Sailing offers many options to enjoy the sport for life. With multiple pathways, classes, and opportunities available to choose from, some people choose one pathway enjoying years of sailing to master their chosen class, whilst some change often, and some choose more than one pathway and more than one class to sail in parallel to another.

There are no right or wrong answers when choosing a pathway and class, it’s a very personal decision, and one that is best made by considering your own goals and situation, and most importantly, by thinking about which class and which pathway will provide you with the most enjoyment and fun!

There are youth pathway classes (that lead to performance pathway classes); international classes (where people compete across life stages), there are pathways in Keelboats and ocean racing; to pathways in fast boats and foiling on boards, kites, and boats. It can sometimes become overwhelming with all the information available, and decisions needed when choosing to change class.

To get the right advice for you, and to move to the most suitable class takes time, consideration, and planning. There are a lot of factors contributing to getting it as right as you can. There are plenty of options you can use to help you make decisions, including talking to qualified Sailing Coaches, Parents, friends, and club officials. However, in the end, a change of class is one that needs to be your decision, and one which is suitable to your age and stage of development.

Factors to consider in selecting a new class

Getting the correct advice and asking the right questions when choosing to move to a new class needs careful planning, below are a series of questions that you might consider asking yourself if you are thinking of changing class:

• Do you already have an idea or preference of which class you would like to sail? – What do you already know about that class?
• Do you want to sail for fun, recreation, and fitness? To race? Or a combination of all factors?
• Do you want to go fast? Or do you like a boat that is more of a physical challenge and suits a strategic mind?
• Do you want to sail a youth class? International class? A class that’s popular at your club?
• Do you want to sail Single-handed or double-handed?
• If you would like to sail double-handed, would you like to helm or crew? - Do you already have a friend or teammate in mind that you would like to sail with? - Teamwork and working with other people are very important skills. If you choose to sail a double-handed class having only sailed single handed classes before, it could be the first time you have gone into an equal partnership. It’s important at this point to spend time ensuring the partnership is going to be effective, compatible, and fun, as you will be spending many hours together, both on and off the water. 

You should discuss the partnership with all involved, including both families who also need to be part of the decision. The key to successful partnerships is compatibility, which can be split into several areas.

• Basics – It helps if sailors are roughly the same sailing age and live reasonably close together, these are more important for junior and youth sailors to consider, but can also be a factor for adults.
• Goals and Commitment – Sailors should discuss exactly what they want from their sailing and racing with any potential partner. Goals and aspirations should be compatible as should a willingness to commit the same amount of time and effort.
• Roles – To be efficient and effective, roles should be divided equally between partners, ensure the split of work is fair and each sailor works to their strengths, while learning from the other to improve their weaknesses. As young sailors still rely on their parents for many things, such as funding, driving, helping with logistics, parents also need to be happy with the commitment and how it is shared between the two families.
• Fun Factor – This is crucial, after all if it’s not fun, why do it? Partners need to enjoy spending time together, – they don’t have to be best friends, but they will spend a lot of time together, both on water and off, so getting on well is very important.

• Do you want to sail with Conventional or asymmetric spinnakers? Try Windsurfing? Try Kiteboarding? Try Foiling on boards or boats?
• What class already has a good fleet locally? – One of the keys to making progress and maximising fun is having other boats to train and sail with, and a suitable venue to sail your chosen class at. Are there other sailors at your club or surrounding clubs sailing the same class? Does your club have a coaching program, or could they start one? Can you get together with other sailors in the class and organise your own training group in holidays, at weekends or evenings?
• What are your future sailing aspirations? – Local club sailing? State competitions? National competitions? International competitions? Olympics? – It could be one of more of these aspirations, there are no right or wrong choices, but depending on your aspirations, it can influence the classes or pathways you choose.
• If you are still growing, how quickly will your size change? What’s your potential growth? Or if you are fully grown what is your height and weight now? - this is an essential factor for choosing a new class, as it will help to ensure that you have the most amount of fun, in many classes sailors need to be the optimum size for their chosen boat to perform best and have the most enjoyment.
• What is your budget? And what is the resale market like? - Generally, a one design boat of an international class will be cheaper to own and have a better resale, especially if there is a good sized local fleet. 

Above all be patient and don’t expect miracles immediately in a new class, changing classes or pathways can be a big decision at any stage of your sailing journey, and it takes time to master a new class. Just develop a good long term plan, and work on that, rather than being side tracked by short-term outcomes and results. Most importantly, make sure that whatever decisions you make when choosing a new class or pathway, provide you with excitement, fun and enjoyment!

Before you make the move, there are often plenty of options to help you choose, such as:

• Trying the class through your local club or class association, many have loan boats available for new sailors to try
• Try sailing with people who have experience in the class locally and are looking for occasional crew or skippers where you could fill in for the day to gain a taste of what the class is like.
• Ask Club and class coaches, and join club and class coaching programs that are providing transition days throughout the season, let your club know which boat/s you want to try
• Attend class associations trial days and when you’ve chosen a class, they may have class transition coaching programs available.

When you’ve decided what’s right for you:

• Join the class association
• Join club coaching programs or ask your club to get one started for the class
• Take the time to learn the tricks and techniques of the new class before focussing on racing and performance.
• Don’t expect too much too soon, it can take years to master a new class.
• Have Fun - Sailing is a life-long pursuit. Times of change come and go as we grow in the sport and transitioning to a new class may happen many times over.