<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Fails to meet stated goal
Review: Given the subtitle of this book, "A Beginner's Guide," one would expect it to address issues relevant to those people who are just beginning to sail (even those who have never been in a sailboat before but wish to learn). Unfortunately, that's not the case. The book contains a significant amount of information that is irrelevant for the beginning sailor. The problem here is that the impertinent information takes up valuable space in the book (which is a slim volume to begin with) that could be better used if the book was more narrowly focused (i.e. if it concentrated only on topics and questions likely to be faced by BEGINNING sailors, since, ostensibly, that is what the book was supposed to be about). Examples of this lack of focus can be found on almost every page. In the interests of brevity, I will include only three examples here, which should be sufficient to demonstrate my point. First, in Chapter 3, "Getting Out on the Water," under the heading "Cruising Choices," the author distinguishes between Gunkholing, Coastal Cruising, and Ocean Cruising. The first type of cruising, Gunkholing, arguably the kind most beginners would be enganged in, is treated in one paragraph, while Ocean Cruising, an unlikely undertaking for people just learning to sail, receives two full pages complete with a discussion of how to prepare and pack for such a trip. Such a discussion has no place in a BEGINNER'S guide. Similarly, the next section of Chapter 3 addresses four different catagories of racing. At five and one-half pages, this is one of the more extensive treatments of any topic in the book. The problem is that this information is useless for the majority of beginning sailors. Why should you be concerned with Ocean Racing if you don't even know how to sail (which, presumably, is why you bought the book)? The third example is from Chapter 11, "Buying Your First Boat" (more accurately titled "Buying Your Second Boat" as it presumes considerable familiarity with sailing and sailboats). Here the author, after stating that yacht brokers do not typically handle small boats (about 20 ft.), which is exactly the size of boat the beginning sailor is advised to buy as their first boat, he proceeds to explain how to buy a used boat through a yacht broker. Again, not the kind of information or advice that is likely to be of use to a beginner. Those two pages could have been better spent, for example, apprising the reader of the merits of different types/styles of small sailboats, etc. Let me assure the reader that this is not simply nit-picking. The three very specfic examples offered above are exemplars of the entire book. In summary, because this book fails to remain focused on beginners, it ends up as a superficial treatment of the subject and is of little value to the community it was supposed to serve (i.e., the beginning sailor). There must be a good introduction to sailing out there somewhere, it's just not here.
Rating:
Summary: Fails to meet stated goal
Review: Given the subtitle of this book, "A Beginner's Guide," one would expect it to address issues relevant to those people who are just beginning to sail (even those who have never been in a sailboat before but wish to learn). Unfortunately, that's not the case. The book contains a significant amount of information that is irrelevant for the beginning sailor. The problem here is that the impertinent information takes up valuable space in the book (which is a slim volume to begin with) that could be better used if the book was more narrowly focused (i.e. if it concentrated only on topics and questions likely to be faced by BEGINNING sailors, since, ostensibly, that is what the book was supposed to be about). Examples of this lack of focus can be found on almost every page. In the interests of brevity, I will include only three examples here, which should be sufficient to demonstrate my point. First, in Chapter 3, "Getting Out on the Water," under the heading "Cruising Choices," the author distinguishes between Gunkholing, Coastal Cruising, and Ocean Cruising. The first type of cruising, Gunkholing, arguably the kind most beginners would be enganged in, is treated in one paragraph, while Ocean Cruising, an unlikely undertaking for people just learning to sail, receives two full pages complete with a discussion of how to prepare and pack for such a trip. Such a discussion has no place in a BEGINNER'S guide. Similarly, the next section of Chapter 3 addresses four different catagories of racing. At five and one-half pages, this is one of the more extensive treatments of any topic in the book. The problem is that this information is useless for the majority of beginning sailors. Why should you be concerned with Ocean Racing if you don't even know how to sail (which, presumably, is why you bought the book)? The third example is from Chapter 11, "Buying Your First Boat" (more accurately titled "Buying Your Second Boat" as it presumes considerable familiarity with sailing and sailboats). Here the author, after stating that yacht brokers do not typically handle small boats (about 20 ft.), which is exactly the size of boat the beginning sailor is advised to buy as their first boat, he proceeds to explain how to buy a used boat through a yacht broker. Again, not the kind of information or advice that is likely to be of use to a beginner. Those two pages could have been better spent, for example, apprising the reader of the merits of different types/styles of small sailboats, etc. Let me assure the reader that this is not simply nit-picking. The three very specfic examples offered above are exemplars of the entire book. In summary, because this book fails to remain focused on beginners, it ends up as a superficial treatment of the subject and is of little value to the community it was supposed to serve (i.e., the beginning sailor). There must be a good introduction to sailing out there somewhere, it's just not here.
<< 1 >>
| 
