Rough weather day- we practice some basics

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As you'll see in the photos, this past session was held under threatening skies and strong winds.

We are getting familiar with rigging the boat, but it's more challenging when the wind is trying to tug the sail out of your hands






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Once the boat was rigged, we kept it tethered to the dock in such a way that we could swing it back and forth with the dock lines. The cadets practiced steering and handling the sails, without the risk of a capsize or of damaging the boat, if they make a mistake or respond a bit too slowly to gusts.

In this photo, the crew is having difficulty getting the jib trimmed. The sail flapping was very loud, making communication difficult at a time when it is needed most!


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This boat is CLOSE REACHing. You can see the sails are full, and are slightly eased: the mainsail and boom are not over the transom. The jib is trimmed correctly for this point of sail.

Two of the skills we practiced today was the correct position to sit in the boat, and handling the mainsheet "hand-to-hand" while steering at the same time.





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Even with the sails fully eased and flapping, the boat is heeling in the strong wind (approx 20mph).  Is it possible to sail in these conditions? Yes, but it is not a game for beginners, the skipper must -know- all the points of sail, the maneuvers, -always- maintain communication with the crew, have a quick & correct response to waves & gusts, and think ahead to avoid problems.




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The Javelins are good boats for this kind of teaching. They are built tough and they are stable, but they are also responsive enough to give the student a good feel for sailing. There is a LOT to remember, and so getting familiar with the basics of steering with a tiller (or the hiking stick... better!) and handling the sheets will help.





These two smaller diagrams show how this exercise was set up.

 When the sails are full, the boat is REALLY pulling hard... a sign that the sailors are doing it right!


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The line handling crew needed strength and attention to detail... but they did their job well and maintained high morale. Maybe this part of the drill was fun, too!


Hopefully we will hold real sailing drills next Monday. We will continue working on sailing the 'Points Of Sail' and on the basic maneuver TACKING (link), and hopefully will also practice bringing the boat to a stop under sail.



In fact, it would be very helpful to study our On-Line Lessons (link) (hint hint). There is a link to this Table of Contents in our list of links at the upper left of this web page.

... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King




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