SAILZING.com started with a question…
Why isn’t there one place where you can go to find the best content available on the Internet to improve sailboat racing skills?
It was surprising to us. Most of the great sailing sites either offered paid courseware or focused primarily on news. There also seemed to be a distinct emphasis on coastal sailing and often on racing keel boats. These sites are awesome and contribute a ton to sailing and sailors. We’ve spent our lifetimes sailing in the dinghy and Scow world of lake sailing as part of the Inland Lake Yachting Association, National C Scow Association, MC Scow Association, and more globally, the US Optimist Dinghy Association. We wanted a resource that was timely and focused on the boats and waters that we sail. We also wanted to have a place for racing sailors to share ideas and learn from each other.
That’s why…
SAILZING.com is… Stimulating Learning for Sailors.
Our mission is to provide the quickest and easiest path for racing sailors to improve their knowledge and skills.
Our unique approach:
- Promote a place for sailors helping sailors
- Organize, simplify, &Â clarify great content
- Aggregate the best resources
Our initial perspective:
- One-design sailboats
- Lake sailing
SailZing Special Features
- Aha! Insights – These capture personal moments when you finally figured something out that seriously improved your sailing performance. These are also intended to give thanks to those who may have enlightened you. “I finally figured out how to pick a gate mark when Bill Jones shared this with me…”
- LakeSmarts – We all have home lake knowledge that gives us some edge over off-lake competitors. Confident competitors are happy to share these. We’re compiling these lake smarts to make them available here.
- Favs – What are your favorite sailing gloves, PFD, race computer, foul weather gear, footwear, weather app, etc… We’re compiling top sailor’s current, favorite things. What are your favorite things?
- Mods – Have you done some cool mod to your boat that makes you faster or smarter? Share it on SailZing.com.
Submit Your Ideas
The learning is for everyone.
While we have a focus on one-design boats & lake sailors, the learning is for everyone. A book review by a reviewer named Tom Armstrong on Amazon made a fabulous point:
Every sailing experience is a chance to increase one’s understanding of this wonderful activity. Finally, the author correctly recommends (also in my experience) that the smaller the boat one learns on, the faster the concepts of wind and its effects will be understood. A small boat both rewards good sailing and quickly illustrates incorrect actions much better than a larger one. Accomplished small boat sailors are able to transfer their knowledge to any size vessel. It is more difficult to discover the important nuances of sailing surrounded by a larger boat.
The skills learned here may often translate to whatever sailboat that you race.
SAILZING.com needs YOU.
This site becomes even more valuable with your help. Here are a few ways that you can participate:
- Please provide your insights, clarifications and corrections in the comments areas of posts.
- Send links to great content to us along with your insights via the Contact form.
- Become an official, SAILZING.com content contributor. Contact Us.
- Help us financially through your donations. You can help us to try to limit advertising.
Sailing is an Ecosystem.
At SAILZING.com, we believe in sharing great ideas and giving credit to those who gave them to you. Some ideas are widely known, so we can’t mention all possible sources. We do always strive to amplify what others have said as well as to give credit where credit is due. If we ever miss the mark, let us know.
About the SailZing Team
Rob Hudson – SailZing.com Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Rob lives in Florida sailing out of the Sarasota Sailing Squadron and currently sails the Melges 15 hull #266. Rob has also sailed in the X-Boat, C-Scow (“B-52 Rock Lobster”) and MC Scow as both a crew and skipper for 5 decades. Rob is also  member #1049 of the ILYA Bilge Pullers.
Rob is the Editor in Chief and owner of SailZing, LLC.
Home Sailing Club: Sarasota Sailing Squadron
Al Haeger – SailZing.com Co-Founder. We lost Al on February 10, 2023.
Al lived on Lake Beulah in East Troy, WI and in Mt. Dora, FL and sailed the Melges MC-Scow – MC2748.
Al focused on content and programs and you’ll see a lot of his work on SailZing.com.
Home Sailing Club: Lake Beulah Yacht Club and Lake Eustis Sailing Club .
You
SAILZING.com is a place where racing sailors of all backgrounds, boats and skill levels share insights to help each other. So YOU are really part of the SAILZING.com team if you contribute ideas.
