Welcome to the August Issue of SailMaster - StartedSailing.com's Monthly Ezine, filled with information on tips, tricks, techniques to improve your sailing as well as stories and my experiences this month!
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Thank you for reading the August Issue of SailMaster.
August has been a blast for me! The sailing has been incredible and I have enjoyed every millisecond of it.
First things first is that I put up my first ever video of myself talking about how I got into sailing and about my story. If you have seen this video, then you should know that I visited Poole last weekend to do the South East regional event of sailing round Brownsea Island in which we came 3rd out of 30 boats, which is a good achievement.
If you had also seen the video, you would know that I am going to Corfu for two weeks and will be sailing as much as I physically can!
This newsletter has for the first time ever coincided with a day that I go sailing, so I can talk about what happened today.
Well, I can tell you there are alot more videos coming! I collected 60 minutes worth of footage on the novice plain sailing and the afternoon racing both in Force 2-3 winds. This will be released in the near future.
If you have been visiting the site recently, you will have notice the huge bustle of activity that has been going on. I built over three days a 163 list of sailing schools in the United States, which I hope the 60% of my visitors who come from that country will enjoy. I am planning to do the same for the UK. If you live in another country and would like to add your sailing club to the list, then please visit this page.
You can see the rest of my hardwork in the later sections.
I am always looking for ways to improve the site. If you see any errors or would like to contribute in any way, please contact me!
Till Next Month,
Alex Dotsch
Exclusive Article - Why You Should Race Instead Of Cruise!
I was asked recently why I enjoy racing. This person was very fond of cruising and found it crazy that I would like racing. I in turn thought he was crazy for not liking racing.
It does seem that one needs the correct personality in order to enjoy either part of sailing.
If you enjoy racing, you enjoy the competitive atmosphere and like to win. You get butterflies in your tummy on the start line and an adrenaline rush just as you are nearing the finish.
If you enjoy cruising, you like the calm, quiet atmosphere and like the way you can sunbathe in the sun on something that rocks from side to side like a hammock. You don't want to improve your skills, you don't want to treat it like a sport or exercise. Instead, you use sailing as a way to relax.
Now I am not discriminating against those who like sailing for its cruising aspects. In fact I do enjoy just lying back on the boat sometimes to soak in the sun, but you would only find me doing this in between races.
There is no way that I could only use sailing as a relaxation tool as it is such a tiny part of the sport as a whole. Racing is very important as it helps each sailor improve. This is because they see someone going faster than them and they wonder why. They may ask advice, they may practice more or they may even find a lighter crew. All of these things will help you improve.
Sitting on the bow of the boat soaking in the sun, may seem an attractive prospect, but it will not help you get better at sailing.
Sailing is a sport, treat it so. In tennis, you don't lie down on the court and in football you don't lie down on the grass. So don't cruise around and instead sail properly!
Funny Of The Month
As a tribute to my new page on the Hydrofoil Sailboat...
New Pages on The Website
There are so many that I could not list them all here! But here are a few of my favourites:
ASA Sailing - All about the American Sailing Association and how it has changed sailing
Sailboat Sails - A major new part of the website concerned totally and unfixatedly on the most important part of our sport, the sail
Inflatable Sailboat - Something that I saw mentioned and went on to investigate, these little ingenious boats are really something to look at yourself!
I have built so many in the last month and I hope you get involved in all of them and all of the ones I plan to implement in the future. Thanks to those of you who have already supported me as I help others find this site as you did!
If you have a YouTube Account, subscribe to my YouTube Channel
If you have any Boating Stores or Sailing Schools you would like to add to the Sailing Directory, please visit this page.
And of course continue to promote Started Sailing by word of mouth, linking to it if you have a website and by posting articles or forum posts. Everything counts to making this a better website and helps the dinghy sailing community as a whole improve.
Thanks in advance!
Thank you for reading the August Issue of SailMaster! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this issue.
If you enjoyed this issue of SailMaster, please feel free to send it to any friends or family and ask them to subscribe on my website.
