Cold but fun.... putting it all into practice

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Ok, we did the classroom lessons, we rigged and practiced with a boat in the parking lot.... we even did capsize drill at the YMCA pool..........

but today we got underway and sailed!

Thanks to Fairfield Harbour resident sailors, who kindly offered their own cruising boats as training platforms, we put it all together: terminology, rigging, knowing the ropes (and the knots), all the Points of Sail, and Tacking!







 Sailing cadets..... and the NJROTC Commanding Officer Ron Fry...... sailing on Coach John Jackson's Georgie Girl.







 All the cadets had a chance to take the helm, to handle sails, and show their knowledge & skill (while learning yet more), out on the Neuse River. In order to pass the Basic Sailing course, they must demonstrate the ability to function as skipper of a small vessel from rigging to getting underway to all normal maneuvers under sail, and then properly putting everything away for next time.

 A smaller crew of cadets on board Peter Budzynkiewicz's Wicked Good. Normally the cadets sail small boats with tillers, and of course without self-tailing winches.

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By now, we need to know all the basic boat parts, basic terminology, and Points of Sail very well.

For example, if we are the skipper of a a boat sailing along on a Broad Reach, on Port Tack, and we intend to turn the boat to starboard, what must we do? What orders do we give the crew? What tasks must the crew perform?

And there is more. For example, the act of TACKING is to go from "close hauled" on either port or starboard tack, thru "in irons" head to wind, and continuing to turn until "close hauled" on the other tack (starboard or port).

But what happens if we turn from a Broad Reach on Port Tack, and we turn to starboard, and continue turning until the sails switch sides and are now on Starboard Tack? We have just GYBED, and this is a maneuver we must know how to do properly because in some ways GYBING is easier than TACKING but it has greater risk.

We must also learn to STOP the boat while under sail!



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Back at the dock, our short afternoon sail over...... looking forward to next week, anyone??

...   posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King