Both US Sailing and the American Sailing Association have a variety of excellent books on sailing. For students new to sailing we highly recommend the books shown below.

US Sailing - Basic Keelboat

US Sailing is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in the United States and its vision is provide leadership in training and certification in support for the racing sailor. For students new to sailing we recommend their Basic Keelboat book.

Basic Keelboat - Sailing is a sport that connects the generations and brings people together. But sailing is challenging. To maximize your enjoyment on the water, you must have confidence in yourself, your boat, equipment and crew. Basic Keelboat helps you learn to sail with the skills required to be safe at sea. When you're prepared, life under sail is more enjoyable. The lessons learned in Basic Keelboat will provide a strong foundation to help you build your skills for the future. The first of US SAILING's popular Keelboat Series, Basic Keelboat covers the skills and terminology required to responsibly skipper a small daysailing keelboat. Basic Keelboat breaks down maneuvers like tacking, jibing, docking and overboard recovery in a simple, understandable manner. Image and text obtained from US Sailing: http://store.ussailing.org/

ASA - Sailing Made Easy

The American Sailing Association is an association of sailing schools, charter companies, professional sailing instructors, and sailors, with over 300 affiliated sailing schools located throughout the world. For students new to sailing we recommend their Sailing Made Easy book.

Sailing Made Easy - While the primary purpose of Sailing Made Easy is to serve as the course book for the American Sailing Association (ASA) Basic Keelboat Sailing Standard, ASA 101, it is designed to teach sailing to anyone, especially to those with littor or no prior exposer to this exciting sport and lifestyle. In both these roles, it provides instruction in the skills and knowledge needed to competently sail a balasted keelboat up to about 25 feet in length in light to moderate winds. When developing the content for thi sbook, ASA drew on the experience gaind by its instructors from the countless teaching hours they have accumulated on and off the water. Sailing Made Easy also serves as the foundation of knowledge for subsequent ASA courses and their textbooks. Image and text obtained from ASA: https://asa.com/

Handbook of Texas Boating Laws & Responsibilities

This handbook is published by Boat Ed, the official provider of Texas's boating safety course. All boating safety course material has been developed in conjunction with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and is the same material used in their classroom courses.

Texas Boating Laws - Texas enforcement officers patrol our waterways to make your boating experience safe and pleasant. Cooperate with them by following the suggestions outlined in this handbook as well as the rules of common courtesy while operating your boat. The Boating Basics section includes: vessel length and capacity, fueling, float plans, navigational rules, U.S. Aids to Navigation, weather and other boating emergencies, and personal watercraft (PWC) basics. The It's the Law section includes: registering information, registration fees, display of numbers, legal operating age, required equipment, unlawful operation, boating under the influence, reporting accidents, enforcement, environmental restrictions, and laws governing PWC and vessels towing skiers. You can view a PDF version of the Handbook by following the links shown above, or you can take the official Texas boating safety course by following this link: http://www.boat-ed.com/texas/index.html Image and text obtained from Boat-Ed: http://www.boat-ed.com/