What was your first sailboat and how old were you?

[kai34]

Originally Posted by bljones

Chicks dig boats.

I couldnt have said it better myself.

[harbin2]

I was 13. My parents had a ski boat on a nearby lake in Michigan. I got tired of waiting for my next turn at skiing so I "designed" and built a sailboat from a 4 x 6 piece of plywood with two styrofoam surfboards tied to the bottom. Mast and boom was 2 x 2 with piece of plastic drop cloth for a sail. Had centerboard and rudder from scrap lumber. Sailed all over the lake and could even go to windward (amazing now that I think back). Got lots of looks and some encouraging remarks.
Ron

[JimsCAL]

Jet 14 in 1973. Paid $275 (with trailer) for it and sold it 3 years later for $300 when I moved up to an ODay 22.

[escapaide]

Hobie 14 when I was 29 years old (many moons ago)

[tonic]

My father bought my brothers and I a Fred Scott designed FORCE 5 in the late seventies. Still have it today and will teach my kids on it. What a fun boat, glad WEEKS boat yard kept it going.

[peikenberry]

I was 12 or 13. We had an old clunker of a boat somebody had built. This was definitely not a production boat. 14 foot. My Dad, brother and I put a mast and rudder, leeboards, and an aluminum mast on it. We made some sails out of some old heavy cotton. It was a pig, but fun and almost impossible to capsize.

A couple of years later we built an OK dinghy. The clunker went back to being and outboard.

[Mikelivingstone]

I got an poorly maintained embassy ( A Malta university project development class based on the mirror dinghy) upon joining the Vikings Sailing Club back in 93.
Spent a whole winter doing it up and a summer pottering around- it got me addicted to sailing ever since.

[duckduckgoose]

Mirror Dinghy aged 10.

Still have it Don't sail her much, haven't sailed it at all in the last year actually. I think mirror sailors will always be mirror sailors. I love those boats

[GORIDE1200]

At age 10, my first boat was 8' wooden pram, would row a mile to the local yatch club on windy days to bum rides on lightning class boats. Since someone was always looking for a little extra ballast. Some day I said I would get a sailboat, and at age 23 I did, an O'Day 22. Now 35 yrs later I just purchased "Someday II", a Laguna 24.

[xsboats]

I bought a derelict 29 foot King's Cruiser for a dollar with the promise of launching and leaving the yard in 1 month.The boat had been hauled for 10 years. That was 25 years ago and I still haven't learned.{ask my wife}