Club 420

If you took a sailing lesson anywhere in America in the last forty years, odds are it was on a 420. Ours are rigged simply — main and jib, no trapeze until you ask for it — and they're light enough that two people can have one off the rack and rigged in fifteen minutes.

The 420 rewards good habits and shrugs off bad ones. Capsize it (everyone does, eventually) and it comes back up with a foot on the centerboard and no drama. When Wednesday-night racing rolls around, this is the fleet we race, so the boat you learn on is the boat you'll compete in.