In the beginning
Practical Boat Owner|September 2020
How the evolutionary development of the sailor was saved from going down the pan
Dave Selby
In the beginning

Leisure sailing is older than you think. Three days after early man stopped breathing through gills and stood upright there was an evolutionary breakthrough with the introduction of the RYA’s very first Day Skipper course. Although only a theory course – as Westerly wasn’t quite ready to go into production with the 22 – it created a yearning to return to the sea which endures to this very day. Thus did civilization begin, and golf came shortly after that.

The rest is history. The RYA devised a Day Skipper practical course, which led to the opening of chandleries selling tea towels printed with the Rules of the Road and Britain’s total domination of the seas forever.

Yet, in its very infancy, leisure sailing could so easily have foundered. For with Westerly 22 still on the drawing board they decided to produce a stop-gap model made out of leather from very big cows. But just 20 minutes after the early man had set off in his Westerly Coracle along the Jurassic coast to take part in Cows Week one of them wanted to go to the loo, and decided to dig a hole. You can guess what happened next. They didn’t discover America.

This story is from the September 2020 edition of Practical Boat Owner.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 2020 edition of Practical Boat Owner.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM PRACTICAL BOAT OWNERView All
Shearwater sloop sailing in the 1960s
Practical Boat Owner

Shearwater sloop sailing in the 1960s

Genevieve Leaper shares her late father John Leaper's recollections-compiled from handwritten notes-of cruising the Channel

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2023
Timing an Atlantic crossing
Practical Boat Owner

Timing an Atlantic crossing

Professional meteorologist and sailor Chris Tibbs shares his knowledge of how to choose the best time to sail 'across the pond'

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2023
Transatlantic first
Practical Boat Owner

Transatlantic first

It's 70 years since Ann Davison became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic. Katy Stickland looks back at her achievement

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2023
Going dizzy on an island sailing odyssey
Practical Boat Owner

Going dizzy on an island sailing odyssey

Ken Fowler becomes the first sailor to circumnavigate every island in England and Wales-and all done in a 4m dinghy!

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2023
Boats for coastal cruising
Practical Boat Owner

Boats for coastal cruising

Duncan Kent chooses a selection of the best sail and motor boats under 40ft most suitable for adventurous cruising along the coast

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2023
Industry view on HVO
Practical Boat Owner

Industry view on HVO

The RYA, IWA and CA are working to help recreational boating transition to a Net Zero future, as the CA's

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2023
HVO RENEWABLE DIESEL Myth or miracle?
Practical Boat Owner

HVO RENEWABLE DIESEL Myth or miracle?

A new generation of biofuel that's cleaner, greener, better for your engine and less prone to microbial growth sounds too good to be true... but the facts beg to differ

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2023
Little ships and the wrong sort of waves
Practical Boat Owner

Little ships and the wrong sort of waves

Why the correct manoeuvres for the sea conditions will reduce hogging and sagging stress on both ship and crew

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2023
Watching boats, saving jerseys
Practical Boat Owner

Watching boats, saving jerseys

It's amazing what you can see from a hospital window if it's the right hospital

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2023
Sweating the mooring asset
Practical Boat Owner

Sweating the mooring asset

Sam Llewellyn looks at ways of getting top value out of his boat's swinging mooring

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2023