Sailing ship models are the most difficult genre in scale modeling. Do NOT start with one of the European planked hull sailing ships. Many hobby shops estimate the majority by far of these kits sold are never finished. In addition to the daunting work, the quality of these kits is poor.
I'd suggest starting either with a simple plastic kit, or one of the Midwest (brand) smaller sailing ships. These later are US made, very excellent quality, and with a true step-by-step instruction manual. They include some small single-masted sailboats.
When you get two or so of these under your belt, then you can go for a more complicated kit.
Be aware that even for experienced model ship builders, a major multi-mast planked frame model is a multi-year project.
As far as a simple plastic kit, go for someth>