Sailing Wrap-up for 2014

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 Well, the sailing season is over for us... did we learn anything? It looks like some of us are still getting help from a coach in rigging up the boats!

Actually, as you'll see, these cadets learned to sail quite well.





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Here is one of our new sailors skippering an FJ. The boat is moving well (check out that bow wave), looks pretty good.










Actually, SAILING is not over, there is a winter racing series here on the Neuse River. Some of the coaches & students participate, but it's not an NJROTC function.

What's the definition of a race? Two sailboats going in approximately the same direction! Here we see our Sailing Squad Commander demonstrating his advanced sailing skills... it's difficult to pass another boat to leeward, but he does it.







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Now it's time to put the boats away.

Most semester, the cadets are given a work day ("working party" in Navy terminology) to get everything properly stored for the winter. However the onset of cold weather & winter storms got the coaches to act during the week before, and you can see it was not really a day at the beach!





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This semester, we welcome a couple of new coaches. Thanks to these guys, we have a solid fleet and skilled teachers... hey wait where's the boss? Head Coach Rezab is not in this photo!


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Congratulations to the cadets who achieved the Basic Sailing qualification, and are now officially SKIPPERS! This means a lot, not everybody can do it.

... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

Sailing the "Baby Ducks" drill

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After learning about all the terminology, the basic parts of the boat, proving able to rig the sails, having the coaches help while learning to steer and trim the sails properly... now we are proving our ability to sail.


We use sailing drills to practice and improve skills, and to demonstrate control of the boat in different circumstances. In order to qualify as a sailor, our cadets must complete 3 sailing drills beyond the simple (and fun!) "Baby Ducks" (link). But you have to start somewhere!








"Baby Ducks" may be simple. Just follow the coach boat flying the "L" flag. It might be simple but it is not easy, we will sail on all points of sail and carry out several maneuvers including TACKING (link). The students try hard to stick as close as possible to Mama Duck, and the coaches can see directly how much they learned. We can even see them improve as we carry out the drill!












As we sail close together, avoiding collisions is very important. The Javelin on the left is tacking but is directly in the way of Coach Jackson's Javelin. Fortunately the cadet skipper on the left  has good control of his vessel and steers downwind to go astern of the one tacking.

This brings up our next major topic, the Right of Way Rules (link).













These cadets have learned well, sailing faster and tacking more efficiently. With such good control of their boat, they should get promoted to sailing FJs soon!








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This skipper and crew are also doing well, at this point we are just sailing for fun... everybody passed the drill!

 Now comes the time to un-rig the boats and put everything away.

What's the name of this rope, the one we use to hoist and lower the sails? No problem, the jib halyard and main halyard. We can even handle cleat hitches (one of the qualifying knots).


We have good weather, a good breeze, and a very good afternoon of sailing.





... ... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

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Nor for some REAL sailing... good and bad

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Getting underway!



No band playing, but the cadets sailing out from Bridgeton Harbor pass by their CO on the dock.







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Coach Gormley's boat sailing CLOSE-HAULED with a beginner skipper. He is using the hiking stick correctly although gripping it with both hands may be a bit overly dramatic.

There was enough wind to make today's sailing exciting!





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Wait a minute... what is CLOSE-HAULED? By this point in the program, all beginners should know the POINTS Of SAIL. These are very important to remember, in fact all beginner sailors (and most advanced ones too) should memorize this diagram.









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Here is our Javelin, sailed by Coach Gormley's cadets (who did so well, they even sailed back in to the dock), sailing Close-Hauled. Obviously the boat is moving well, the crew is shifting his weight to the high side (which is good, boats sail better when heeling less). Sails are trimmed correctly... now the question, which TACK is this boat on?

Hint- which side of the boat is the wind hitting (ie the high side)?




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Now let's take a look at some cadets who aren't doing so well. For one thing, these cadets have already passed the basic sailing qualification, and should be in an FJ, not a Javelin... especially a Javelin with a coach helping them!

1- jib is trimmed too tight, they are on a beam reach
2- skipper is attempting to trim the mainsail and pull it in by wrapping the sheet around his hand... a disaster waiting to happen.

Coach Jackson, we feel your pain! However these cadets did fairly well at a couple of other things, hopefully they will get back in the groove next time we sail.


We are about half way thru the sailing class, so if you are unclear on POINTS OF SAIL and TACKING (link) then you definitely should review. Memorize the above diagram, no kidding! Plus, it's on your written assignment and yes, the written assignment is part of your grade (surprised? Why?) Maybe it will help if you go thru our On-Line Lessons (link) !!









If on the other hand, you are totally familiar with everything we've taught up to now, then let's move to something new...

What is this boat doing?
GYBING (also spelled Jibing)
It is the opposite of Tacking! It is when you really really need to be careful of the boom!





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Gybing can be done well, or it can be done poorly. It is fully possible (in fact, it has happened many times) for sailors to be injured, for the boat to capsize, or for the rigging to break, when gybing. This is why it is important to gybe properly.

Here is a photo of a crew finishing a good gybe. The boat is not heeling, the skipper did not make a wild turn, both skipper and crew have their respective sheets under good control. Note the skippers hand on the whole mainsheet... this is how to control the boom on a small sailboat when gybing.








Coach Murphy and his sailors... they did quite well, sailing on all Points Of Sail and Tacking properly... maybe next week they will be ready to start sailing drills!















Hey y'all... did you have fun this afternoon ??











posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

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1st actual sail goes quite well... not a lot of wind

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Our first sailing day this semester went quite well. At this point, we are not perfect in knowledge of boat parts & terminology, but we did get rigged up and underway.








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Most of the new sailors sailed the Javelins with coaches help. Here we see Coach Gormley with his cadets. There is not a lot of wind, but there is enough to get the boats moving along.







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The advanced cadets sailed the FJs, getting a bit of a refresher... for example, this spread-out group is supposed to be a "Baby Ducks" drill. However, we did practice tacking & gybing and also stopping... the necessary basic skills!





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Here is Coach Murphy with his new sailors.

 Lighter wind makes it more difficult to see what the sails should be doing, but with good coaching the new cadets kept their boats moving and practiced tacking (link).





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Practice... it's how you get good at stuff!

Stopping a sailboat (link) is a needed skill for advanced sailors and beginners alike. We practice in open water on nice soft buoys, so that we can bring the boat to the nice metal dock later.


... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

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How To Capsize, and How Not To... thank you Twin Rivers "Y"

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Having planned and prepared for today's lesson, the coaches relax while waiting for the cadets to arrive by bus.

left to right Head Sailing Coach Jerry Rezab,  Coach Joe Gormley, Coach Mike Murphy








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 The main practice for today is CAPSIZING... but of course, to do that you need to get into the boat, and assume the proper positions for sailing. There are one or two right ways, and many wrong ways.

At least this cadet skipper is holding the tiller, even if he's not really doing it correctly.






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 This boat is NOT going to "turtle"

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 This skipper maintained her grip on the tiller... "that steering thing-y" ... quite well indeed!










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This skipper has a good steering grip, but we hope she's not going to try holding the boom while really sailing.

Part of the fun of sticking with this program, and being one of the advanced sailors, is that you get to help the beginners capsize (holding mast, at right)




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Holding the centerboard, using the "righting line" ... this skipper is steadily pulling the boat upright, it takes some patience









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Steady! Steady! Having checked each others safety, then gained control of the boat, this is the last stage of the Capsize Drill.... skipper pulls the boat upright while the crew "scoops" into the hull as it comes up.






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Job well done!
Now we put the boat and all the gear away.

All the cadets did well at capsizing, and learned a lot about how to handle boats under adverse conditions.

Next week, sailing FOR REAL at Bridgeton Harbor!

posted by Assistant Sailing Coach Douglas King

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Sailing Class already begun... next week, capsize at the YMCA

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If you want to be a sailor this fall, you still have a chance. You will need to get a parental permission to LCDR Clark, and show up for the next classes.



Our next class is guaranteed to be fun. We will be holding capsize practice at the Twin Rivers YMCA.  Here is what it was like (link) last spring.



 Class meets immediately after school, every Monday. We will only have 10 classes and 2 of those have already met! You should study these brief pages: Terminology- parts of the boat (link), then study Terminology- Directions (link), then follow up with Rigging the Boat (link), because this is material we have already covered in class. A written assignment has been handed out, and if you missed it, you can pick it up in the Commander's office or from the Sailing Squad cadet leader.




Then, to truly be up to speed, check out the Capsize Drill (link). You may need to carry this out for real!

... Assistant Sailing Coach Douglas King



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Sailing wrap-up for Spring

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Well our short sailing semester is now over. The boats are secured for summer, just in case we have another hurricane. The time has come to pack all the gear away, unrig the boats, put the masts in storage.

Here are the die-hard sailors, taking the masts down on our FJs. For the beginners, it's still like a class on boat parts & terminology.

We had more cadets returning to the sailing squad this spring; not all of our "Advanced" cadre attended every session but we usually got some of the FJs out, and some of the advanced skippers helped with training the beginners. This is a very good way to do it!

The advanced sailors also got to test their skills against the 5O5 this spring. So far we have had some great sailing and some not-so-great, but nobody has crashed or capsized the 5-oh! yet even when gybing in 15+ kt winds.



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Here is Coach Hittner's cadets putting FJ #2 to bed for the summer. As always Coach Rezab is keeping a close eye on us!








Unfortunately the weather was not good for our classes this spring, we had fewer sailing sessions and very few cadets managed to complete the sailing drills. It takes some work to complete this class, you can't just claim to be a skipper by showing up!

Here is Coach Murphy and a couple of the beginner sailors working on FJ #1

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Small but elite group of New Bern sailing cadets... the class started out as 23, and about twice as many as in this photo usually attended. But this gang got the job done!

... photos by Coach Fred Cornford
... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King

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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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Sailing Javelins + our 5O5

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We had a good spring breeze this afternoon; enough wind to make the boats "do what it do" and bring some choppy waves also. We planned to get wet, right?!?



This is the closest we got to a "Baby Duck" drill (link) today. Sorry but this is not good enough. About half of the sailors, including some of the ones who are supposed to be among the advanced sailors, simply cannot control their boats well enough to get in position and maintain it.


The semester is rapidly coming to a close, and we have just 2 more scheduled sailing days. This means we might get another chance to sail, or we might not. So far only 1 basic-sail cadet has worked at completing sail drills.





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Here's where all the baby ducks come to a full stop, to let the other baby ducks catch up. The 5O5 is so much faster and more powerful than  the Javelins that it is challenging to keep in formation, but 'Really' did a pretty good job.

You can see by the wake that the yellow Javelin has stopped (actually they have just pulled in sheets to get going again) and the 5O5 has done the same, except the 5-oh! burns rubber.

Oops- you can also see that the 5O5 crew has not tucked their bowline away securely. Dragging the bow line can cause big problems, such as wrapping around the centerboard. We know this for a fact (although luckily it did not happen this time).



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Pass! 
Literally passing the coach boat after practicing how to STOP, but also passing the drill. Well done!











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Here's the 5O5 coming out of a tack. The sea breeze was starting to kick up, waves make the boat more of a challenge. Two of our advanced sailors took turns skippering this hot-rod.

Unfortunately we did not get any good pictures of the 5O5 at full speed today. It was just a BLUR I swear !!








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Last year we got new Javelin Sails from National Sail Supply (Rolly Tasker Florida)(link) with windows, reef points, full-length top battens, and heavier grade cloth than normally spec'd for this size... we wanted them to last long in hard use. These sails give the boats good performance, even in lighter winds, and here you see our red-stripe Javelin blasting thru the chop.

Hope we get another good day of sailing, this semester has been difficult with the weather.

... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King



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