Dear TUDY,

Welcome to the greastest recreation (sport) on our God given Sea's. If you can't solve all the worlds problems after a good 1hour solo sail.... your missing the whole meaning of life. I maybe assuming alot here, I will guess the boat is a Hobie 14????

Physical Demands: You need to be able to extract yourself from water, water depth over your head, to climb up and out of the water and pull yourself up and on to the boat..... that is about it? The setup of the boat (putting up the mast), find some poor sole to assist you. Launching depends on where your launching from - most situations you should have no problems launching alone.

Lots of great suggestions have been posted above.... but here are afew of mine:
One one the biggest things you need to think about is, "what kind of water will you be sailing on? Alot of your safty issues depend on this one question.

History: I've been racing H14's for about 15 years on a relatively calm river in Southern Maryland (Wicomico River, right up the Potomac from St. Marys College). Both my mother and father race actively with us (there both in there early 70's). Dad drives a H14Turbo and Mom drives one of the first Hobie Waves produced (although Mom did drive a H14 many years ago - but well over the age of 54 years young at that time).

So here's my suggestion: 1) Find someone to show you the "ropes" - see if you can go for a few rides as part of the learning process. 2) Choose your sailing area very carefully - find a place where you can sail that will keep you close to shore as much as possible. 3) Wear your life jacket - and it would be nice if you had a neighbor that had a power boat that could assist you in a pinch.

Lastly: I hate to say it but for the H14, deeper water fast is better then shallow water. One of the hardest things you will have to deal with is locking down the rudders fully. On the H14, if the rudders are not fully locked down you have to fight the tiller (helm, you will learn about this). Since this boat is somewhat "Free $$", learn what you can on the H14 - see if you like the sport - and if you do enjoy sailing (which you will) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE HOBIE WAVE - infact if find yourself feeling uncomfortable on the H14 - please try a Hobie Wave before you judge the sport. I know an email to Mary and Rick and a nice vacation to sunny Fla., and they could surely hook you up with more then a ride or two on a Wave. Also remember, any money you put into a H14 will be well spent - they seem to hold desirability and value - and thereis alot of guys and gals still sailing and racing them out there today!