Pardon the liberal use of cliches, but as somebody once said, ‘Sailing equates to standing in a cold shower tearing up £10 notes.’ If it’s racing, it will be £50 notes you’re shredding! And as a wise soul further commented, ‘The two happiest days in a sailor’s life are when one buys a yacht and then, when one sells it!’
That may not be strictly true, but even running a small cruising yacht on a modest budget is unlikely to count as ‘cheap’.
Sailing itself needn’t be expensive, however. My own route into sailing came after I gave up mountaineering, when, hitting my late 50s, my joints started complaining. I had sailed in my youth and in the Army, but boots and crampons were more affordable once I’d left the military. Having swallowed the ice axe – so to speak – like many I set out on the RYA programme, starting off with Competent Crew and then working my way through Day and Coastal Skipper. This undoubtedly gives a good grounding, but the issue then emerges, what to do when you have these tickets, but no boat?
As with driving a car, you only really learn to drive once you’ve got your licence, and I needed some experience
