Bad weather... but we can still practice and gain skillz

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Bad weather... OK, this is a "cheater" photo, this is our FJ #1 resting on it's trailer under a blanket of snow, shortly after our capsize drill last month. We did not actually have snow this week. However it is far too cold and rainy for to take our boats out on the water.








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So, how do we practice sailing in the classrooms? A bunch of ways! We need to know the points of sail, and the details of how to TACK (link).

With a fan and Coach Rezab's model boat (don't worry, he has a real one too), we go thru all the actions necessary to successfully TACK. Just to be sure, we also review all the points of sail, and what it means to turn from one point of sail to another when -not- tacking.





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Next thing we need to work on is ROPES & KNOTS. We have done well at learning all the terminology and basic parts of the boat, but before we can rig the boat without help we need to tie knots correctly.

 Here is our Head Sailing Coach Jerry Rezab demonstrating the Cleat Hitch. Where and when do we use this knot?












More knot-tying. You can see our newest addition to the Sailing Coaches, Coach Brittany. She sailed FJs with us last week and will be a fine addition to our program.


Let's hope it warms up a little, and we can do some sailing drills for real next week.

Oh and you advanced sailors... we want to see some ROLL TACKS, and we also want to see some of you sailing the 5O5 !!!

... Posted by Assistant Sailing Coach Douglas King


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Sailing Drill... it's only Baby Ducks but it's fun

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One of our favorite sailing drills is Baby Ducks (link)... basically it's like follow the leader, but it's also a serious exercise for sailing skills... steering, sail trim, maneuvering, and if you're good enough, right-of-way, all come into play on this drill.








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On this drill, we practiced all points of sail (some of us were a bit rusty on Wing+Wing), tacking, stopping... these three FJs are all being handled by advanced sailing cadets, the Javelin joined in for a while but the beginners were not quite ready for tacking in close quarters.

Don't worry, the beginners will definitely get a chance to show off how they can do sailing drills too!




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 What's better than chillin' on the beach?

Chillin' on A BOAT!

Actually, we were discussing the physics of roll-tacking, and went on to do a bit more practice on that skill plus light-air propulsion.









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Now that we've had some serious practice, let's just have some fun before calling it a day.


The water has warmed up a lot in two weeks... time for BAILER WAR!!


At this point in the course, the beginners should know all the basic parts of the boat, and how to rig it. We should be getting started on Points of Sail and Maneuvers. Tacking and Stopping are the first two, and we need these skills to progress further.

We had a really GREAT day of sailing this afternoon. Thanks to new coaches Chris and Brittany, welcome to the team... see you next week!

.... posted by Assistant Sailing Coach Douglas King







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