The cold War days.
I learned the tacking call as "ready about....lee ho!" probably a remnant of the old sailing ships with wheel helms, they would haul the helm to the lee side to tack. ~~~~_/) ~~~~
Another great video. Thanks for posting. My first sailboat was a Laser and now I miss it. I really enjoyed listening to your audio books and I would highly recommend them.
an important piece of gear for an aspiring sailor is a PFD...... How can watching someone else sail a laser be so enjoyable? I have already told my Daughter and her Husband that our little 1 year old grandson will have a sailing dinghy by time he's 9, he may have some other siblings or cousins that he'll have to share it with, we'll see.
I am 60 and have never sailed until recently. I converted my kayak to a sailing kayak and love it. Going to purchase a sailing dinghy or cat next. And then who knows. I am retired so there may be a cruiser in my future. I just downloaded your book BTW.
I grew up sailing a Sunfish and remember when the Laser came around. I always wanted one but never got one. Now in my mid fifties I might just have to get one.
Christian, Dare I be so familiar... let me adjust to the proper amount of respect....Capt. Williams, I have watched most of your videos, and listened to your books while sailing my Catalina 22 single-handed, and both have put a smile on my face many many times. But for some reason, listening to your description of a mainsheet sandwich in this video really made me laugh out loud...Too loud apparently, and I have a bruise on my shoulder now from my wife instructing me to be quiet - Oh did I mention I was watching you on my iPad in bed while she was asleep. Keep up the great work and I hope both you and I can keep sailing well into your 90's.
