Good breeze, good sailing... good day!

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This afternoon was a bit windy, and we had a GREAT sailing session. We added one new skill, STOPPING (link) and we practiced Points of Sail and Tacking. We did a brief Baby Duck drill, so that is going to count towards the sailing qualification.

Today we got the boats rigged fairly quickly and efficiently... by this point in the class, the students should know all the terminology and all the knots!





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Two New Bern NJROTC cadets rigging the mainsail on their Javelin. These beginners sailed with a coach, but they might be ready for independent cruising after today!











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 It was windy enough today that the mainsails were "reefed." This means to tie off the bottom portion of the sail and make it smaller, so that the boat is easier to control in strong winds.











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Two of the Javelins tacking. The near boat (sometimes called Red Stripe Jr.) has just passed head-to-wind and you can see the jib starting to blow past the mast. It's important to begin a tack with good speed, and to control the boat thru the turn.

We had several failed tacks this afternoon, but we don't need to show photos of that.






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Sailing along on a close reach, on port tack. The mainsail could be pulled in a little tighter, but the boat is moving well.











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This looks like a close call, but it really was not. The yellow boat on the left is in the middle of a tack,  the white boat is under good control on a beam reach. You can see the reef 'tucked in' along the boom.








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These pictures do not convey the boisterous, bumpy conditions of sailing today. A southerly wind was reinforced by a sea breeze, building up to have steady whitecaps (10~12 kts) and a foot to two feet of choppy waves.

These cadets with Coach John Jackson did a good job this afternoon. Photos of sailing always make it look more calm (and relaxing) than it really is!








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 Sailing wing-and-wing, or on a RUN (point of sail).

This is faster than letting the jib flop around behind the mainsail, and helps make the boat easier to steer down wind, too.














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Now we're doing the BABY DUCK drill (link)... can you see the boats behind? They are doing a good job following!

This is a good exercise, requiring all the skills we have learned so far, and gives the coaches a good chance to either give feedback or to relax and enjoy the sail.








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Here is one of the few photos that show the waves... the water surface was somewhat rough. The waves make steering a bit more difficult, and make 'working the boat' a balancing act.









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And, as always, the day comes to a close and we have to unrig the boats.

This was both a very good practice session, and a lot of fun. Well done!




... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King









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