Here's the book that can get you sailing in an afternoon and keep you sailing better through a lifetime on the water
This is the first sailing book that follows a sailor's ideal learning curve. Rather than tell you all about sail trim or anchoring in a single chapter, Robby Robinson tells you what you need to know when you want to know it. From the absolute basics to the most advanced techniques, the International Marine Book of Sailing is highly accessible--and informative--at every level.

• More than 500 pages and 1,000 color photos and illustrations.
• Covers everything from high-performance and Olympic-class sailing dinghies to coastal and offshore cruising sailboats. No matter your age or the kind of sailing you'd most like to do, this book will work for you.
• The easy-flowing instructional text is augmented by sidebar features giving alternative approaches, definitions of terms, and boat-to-boat variations--a uniquely effective how-to combination.
• Includes contributions from Nigel Calder (Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual), Beth Leonard (The Voyager's Handbook), Robert Perry (Yacht Design According to Perry), Bob Sweet (The Weekend Navigator), Charlie Wing (How Boat Things Work), and other top sailing writers.
• Renders sailing and seamanship more transparent and accessible than ever before.
• The ideal book for self-teaching.