SAILING THE ANNAPOLIS WAY

This book is designed for the first-time sailor who has either just acquired their own boat or is learning on a friend's vessel. It also serves as a valuable resource for experienced sailors, providing material and lesson plans for teaching others to sail. "Sailing 'The Annapolis Way,' " like the Annapolis Sailing School, emphasizes hands-on learning.

In many parts of the world, qualified sailing instruction may be lacking. While having an instructor can help you learn more quickly and safely than teaching yourself, this book is intended to guide you through various aspects of sailing without relying solely on a trained expert. Throughout the text, we will remind you: Do not attempt to sail without someone on board who has at least some sailing experience.

Please take this advice seriously; in sailing, it's often your lack of knowledge that can lead to trouble. For the past twenty-five years, "The Annapolis Way" has been effectively used to teach individuals how to sail keelboats around 24 feet in length. This book aims to instruct those with small centerboard boats, larger swing-keel boats, or full-keel boats up to 28 feet long.

We will not cover windsurfing—though the underlying aerodynamic principles apply—or racing, which can simply be seen as getting from point A to point B quickly. If you sail your boat correctly, you will indeed be sailing it rapidly.