David & Kelly (the illustrator) provide an excellent introduction to sailing in an organized, cover to cover readable way. It does well to brief on broad topics, allowing you to know that practical experience is needed before the next steps. It helps one 'know what they don't know.' I have dog-eared some pages as good references and will most likely refer to others when needed.

It also has some memorable sayings and fun quotes!

This is a decent book with great diagrams. What I would have liked to see which would have greatly improved the book was a glossary of terms. I found that the author often defined a sailing term once and then the reader was expected to remember that word from that point on, which was very frustrating for a book that's supposed to be for new sailors. I didn't dislike it, really; I would ideally like to give it 2 1/2 stars.

Essential reading for anyone interested in sailing both as a sport, as a hobby or as a spiritual path. Maybe too focused on a north-american audience, but 5 stars anyway.