Basic cruising skills

Basic Cruising Skills, is read by thousands of first-time sailors and those in sailing courses offering the Sail Canada Basic Cruising Skills standard

Basic Sailing Skills is the fist in a series of manuals which are used as the student text book in the Canadian Yachting Association’s Learn to Sail Program. The original Basic Sailing Skills was written in 1974 by Don Giffin, an active instructor, Albacore racing competitor and dedicated volonteer. Over the next seventeen years it was used extensively by 30, 000 sailors as they were introduced to the jargon and theory of sailing.

In 1990 the learn to Sail Committee of CYA decided to have Basic Sailing Skills rewritten to reflect the changes which had taken place in sailing over the past seventeen years.

Sven Donaldson, a Vancouver based sailing writer, was commissioned by the Canadian Sailing Association to write this new version of Basic Sailing Skills. Sven has to other sailing books to his credit (A Sailors Guide to Sails and the New Sail Theory) as well as many articles in Pacific Yachting Magazine, Sail an Cruising World. In Basic Sailing Skills, Sven has simplified terminology so the reader gets a hands on appreciation of the enjoyment of sailing.

Cedric burger, a CYA senior sailing instruct0r and University of British Columbia architecture student from Vancouver drew the illustrations. The illustrations provide a level of detail rarely shown in other sailing instructional books. the sequence of drawings for the step progression of skills should make it easier for anyone learning to tack or gybe.

If you want to apply your knowledge and perfect your sailing skills, consult all the programs offered