Quick-reacting sailboats good teachers

Little boats make big contributions in teaching people to sail. Just ask Richard Hoover and the Clear Lake Sailing Club.

Hoover has been teaching sailing since 1968. The Clear Lake Sailing Club, which sponsors his sailing courses, is a strong proponent of small sailboats.

He focuses most of his efforts on beginners. He stresses two things to his students.

“Look for a small sailboat,” he said, “and look for one that is popular locally.”

Small sailboats accelerate the learning curve, the time it takes to get a feeling for the boat.

“If you make a mistake in a little boat, it’s going to slow down right away,” he said.

In a larger keel boat, with all its momentum, a mistake might not be immediately apparent. You might make another mistake or two and then do something right before mistake No. 1 catches up with you.

That can leave a beginner scratching his head.

He’s talking about sailing dinghies, little boats with center boards and sailed by one or two people.

Owning a boat popular in the area is good for both the social and the competitive side of sailing.

Hoover bought a Lido 14 in 1965 and with his wife, Paula, learned to sail by trial and error. He began teaching based on knowledge gained from his own mistakes.

He’s taught perhaps 2,000 students since 1968. Now 74, he is on his fourth Lido now — one of many of the more than 6,000 built through the years that is still around.

The Lido 14 is raced by two people, but has a cockpit large enough for four to sail comfortably.

“I once sailed with 10,” Hoover said, apparently just to show it could be done.

Hoover says smaller boats, with their lighter gear, are easier for older people to sail. Is he still having fun teaching, and sailing?

“Oh yes!” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

He has a basic sailing class coming up starting April 5. There are three classroom sessions on consecutive Saturdays. Then each student gets an individually scheduled on-the-water session on a subsequent session.

The class costs $75, which includes a one-year family membership in the club. Additional information is available on the club’s Web site, www.clearlakesailingclub.org, or via e-mail at rhooversr(at)comcast.net.

The club itself is nonprofit educational organization that’s been around since 1969. In addition to sponsoring sailing classes, it offers social sailing opportunities and racing, monthly in winter and alternate Saturdays in summer. Popular boats with members include the Day Sailer, Lido 14, Capri 14 and the Star.

It also hosts a popular open regatta, Waiting for the Great Pumpkin, each October, which attracts participants from throughout the state.

Members also will help less experienced folks get their boats ready to sail in free public clinics.

The club doesn’t have a physical home. It uses Clear Lake Park as a launch site.

The club also accepts (tax deductible) donations of little sailboats in reasonable condition. The idea is to make those boats available to members a nominal cost. A Lido 14 recently went for $250, including sails and a trailer.

Best of all, they could wind up being free to people who use them in club events.

“Join our club for one year and participate in three club on-the-water events (social sailing, racing, committee boat duties) within a one-year period,” the club Web site says, and the buyer gets a participation rebate equal to the price of the boat.

John Ira Petty, a sailing instructor and licensed captain, is the sailing columnist for The Daily News.