Next to being on the water the best way to learn to sail is with video instruction. Start Sailing Right is used in the US Sailing/American Red Cross program - the instruction is first rate, comprehensive and accurate.

Learning is fun and easy with video! Techniques such as slow motion, instant replay, stop action and animation enhance comprehension of sailing skills. On-screen indexing makes subjects easy to locate.

Most important, Start Sailing Right teaches you the safe way to sail. Highly recommended for youngsters, junior programs as well as adults and inexperienced crew.

In Part 2 you will learn the skills and techniques to sail upwind and downwind and how to trim your sails to sail well. You will also learn to judge weather and currents plus how to safely leave shore and return.

One of the most valuable parts of this video is the section on sailing drills. These drills help you to learn to sail better and to sharpen your skills.

We recommend that you learn to sail on the water with a qualified instructor in a US Sailing/Red Cross program. The Start Sailing Right videos will be a valuable adjunct to your on water instruction.

Watch these videos before your course to increase your learning rate when you go out on a boat. Also, you can return to these videos long after your instruction for a refresher course to review sailing technique and safety procedures.

After sailing for 30 years, I was looking for a book for my children to use to give them a solid foundation. I ordered another 5 star book recommended by sailing schools, but ran across this one at the library.

This book is head and shoulders above the other. It covers all the basics in an easy to read style, and the huge number of detailed drawings are both beautiful and incredibly informative. In addition to the basic stuff you need to know to sail a small boat, it also has a wealth of deeper information, about everything from bouyancy and balance, to boat construction and history.

I'm buying a copy for each of my kids, and recommending it to my sailing friends. -- G. Russell (New York)

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The Complete Sailor is a very good reference book for advanced beginners and intermediate sailors. The title of the book is a bit exaggerated, as the book, being concise as it is (approx 200 pages), cannot possibly aim to turn one into a complete sailor.

The most outstanding feature about the book is the illustrations. For intermediate sailors who are not yet completely familiar with sailing vocabulary (such as myself), the illustrations make it very easy for one to understand what is being exposed. The book is divided into small topics, each ranging from 2 to 4 pages, which allows the reader to get a good glimpse of many topics, learning the basics and some of the wisdom of longtime sailors without having to get the bad experience.

The Complete Sialor is a good reference book for intermediate and advanced beginners -- advanced sailors will not be satisfied by the shallow descriptions and early beginners will not be able to appreciate most of the insights. -- Denis Benchimol Minev (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil)

First launched in 1983, Annapolis remains the sailor's bible, a comprehensive chapter and verse guide to all aspects of seamanship from the simplest ABC's to the most advanced skills and latest electronics.

And while much of the original edition has been left in dry dock to make way for the many changes on the water since 1983--like multihull vessels, satellite tracking, and the reality that while all ships remain "she," there is no longer the assumption that it's a "he" at the helm -- Rousmaniere still emphasizes what he's stressed from the first tack: the importance of mastering sailing's fundamentals.

This means knowing every inch of your boat and how to handle her, understanding the importance of safety on the seas and preparing for all emergencies, reading the weather, learning to navigate, knowing essential boat maintenance, and being aware of the traditions every sailor steps into whenever he or she sticks feet in a pair of topsiders.

Clearly organized and presented, cleanly and smoothly written (given how much technical information he presents, Rousmaniere's prose is blessedly jargon-free), and thoroughly illustrated with photos and drawings,

Annapolis is as essential as a good wind, perhaps the one volume no sailor should leave port without. --Jeff Silverman

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.

This book is such a complete hoot; also it's full of helpful insights into all the things I wanted to know but was too stupid to ask! It's such a fun to read book that I even read the sections about the stuff I (thought) I already knew - and I'll do it again too. Mr Vigor's writing style is just so friendly and understandable, that it's a pleasure to read and learn from.
In short, you won't regret having purchased this book - it's affordable and fun. -- Jean Louis Fallon "lord_nougat" (Los Angeles)

If you think a serious approach is inherent in a book like John Vigor's Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Sailing, think again: there's no orthodoxy to sailing, and plenty of truths to tell - and Vigor reveals them in 200 entries which blend humor with solid practical advice. From knowing what kind of documentation is needed to sail into foreign waters to renaming or repainting a boat, Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Sailing avoids many pitfalls. -- Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)