On Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 9:50:15 PM UTC-5, Paul Villinski wrote:
I know there are plenty of guys who come into soaring after years of sailing. Wings horizontal in one and vertical in the other.... Is there anyone managing to do both to their satisfaction, particularly non-retired types? Or is it madness to try to be a fairly serious, recreational soaring pilot and sailor at the same time? Two things raise this question: the desire for an outdoor activity to share with my small family, rather than leaving them on the ground at the airport every weekend (wife grew up sailing and loves it); and a sudden rekindling of my own boyhood love of sailing, when I dreamed of two things: learning to fly gliders and cruising on sailboats. I've been saying for years that if I weren't soaring, I'd be sailing, and am suddenly wondering if I can pull off both at once. The follow-on question is, naturally, does anyone manage to fly gliders and also own and maintain a, say, thirtyish-year-old, thirtyish foot sailboat, or is this a recipe for frustration? The current fantasy is to spend a chunk of August, when soaring weather in the North East isn't at its best, cruising costal waters between New York and Maine.

Hi Paul, I've been an active sailor since I was a 8 year old kid and then started racing Scows ( M-20, E, MC) for about 20 years and now sail a C Scow a couple times a week just for fun. Sailing is what made soaring such a natural transition. Soaring after all is sky sailing.. I've found that when it's to windy to fly or conditions aren't good for soaring is the time to go sailing. Going for a sail gets you out to enjoy the day when it's not a soaring day, a perfect trade off. More often than not conditions are better for sailing than soaring, so your not missing out wishing you were outside doing something. Sailing allows you to spend more time with the family. The key of course is "IF" they think sailing would be fun thing to do. Advise from an old Atlas pilot-Steve Loudon