Pipeline Drill, then some racing practice... and CONGRATS to newly qualified skipper

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First things 1st: congratulations to our newly qualified "Basic Sailor" (on left)


If this doesn't sound like much, look at what the sailing cadets much accomplish in this class in order to achieve the basic qualification. They learn parts of the boat, terminology, rigging, steering and trimming sail at the same time, points of sail and maneuvers, and the Right-Of-Way rules. They have to demonstrate the ability to control the boat including stopping on demand, thru a wide range of circumstances and conditions. It's the equivalent of a college-level course.





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Now let's jump BACK IN TIME, all the way back to last week. We had stronger winds and two of the advanced cadets had a go in our 5O5.

Here we see the 5-oh! zipping past one of the Javelins... again... just think how fast they'd go if they trimmed the sails in a bit and HIKED OUT








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Our two advanced cadets took turns as skipper in the 5O5... here you can see the low boom, giving more area to the mainsail (more sail area = more power!)










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This afternoon began with a light south-westerly wind, the beginnings of a sea breeze which built into very nice sailing conditions for most of the session.









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Our 5O5 skipper from last week sailed a Javelin this afternoon, but one thing common to all sailboats is looking up at the sails to get them adjusted properly.

In this photo, a little more boom vang tension and slack in the windward (lazy) jib sheet would be improvements.





Today's sailing drill was "The Pipeline" which is pairs of buoys set as gates in a line to windward. This drill emphasizes sailing close-hauled, tacking, and specifically being able to judge where to tack in order to arrive at a goal.



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This pair of photos shows two boats tacking thru a gate in the pipeline. The boat on the left was leading the yellow Javelin, but tacked a little too soon and then lost speed in their tack also.








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The white Javelin (left) was ahead, and began to tack thru the gate first. However the skipper tried to steer at too close an angle to the wind before beginning the tack, lost speed, and was barely able to get out of irons. The yellow boat made an efficient tack, and is clearly pulling ahead in this second photo.







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It's easy to see these boats are racing! They are sailing the "Pipeline" but all began at the downwind gate at the same time, with a countdown given by the coaches boat... except for the red-stripe Javelin which jumped the gun a little, and got a head start.








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After sailing close-hauled, then tacking, these teams have balanced speed against sailing a closer angle to their goal upwind. The red-stripe boat has tacked twice, and done relatively well but still lost some their lead. The white Javelin (left) is now making their second tack, and does it well... a few minutes of skilled sailing and they pulled into the lead.

We had very successful sailing drill, then had fun with practicing race starts and a couple of actual races. Our sailing cadets looked great, and have a right to be proud of their knowledge & skill.


... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

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