did someone say, “boom vang?”

“How do I learn to sail?”

Boom vangs, shrouds, forestay, furling line, jibe…let’s face it, sailing has strange terminology.  And while nothing beats on-the-water learning, I found a course on the web that helps demystify some of this.

It’s called My First Sail by the American Sailing Association (ASA).  It begins slowly — clothing, sunscreen, etc. — so skip those sections if you want.  Quizzes follow each section and it saves your place so you can pick up later.  I ran through most of it and it’s well done.  Figure 30-45 minutes to finish.

1. Go to this link.
2. Hit the big green “Start Now” button.
3. Fill in a short form (email, first name, home city, sailing experience) and you’re ready to go.

Let me know what you think.  Write back to me in the “comments” section of this blog.