Sailing For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies))

• #4 in Best Sailing Books

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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.

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.

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!

What a refreshing concept! This book takes the best of all other instructional sailing books and presents just the right amount of information organized in a logical manner. At the same time, it gives details (in all possible areas related to sailing) when and where appropriate. The writing style of the Islers is also to be commended. It makes for an enjoyable read. After all, that's what most of us want out of sailing.

The authors have maybe a bit too much expertise and experience to effectively write for "dummies" like myself. Somehow after reading this, I had just as many questions as before. Part of the problem is this book is way too comprehensive, covering such topics as sail-boarding. I would rather have had more in depth explainations of the basics and more diagrams/illustrations.

Sailing isn't rocket science, and the authors have done a great job of keeping it simple. They cover all of the basics, some of the advanced stuff, and take all of the mystery out of sailing. Hey, they even include a tear-out plastic-coated "cheat sheet" that you can take with you on the waves!

If you want a basic book with good pictures and diagrams on how to start, you don't want this book.

It's useless, no information in detail on how a sailboat works, how to set up. Compared to others I have read, not a good place to start.

"Sailing for Dummies" offers down-to-earth, understandable explanations for everything related to sailing, from planning a trip to the mechanics of sailing to buying a boat. I've been sailing various size boats all my life, but with little formalized instruction, and this book was perfect. However, it will also be immensely helpful for those who have never stepped foot on a boat also. Great work, Islers!

We are buying our first sailboat and needed to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. This book is easy to follow and really is very helpful in helping the reader to get a solid understanding of what is what and how it works and what to do. I also found it entertaining and humorous. We will give this book a prominent place of honor in our new boat and will refer back to it often. If someone wanted to learn to sail, this is the first book they should read.

It's been a long time since I've done any serious sailing (high school, to be exact), but reading Sailing For Dummies brought back the fond memories of just how much fun it is to be quietly cruising a lake with the sun in my face and the wind at my back. This book is amazingly comprehensive and it's an inspiration to read. I can't wait to get back out on the water again

and we now have a bookshelf of them.

We took our sailboat out for the first time last weekend and had no problems partly due to the advice and instruction in this book.

Thanks JJ and Peter !!!

Hard to beat this book if you're just getting your hands on the mainmast for the first time. A wealth of info on every topic you'll need to know, presented in pictures and entertaining quotes and headlines. There are sections that deal with all the tricky details of actually getting the boat out of the dock and into the open sea, as well as a crucial section on what to do if, well, your sailing experience doesn't exactly go as planned. Pay attention to what the Islers say here-- you'll protect yourself from the most common (and often dangerous) mistakes beginners make if you've barely dipped your feet into water, and you'll improve your skills to a surprising extent even if you're more advanced.

and we now have a bookshelf of them.

We took our sailboat out for the first time last weekend and had no problems partly due to the advice and instruction in this book.

Thanks JJ and Peter !!!

This book is an excellent introduction to sailing for the first-timer. It covers all the basics and explains things in simple layman's terms. This book is not meant to be an encylclopedia, so some things like chart symbols and racing tactics are left out. However, after reading this book, anyone should have a firm grasp of the basics of sailing, and their appetite wetted.

Anyone who has read a Dummies book has a good idea of what to expect. This book is not much different. All the basics are there, from setting the sails to dropping the hook safely. The Islers do a nice job of trading off personal experiences. These make the book a little more interesting and gives the reader a chance to get in touch with the writers.
The instructions for sailing seem fairly complete yet the writting style is such that the reader does not fall asleep. The book moves along and does not drag. Much information is included on where to go or where to look for more specialized information.
I would have rated this book 5 instead of 4 except for just one reason. The copywrite is 1997. For the most part this is not a problem; sailing is sailing. Ocassionally though a reference is made to a race or other upcoming event that is already history.
Good read.

An excellent reference, with chapters that address things you will need to know, but didn't know you needed to know. But, I found that it was so comprehensive, that the "Annapolis" book was a better beginning how-to-sail guide, this book was more of an intermediate reference. Minor note: the diagram on p. 366, How to Tie a Figure-Eight Knot (Figure 19-2), is incorrect.

The book starts off so simple its almost insulting. For a beginner it is a great book. Look for a very simplified intro to boating. Questions like, "Why do boats float?" are the norm in chapter 1. Later chapters reveal very useful information such as what to wear, how to right a capsized dhingy, and how to lift your keel off the bottom. One small annoyance is the one author Peter Isler. He crewed on a victorious America's Cup boat. You will see a great deal of personal observances from him, referring to the cup and regular sailing. Its like a formula 1 driver talking street driving, sure he can drive on the street, but how many of us ever drive a formula one car?

All in all a great book! Highly recommended.

This is a great book; well-written and informative, and I recommend it highly.

Here is my "how I learned to sail" story:

I accidentally ended up in possession of an O'Day Sprite (10 foot dinghy), but knew nothing about sailing. I put it at my buddy's house; he had a place on a lake, and he promised to teach me how to sail. One day, he walked in, tossed me a bag of parts, and said "Go rig your boat!" He came down with me and taught me equipment terminology, and showed me how to rig the mast. We ended up replacing the mast stays, but everything else was okay.

We got it rigged and got the sails on. He looked at the sails, then looked at the boat; then he said, "That's an awful lot of sail for that boat." He took it out for a quick spin to make sure everything was working, then he put me in the boat and had me try to sail it, while he shadowed me in the Whaler, shouting instructions. The one thing I learned that day was that accidental jibes can cause death rolls (I didn't actually "learn" it until later, but that's what happened). We ended up towing the Sprite back in with the Whaler, and that ended my first lesson.

I went out and bought "Sailing for Dummies", spent a week reading and re-reading it from cover to cover, went back to the lake, and successfully sailed the boat for hours. I never did capsize it again, although I've had it darn near horizontal in a strong breeze. My friend likes to tell people he taught me how to sail; I always correct him and say he taught me how to capsize, which was just as valuable a lesson.

I spent several summers sailing both the Sprite and and my buddy's Hunter 170, then "graduated" to keelboats. He kept telling me that that the Sprite was the hardest boat I'd ever sail; bigger boats are easier.

I got a combination membership/keelboat class at a local sailing club in Boston, learning how to dodge the freighters coming in and out of the harbor, navigation, mooring, anchoring, etc; all the stuff that has less to do with the act of sailing, but necessary for sailing out in the real world. From time to time, I'd go back to "Sailing for Dummies" to brush up on items I hadn't needed prior to that point. I ended up taking additional classes and got a number of certifications.

This is a great book. The book starts out assuming that you know nothing about sailing. This was great because I don't. The book then takes you through the simplest things to the more complicated. Very good for a total beginner like me. In addition to the great information, the book is well written - "a good read".

After deciding to try my hand at sailing this season, I decided to purchase this book; it was the best thing I could have done to learn! In adition to knowing what terms are for what (jib, keel, etc), I was able to learn about how to sail safely and handle common disasters. Thanks for a great book :-)

I've used the "Sailing for Dummies" 2nd edition as a text in my University Continuing Education class, because I can find no better for the purpose. For those adult students who might be shy about taking such a book home for their children or others to harrass them about, I provide a nice fake cover that reads something like "Advanced Nautical Navigation Techniques for Exceptionally Bright Mariners."

This book is well written. I continue to buy this book for friends who want to learn more about sailing. As a result, I get better and better crew members on my Catalina 36.

The basics of sailing are told with personal experiences which make this handbook fun and entertaining. You'll learn things about sailing you didn't know you would need to know.

Lusting to sail the Bahamas, this is the first sailing book I have read, and it was just what I needed. It is nicely written, so that I could read it like a novel. They have a good sense of humor and they cover a lot of what you need to know.

Turns out sailing is pretty complicated. Especially if you're trying to cross the ocean on a 32 Contessa.

I give this book five stars for saving my life. I almost tried to cross the ocean with me and one other; neither of whom has any water experience at all. Considered other alternatives to my problem resolution after chapter 1.

An enjoyable, humerous review of the basics. Having been away from sailing for a few years (2 decades) I wanted to brush up on the fundamentals, this was a GREAT way to do it. I found out I hadn't forgotten as much as I thought.
I can see where a beginner would benefit also.

Save your money and your time returning this book. It was written in an effort to make money only.

While not as good as Gary Jobson's Sailing Fundamentals, this is a good beginning book for sailors.

This is an excellent resource guide for those who are beginning sailing. The only thing it lacks is an adequate number of photos illustrating processes & procedures on the water.


If I would have had such a book, back in 1990 when I purchased my own Cruising Sloop keelboat, it would have helped to make my learning curve a lot easier.