To start sailing a sailing dinghy is the best option for you that wants to be a good sailor.
All, really all, good sailors have started with dinghy sailing and it is always possible to go up in size,
but go down in size from keelboat is not just to do...
Read more about where to start sailing at Sailing schools in the menu to left.
Good question! How old are you? What other dinghies do you have around you where you sail? Do you want to sail singlehanded or doublehanded? Monohull (one hull) or multihull (two or three hulls, i.e. catamarans and trimarans)? What level of sailing are you aiming for? There are many types, as you see on this web page. The usual answer is to buy a dinghy that is common at the club you are sailing (if you are sailing at a club, that is.) But there are more answers to this question! If you have the possibility, try many different dinghies.
In general not. But you must be able to swim and also to be able to swim in the open ocean, with waves. And use life jacket/life west, preferably wet suit should be used even in relatively warm waters. And have respect for the wind and for the water. Make sure you tell someone that you are going out on the water and for how long. Best is to always have a friend or a coach in a boat but that isn't the case all the time. Check the weather forecast!
The general explanation to that is that a dinghy has a centreboard, or a daggerboard. The board has no specific weight, no iron or lead in the centreboard. So itself doesn't give you any uprighting help. Actually the opposite. A keelboat has a keel that has a weight, usually the keel itself and/or a bulb connected to a keel made of steel or lead. That keepes the boat upright. But there are a lot of exceptions to this, some dinghies do have heavy centreboards, some keelboats has lifting keels.
