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Helpful InformationIn this section you will find simple information about the parts of a boat, about the wind, and also an outline of what you may experience if you chose to jump on a boat and go social racing for the first time.There are two types of yachts, called dinghies and keelboats. A dinghy is sailed off the beach, with usually no more than three people on board and it is the weight of the crew that keeps the boat upright against the force of the wind. A keelboat is much larger and is normally sailed by more than three people, and even over 20 in the case of the most famous Sydney – Hobart Race boats. A keelboat is kept upright by the weight of the keel, a long and heavy underwater extension of the hull.In between the above are trailable yachts, like a keelboat, in that the keel keeps in upright and that it has accommodation, but like a dinghy in that the keel retracts and it goes easily on a road trailer.Because of their dependence on crew weight to keep the boat upright, sailing a dinghy tends to me more physical, and if things go wrong you may end up in the water. (but it’s easy to get a dinghy back up). Sailing on a keelboat your are one of a team on a larger boat that will lean (called heeling) over, but not tip over.And with all of the above you have monohulls (the most popular with only one hull), catamarans (two hulls) and trimarans (three hulls). Catamarans are generally faster but not as agile to handle. Many sailors suggest its best to learn on a monohull.People of all ages sail all of the above types of yacht. Usually young people learn to sail in off the beach dinghies.Sailing on any boat as crew generally means well defined roles for the crew. Crewing can be a good way to learn from experienced sailors.You also need to think about how competitive you want to be… many sailors never enter a race, just enjoying cruising around the coast. Others aspire to Olympic medals... and these varying levels of competitiveness is true of both keelboats and dinghies… so maybe think about what you may want to do.Some clubs in Victoria are predominantly for keelboats, some for dinghies and some cater for both. So think about what you would prefer as you look at other information on this site.
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