Rating: 
Summary: Needs an edit
Review: Although the content of this book is useful, it is a difficult read because of poor editing. There are numerous typographical errors which could easily be corrected. Occasionally, there are terms used that have not been defined, although synomyms have been (e.g. "forestay" is referenced but only "headstay" is defined). However, one of the most cumbersome problems to deal with is the reference to illustrations. Illustrations are not numbered which makes it more difficult to find the proper one to look at on many pages where there are multiples. Additionally, there are numbered objects referenced in the text that do not appear with numbers in the illustrations. Certainly, with effort one can work their way through the text and learn from it, but it could be much smoother to do with a small amount of work from an editor.
Rating: 
Summary: Sailing Fundementals Exactly
Review: As a Teachyourselfer native english speaker I find the descriptions with diagrams easy to understand and it covers everything. As its title suggests it is a manual for the A.S.A. courses and covers basic U.S. regulations which apply to anyone sailing in U.S. waters.
Rating:
Summary: Great basic learn-to-sail book!
Review: Being new to sailing, I purchased the book before I started taking sailing lessons so I would be familiar with the terms, concepts, etc. With highlighter in-hand, I carefully combed through the book. It prepared me very well.My instructor usually hands out the same book during the first class. Since I already carefully read it (he quizzed me), rather than spending a lot of time in class going over the terms etc., I spent the time sailing; gaining hands-on sailing experience. It's a great book for the beginning sailor.
Rating:
Summary: Sailing Fundamentals
Review: For the last 20 years, my student feedback has been very good. They like the pictures, the pace, and the level. The self tests at the end of the chapters help them get ready to take a very comprehensive written exam. By using this textbook, my pass rate on this exam is above 90%. Then they use and enjoy the practice water excercises to develop their water skills. Prior to using this book, my students felt very intimidated by the sailing mystic. This book is user friendly. Of all the textbooks that have been written on sailing, the US Coast Guard Auxillary picked and approved this text to be used in their courses. I believe their seal on the front cover says alot about the quality of the contents.
Rating: 
Summary: Take the Plunge! This Book Will Help....
Review: Growing up on Long Island, I've been around alot of boats. Even here in sunny So Cal although I'm not right on the water, I'm not far from it. Most of the boating I've done though was basically for skiing, so I had no knowledge of sailing. I was on a sail boat but only along for the ride...I LOVED IT!..But I knew nothing, I didn't know a Jib from a Jibe, or a Close Reach from a Broad Reach. I wanted to learn all about it and get certified. So I signed up for my sailing lessons, which took several weeks for the basic certifications(since I could only go on weekends), and this was the book that was required(for the classes). We did several chapters every weekend so during the week I would be able to read through to the next's weeks lessons.Sailing Fundalmentals explained everthing from "the rules of the road" to basic vocabulary, to raising the mainsail,getting the boat moving, and anchoring. Along with esstential saftey rules and regulations and , Knot tieing, and what to do in emergency situations. All these thing were covered in the classes on board the boat and reading the book first each week helped quite a bit with understanding the acutal lesson. I highly reccommend this book in conjunction with lessons.I did find sometimes though that I had to read some sections a couple of times before I understood what they were saying. So I would also reccommend Basic Cruising (which seemed to be a bit of an easier read) to study for the certification tests. It is part of the US Sailing certification series. Take the Plunge! I aced my tests and if I can do it, you can too(trust me on that)...Laurie
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Text
Review: I am a bit amazed by the other reviews of this book. I just took the ASA certification and read this book as part of the class. This is one of the worst textbooks I have ever read. The four other people in my class all agreed. Among it's problems: - It is full of serious typos and several sections were even truncated, ending right in the middle of sentences.
- Many of the diagrams are incomprehensible.
- May of the photos are wrong our out of order.
- All the knot-tying diagrams omit the last step for tying the knot.
- Several of the sections describing how to do things do not make any sense whatsoever. Some of the sections tell you "In this section we are going to learn how to do A. It is important to know how to do A because ..." - but they never actually tell you how to do A! For a book that has been in print as long as this book there is really no excuse. The book does cover that basics, but since there are many really good books that cover this same material and more much (such as Chapman Piloting and the Annapolis Book of Seamanship) there is really no reason to buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: don't buy if you are not taking the ASA certification
Review: I bought the book for general sailing information. I found that a lot of the content is specifically geared to the certification requirements for ASA. If you are not going to certify or sail in the US then you will find yourself skipping US-specific pages and maybe losing on content in the process. Everything is spelled out to an excruciating detail. A book for those who haven't been in a boat ever before in their life.
Rating:
Summary: This book was a great review and certification training
Review: I had been sailing for only three years when I got this book as part of a sailing certification course I took at the North Texas Sailing School on Lake Ray Hubbard in Dallas. This is a great "how to sail" book and is the course material for the American Sailing Association (A.S.A.) course that I took. It did a good job of teaching all the requisite sailing skills and terminology. I would recommend it for general use in learning to sail at a basic skill level. The Book includes numerous black and white photographs and lots of illustrations and diagrams to teach the skills required for the course. The book is divided into several sections that are used to teach three separate ASA certified courses. The sections are: Introduction to Sailing, Basic Sailing, Safety and Seamanship, Basic Seamanship Skills, Basic Coastal Cruising I, Basic Coastal Cruising II and Special Sailing Information. The book contains a good glossary and sailing terminology guide (very helpful for novices) and a good index. Review questions for each chapter or chapter series are included as well as answers to all the questions.
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Summary: Sailing instructor's view
Review: I have owned a sailing school and taught sailing for 25 years. In 1983 I was putting together a basic sailing book to be used by schools, when I discovered ASA and Gary Jobson's Sailing Fundamentals. I thought it was a terrific book and adopted it rather than finish my own book. I liked the organization, completeness and casual conversational style. Also I liked the illustrations, particularly the wind circle and points of sail in the later (present) edition. We have taught thousands of people to sail and are still using this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Beginners Book
Review: I read this book early in my first experiences with keel-boats. It is written simply and brings the total novice up to the point where he or she can apply their knowledge with some minimal guidance and sail a boat. After a day or two with this type of experience, they would certainly be fine on their own, as long as they don't plan to challenge their skills. A great book, for the novice, but don't forget to invest a few bucks in references to help you advance beyond the basics!
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