Thanks to those who recommended dingy sailing for beginners

[KeepInTune]

I grew up sailing a Sunfish,..then a Hobie 16. You absolutely get a clear understanding of sailing winds, various wind angles, wind angle efficiencies (or not), jibing, coming about and mistakes when you are sailing a smaller dinghy-sized sailboat. The feedback is immediate and the mistakes are not insurmountable or dangerous (+-) like they can be on a larger sailboat.
Being on a very responsive sailboat (like a Sunfish, Laser, Hobie, etc..) one learns early-on of the exponentially increasing impact of increased winds, waves and currents on the boat, systems and crew --which taught me to respect the wind and water and smartly anticipate situations brought on from the wind/weather/waves. You have to have forethought and vision and move quickly when the environment changes (wind gusts, increased waves, storms, etc..) on a sailing dinghy. You can get lulled into a delayed sense of impact on a larger sailboat.
People often ask me "is it hard to sail that larger boat??". My response is "the sailing is the easy part...it's the docking and avoiding the other idiots on the water --that's the hard part!"

Congratulations to the OP on your approach to learning. It would be my advice to anyone wanting to start and grow their skills into a larger sailboat and chartering.