I sail 30 to 40 days a year, but I don't own a boat. Instead, I help other people sail their boats.

I race because being on the water is delightful, the competition is stimulating, and I've made many friends. People involved in sailing and racing are generally nice, and they are happy to share their passion.

TOM RUSSELLA JBoat practices a spinnaker run after a race during Cleveland Race Week at Edgewater Yacht Club, June 2007.

In almost any waterfront city, you have a good chance of finding a boat to sail on. It won't cost you much more than your time and a little physical activity. If you have the urge, here's how to find a ride that leaves the dock a couple times each week.

HOW I GOT INVOLVED

I was six when I first started sailing. My family would put an 11-foot dinghy on a trailer and head from Ohio to the Maryland shore. It was my job to make sure no oars bounced onto the freeway, which I did while kneeling backward on the car seat. By the time I was in junior high, I spent weeks during the summer sailing back and forth in front of a stretch of western Lake Erie beach. The feel of the wind and water against the boat was mesmerizing. My sailing was mostly self-taught, informal and a lot of fun.

In college, I was dockmaster of a Cleveland marina, and I spent my time tying up boats and making repairs. One October day, a mechanic working on a boat mentioned racing. I asked if he needed crew, and he told me to meet him on the dock that weekend.

STAN MEHAFFEYThe author sets the spinnaker pole. The pole supports the spinnaker, the large colorful sail used while sailing downwind.

Now, I had lots of small-boat time, but only a little experience on big sailboats, and I had never raced. Despite this, I spent that October day on a boat called Outlet Express, observing a well-rehearsed team. As a result of the crew knowing what they were doing and the boat being fast, we took first place. Afterward, the entire club sipped hot buttered rum on the dock to celebrate. I didn't race again for a few years, but the memory of slicing across the water and the easy camaraderie on the docks remained clear.

It was winter a few years later when I told friends of my interest in racing. One of them e-mailed me with information about a boat looking for crew. I called the owner, and in May I was on board Bad Influence for a practice sail. By June I was racing three times a week at Edgewater Yacht Club, a few miles west of the downtown Cleveland skyline.

Bad Influence is a Tartan Ten, a design nicknamed the T-10. The boat is 10 meters long – hence the name – or about 33 feet. Dating to 1978, more than 380 T-10s have been built, according to Tartan Ten Class fleet secretary Stan Mehaffey, with 98 in the national class membership. Forty-six are in Chicago, with others in fleets throughout the Great Lakes and other parts of the country. While many don't race, the ones that do often race in their own one-design fleets, meaning that all the boats participating are Tartan Tens. A benefit of one-design racing is that time handicaps aren't needed, since the boats are nearly identical. The races have their own start (classes technically have their own starts within one race), and the winner is the boat that crosses the finish line first.

STAN MEHAFFEYEven novices can learn to hoist the spinnaker as well as other duties.

After I joined the Bad Influence crew, I realized that finding a boat to race the second time was just as simple as finding the first: I only had to ask around. Over time I learned my share of sailing skills, but I also learned that many boats look for a good attitude over experience. A T-10 in Chicago named Rover, for example, embraces the same spirit that many club racing boats do regarding crew. "Enthusiasm, willingness to learn and dependability are valued above sailing expertise," a statement on its Web site reads. Rover's crew also believes that being competitive is key, but safety and enjoyment are priorities.

FINDING A RACE BOAT

So who races? People from all backgrounds are on the water any given race day. It doesn't matter when you were born or what you do from 9 to 5 if you can be on the dock at 5:30. This season, for example, I have sailed with engineers, machinists, law students, retirees, nurses, IT analysts and firemen. The common ground is that everyone enjoys being on the water. A race takes concentration, and it clears the mind of other day-to-day clutter. When the boat leaves the dock, conversation is about strategy, wind and boat handling. Thoughts of the workplace are left on shore.