It’s way harder than those YouTube videos make it look!

[akprb]

Originally Posted by Chuck Hawley

Great questions. I am similarly sized, and I'd offer that virtually no 12' boat is very comfortable or intended for a guy of our size. A Laser, one of the most popular boats in the world, is also uncomfortable for big guys. Part of it is the small side decks for a big tush, and part of it is the low boom clearance. There are boats that are better for big guys. I owned a Megabyte for many years and it was a veritable couch compared to other boats in that size range. Deeper cockpit combined with higher boom. And just a better boat overall than a Laser, or Holder, or FJ, etc.

Second, learning to sail on a sensitive boat in a crowded area is going to be disappointing, and you don't want to get frustrated and quit. Ideally, you'd find a lake that is long/wide enough to stay on a single tack for 10 minutes or so. Understand sail trim and steering in a single direction. Tacking will always be a bit of a fire drill, but you'll soon learn to a) always face forward, b) pass the tiller/tiller extension behind your back, and c) not allow the main to ease too much because you can't hold everything at the same time. You can do it, but I would compare it to starting out in first gear in a manual tranny car. Yes, it's very hard initially, but after a while it's completely unconscious.

Yes, small boats are tough on knees. That's where the deeper cockpit is handy. If you get a chance, look at a Lido 14 and see how much more room it has than a conventional flat boat like a Laser. That room keeps you off your knees, and on your feet.

You may also want to look at something like a Catalina 16.5. I've always thought they look "right" and I suspect the sail well with one adult or two or three.

Cheers,

Chuck

This is the right answer! 240? 6’4”? 12’ Hobie?

The 16.5 is a step in the right direction.

[Ferrari]

My son and I learned to sail in a Laser 2 which was like learning to drive in a Formula 1 car!
A steep learning curve made much easier with a lakeside sailing school teaching the basics.
You're getting some very good "Chalk Talk" right here so stay with it, when you get the hang of it it will be nothing but fun!!

[Salt to Sea]

My wife told me on the way back from the lake that she’d like to see me sell the Holder and get something more my size. I chose the Holder because it was a super cheap way to get started. The local area has a number of 15-25 ft boats for under $5k - I may look at one of those towards the start of next Spring.

[Tayana42]

Sounds like you have a wise wife.

[LittleWing77]

Hey Salt to Sea!

(Great name, by the way). I'll never forget my first time sailing... we had a little Laser knock-off that my aunt had bought "so we can all learn to sail this Summer" she'd read a how-to-sail book the night before, so she had it all covered. We launched, put up the rig and sails, and my sister and I (11 and 10, respectively) stood in our lifejackets, watching our aunt - who had taken the boat out solo "to get the hang of things, then I'll swing by and pick you up" - capsize the dinghy 14 times in succession, until she figured out that she needed to unsheet the main (yes, a cam cleat on the mainsheet is useful in dinghy sailing - unless you don't understand the principle of unsheeting and adjusting sail trim.)

Boy was she mad when she finally came and got us and we gleefully told her the number of capsizes. (What else did we have to do while we were standing there, intermidably waiting?)

Anyway, I chime in with "you're doing fine". Remember catamarans (hobies) tend to turn more easily if you put the stern through the wind (gybing) versus tacking (bow through the wind).

Oh, and have you heard the old mouldy joke about the boom? It's called the "boom", because that's the noise it makes when it hits your head...

Keep on sailin'!
Fair winds,
LittleWing