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What was your first sailboat and how old were you?

21K views 142 replies 120 participants last post by  ceol 
#1 ·
The title says it all. i was just wondering what kind of boats people had for their first sailboat and how old you were?

i'll start.

11.5ft Laser Pico
19 years old

-kai
 
#2 ·
Had some student loan money left over

Bought a Mirror Dinghy kit at the Toronto Boat Show when I was 21. Came with two books - one about how to build it and one about how to sail. Now I am thinking of getting new main sheet blocks that cost much more than the whole Mirror did.
 
#4 ·
i was 58 years old been sailing 2/3 years and bought a brand new Jeanneau DS40 in 2003 - she and i have gotten to know each other and now i am a full time cruiser - left miami on may 4 and currently in city island,ny and plan to explore long island for about a month and half and then head south again -
chuck and svsoulmates
ki4sry
on the hook in city island, ny
 
#5 · (Edited)
Wood 8' centerboard sabot, don't remember age but we thought it was a 2 "person" boat. Learned to sail, bail, scrape, caulk, paint, and curse at leaks all on the same boat. My older brother gave it to me as in, "here ya go kid, it's all yours now, Happy Birthday, the bailers are lashed to the thwarts".
 
#6 ·
OK.. some clarification please...

What does "had" mean?

Legally owned?
Sailed by yourself? (or at least in command)
Sailed on?
Family owned?
 
#9 ·
dj- i should have used "purchased" in place of "had". I mean legally owned or partly owned. i was just wondered how old people were when they owned their first boat and if they started with a dingy, a daysailor, or something bigger.

-kai
 
#11 ·
OK...

The first family sailboat was a 24' Shark, that we bought around 1965 and sold in 1968.

My first boat was a Laser, that I bought in 1981, when I was 19.

6 boats later, I'm looking for another Laser....

David
 
#12 ·
When my father was young (not sure of age), he built a 12' Sailfish out of a kit, all wood. Similar to the ubiquitous Sunfish, but with no cockpit. Flat across the deck with handrails on either side.

When I was 13, I inherited it...Dad had taught me to sail, but that Sailfish still almost killed me the first time I soloed. Accidental jibe, boom knocked me off the boat and the boat promptly capsized on me.

I was ok. Good thing my shorts were already wet. (jk)
 
#15 ·
When my father was young (not sure of age), he built a 12' Sailfish out of a kit, all wood. Similar to the ubiquitous Sunfish, but with no cockpit. Flat across the deck with handrails on either side.

When I was 13, I inherited it...Dad had taught me to sail, but that Sailfish still almost killed me the first time I soloed. Accidental jibe, boom knocked me off the boat and the boat promptly capsized on me.

I was ok. Good thing my shorts were already wet. (jk)
By the way...I still have this boat. Actually tried to sail it a couple summers ago. It almost killed me again. I'm a bit bigger now, and I felt incredible unstable on it...still sailed nicely though. Memories took over and I had a blast. Spent a lot of time on that boat.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Sunflower

It was a hard-coated styrafoam Sunflower (similar to a Snark only smaller and cheaper). I was 13 or 14 and I wanted a sailboat, so that's what my mother bought me. I think she probably paid $100 for it new in the early '70s. I think it only lasted one season, but I can actually still visualize myself sailing it. Then there was an old MacGregor 16' catamaran that I bought in my late teens. I was out one afternoon and flipped it. Couldn't right it by myself, fortunately a good samaratin came by and helped me right her and towed me back to me beach. (Yes, I know how revered Macgregors are on this site.:D )
 
#14 ·
I "inherited" the family boat for awhile also, but it was in sad shape by then (we really never did any upkeep) and didn't last much longer. That was when I was about 15. It was a trimaran that was about 10' x 6'. It was a scale model of a big tri that sailed around the world (at least I think I remember hearing he made it). The builder sold it when he was getting close to leaving. We sailed it a lot on local lakes (lived in Atlanta). It's one of those "I can't believe my parents let me" memories - we used to camp at Lake Lanier a lot and by the time I was 10, my parents would let me sail off on it with instructions to stay in Young Deer Creek (a pretty large cove) that I didn't always obey. It was a slug, but almost impossible to capsize and very easy to sail.
 
#23 ·
Hobie 16

I was 30 years old bought a Hobie 16 with a 15 degree bend in the mast. I figured I could straighten it out somehow. Before I could a storm blew it over and totaled the mast. Me and the insurance company split the cost of the new mast. Sailed it in the ocean mostly. Fun going in and out through the surf.
Windsurfed after that. Now I can sail and stay dry. What a concept!
BP
 
#24 ·
A styrofoam Sea Snark, back in the mid-late '60s. My dad hauled it on top of the family car down to the Ohio River just below Lock #13 in McMechen, WV where we put her in. She had a drop board and a single yellow plastic mainsail.

I was hooked ever since.
 
#27 ·
Mac21 @ 17
 
#28 ·
A nice fast 505 but too hard to handle with no experience. Moved on to a Hobie16 6 months later. That was in 1972. Wouldn't mind having the 505 back now :)

Andre.
 
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