Either works. A dinghy teaches you quickly because it responds to every change in the wind, but it can capsize and you will get wet. A keelboat is steadier, drier and more comfortable, and suits people who want to cruise or sail with others.
A dinghy is a small, light open boat with a centreboard or daggerboard instead of a heavy keel. It is kept upright mainly by the crew’s weight, so it heels and capsizes easily, and it responds immediately to every gust, every movement of the tiller and every adjustment of the sails. That makes it a very good teacher: you feel straight away what the wind and the sails are doing. Many of the best sailors learnt in dinghies for this reason.
A keelboat, such as a cruising yacht, has a heavy keel that keeps her upright and pulls her back if she heels. She is much steadier, the crew sit in a cockpit, and you are unlikely to get wet in moderate weather. Things happen more slowly, which gives you time to think, but it also means the feedback is less immediate. Keelboats also bring skills a dinghy doesn’t teach: using winches, working as a crew, motoring in a marina, anchoring and picking up moorings.
Some points to help you choose:
- If you are young, agile and happy to capsize, a dinghy course is a quick and inexpensive way to learn the fundamentals.
- If you want to go cruising, sail with friends or family, or would rather stay dry, start on a keelboat.
- If you can, do both. Dinghy sailors make sensitive helmsmen on yachts, and yacht sailors learn a lot from a few days in a dinghy.
The principles are the same in both: the points of sail, trimming, tacking and gybing work the same way. In a dinghy, always wear a buoyancy aid or lifejacket and learn how to right the boat after a capsize as part of your first course.
More in the book: Chapter 1, The sailing boat