More Reviews                                          The Star-Ledger  Newwark, NJ

Making wintertime funtime…while soaking up know-how about sailing

    So much to know, so little time. The new sailor may well be daunted by what seems an ocean of information connected with the sport-knots, weather, and rules of the road, navigation…
    There are plenty of books that cover the subject, and the winter is a good time for the beginner to buckle down and study. It will soon be spring and time to take to the water with that newfound knowledge.
    Sailing, however, is such a tactile, colorful sport; the mere printed page is somehow, well, too dry. For those inclined to do their book-learning with the help of a mouse, keyboard and screen, a computer multimedia approach can speed the learning process and help the winter months fly by.
   One product that does the job nicely is Learn to Sail, from Little Pines Multimedia of Truro Mass., on Cape Cod. It is a single CD package that encompasses a complete sailing textbook. But it’s more than a textbook-it talks, shows videos, makes its points via animation, and with the point-and-click attribute of the computer, lets the reader freely move back and forth from page to page, chapter to chapter.
    Ever try to learn to tie a knot from a book? You can do it, but how much better to combine the sequential drawings with spoken instructions and a video of a person actually tying the knot. Using this program, you can take a piece of rope and play along, step by step, with the voice and the video, which you can replay as often as needed. Enough times and tying the knot becomes second nature. I tried it with an anchor bend, a new one for me. It was effortless, fun, and now I’m a whiz at tying it.
    It’s a great accompaniment to sailing lessons, said Linda Cullum of Little Pines, who put the program together. She stressed the package is not a simulator, in which you control a computer model of a boat, but rather a digital textbook that delivers information in an entertaining, interactive way.
   The program is divided into chapters: Small boat handling, knots and cordage, rules of the road, weather, navigation and piloting. One Chapter, "Advanced Topics", explains the technical theory of sailing, how wind and balance make the boat go. This chapter also covers jib and spinnaker handling, and reefing.
    The reader moves through the topics with mouse clicks, and in many instances can choose to run a short video. The video material is from Sail Magazine, by the way. Material is presented by voice, which is played concurrently with displayed text. And there are quizzes along the way to test your knowledge.
    Most instructional books contain a glossary, and Learn to Sail! is no different. It’s just that the computer makes it so much easier and faster to use. Forgot what a cringle is? Call up the glossary, click on the word and there it is: "A ring sewn into the sail through which a line or shackle can be passed." It’s that quick.
    The program is billed for beginner to intermediate. I take pride in possessing a certain body of knowledge on the subject of sailing. After a few sessions with this basic program, however, I know some things and understand others I didn’t know before. I’m embarrassed to say what they are.
    How much material does the CD contain? The label says 500 megabytes, which includes narration and animation. Cullum said in terms of text, there are 150,000 words. The program took two years to put together, Cullum said, and the material was compiled by a team of sailing experts.

Charles Zusman appears regularly in The Sunday Star-Ledger

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