Get Into Sailing
Sailing is one of the world's most popular sports enjoyed by young and old. It is truly a lifetime sport that offers a huge variety of leisure opportunities for the elite athlete and those who want to sail for fun with the family.
The first step is to find a sailing school or club where you can take some lessons or find someone to go afloat safely.
The Member National Authorities, members of World Sailing responsible for sailing in each country, around the world should be your first port of call to find out the opportunities available close to you. They will be able to tell you about local sailing clubs or schools and the national training programme.
Many holiday companies also offer sailing courses to recognised international standards. It is advisable to check what training programmes they offer.
Starting to Race
Having learned the basics, a lot of people progress into racing. Organised by clubs and classes across your country, racing around a course is a great way to improve your skills and have fun along the way. For most people, racing is not about going to the Olympics, although there are plenty of opportunities for talented youngsters to progress through the top-level competition. Racing at a local sailing club usually involves various classes of boat and a wide range of abilities across a range of ages and experience.
However you get into sailing, the first thing to remember is to have fun and be safe. World Sailing has produced a one-page set of Introductory Rules for Racing.
The Introductory Rules for Racing aim to make it as easy as possible for people to start racing. They are cover the basics and remain compatible with the principles and fundamental rules in The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS).
These Introductory Rules are experimental and World Sailing invites organizations involved in race training to trial the rules and provide their comments and recommendations.