Which boat to start with?

Hello all!
I'm looking forward to taking some lessons this summer and finally learning to sail. I've wanted to do so for many years and the time is finally right.
Long term, I'd like to own a 22' - 35' sailboat that can comfortably go offshore for short trips. (east coast USA). This is obviously down the road, with many ,miles and lessons behind me, but with that in mind, I wondered if there were any opinions here as to which rental boat I should start and complete my lessons with. My options are:
Opti, Sunfish, Flying Scot, Hobie Wave, or Vanguard 420’s.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and/or advice!

 

Hi hypedanish, don't try just one, try all of them if it is convenient. Maybe get tutored in a Vanguard 420 with an experienced sailor first, to understand sailing and get some sail handling and tips, then try an optimist on your own, and be prepared to capsize, get wet, recover, bail out the water, and sail on. When you think you know what you're doing, try a beach cat; flying a hull on trapeze is awesome great fun. Meanwhile, crew on trailer sailers and keel boats about the size you are interested in. Yacht clubs are usually very glad to have someone looking to crew and learn. All boats (and captain / crew) are lessons, so be like a sponge and soak up as many experiences as you can. Then the hard part is choosing the boat you now want after all these experiences. You may want a ski boat instead. Good learning, (not good luck).

 

Usually, sailing first lessons should be done on a dinghy (because you better feel the causes and the effects than on a keel boat), but on a stable one (to forgive your first mistakes) . A dinghy like the RS Quest fits this purpose :
RS Quest Sailboat –the best-seller for training or family sailing https://www.rssailing.com/project/rs-quest/

 

There is a huge difference between a 22' and a 35'. For example an O'Day 22 is 2050lbs, while an O'Day 35 is 11,500. The draft is also much deeper for the 35. The difference in cost is also huge. Also, the larger boat can't be kept in a trailer on your driveway, but will have dockage, haul-out and other large costs. Learning to sail in smaller boats gives you a better experience, in my opinion. You ask about Optis, which are usually for really young sailors. Where in the USA are you? A more precise location will give an opportunity for people to offer you an invitation to go sailing.

 

Sail them all!

 

A good boat to learn in…

1. smaller will give you more feedback, but it needs to be big enough for you. You should be the optimal size and weight for the boat, or initially less.
2. it does not need to be high performance but it does need to be well designed to sail well.
3. It helps if the is or was an established racing fleet somewhere at sometime that you can learn from to set the boat up properly.
4. It doesn’t have to be new but it does need to be functional. Learning to sail in a boat that isn’t rigged properly, something as simple as a missing clew tie down, is like learning to ride a bicycle with a missing pedal.


Learn from someone to rig it properly.
The boat will teach you the rest.

 

OK, you say taking lessons, so number one advice is to pick the school and go with their recommendations. In most places the schools have thir own boats anyway, so you can make an informed decision after you've had the lessons. If you're not going to a school:
Two Nos, I maybe, two yes
No.
Opti . A pre-teens boat
Hobie Wave. A small catamaran, so not the best way to small keelboats.

Maybe.
Vanguard 420. Presumably the club 420 spec, not the International 420. Either way this is a smallish boat with something of a racing background. The International 420 is a serious racing boat for late teens. Also its a two hander.

Yes.
Sunfish. The rather idiosyncratic Sunfish has taught many thousands to sail on your side of the pond. A single sail single person boat, it will get you the rudiments, and is the only one of these an an adult newcomer should sail on their own.
Flying Scot. We don't have these on our side of the pond, but by the looks its a biggish and heavyish boat, capable of carrying two or three people. You shouldn't attempt to sail it singlehanded, and its probably too big a lump to even wheel round the beach siglehanded. But provided there are at least two of you on board on every trip its by far the best of your list as a lead in to a small keelboat.