Light Wind, Sailing Practice

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Cloudy, cool temps, light winds... not the ideal day for sailing practice, but it could be worse. And it's the day we have. So we make the best of it.



At this point in the class, we are half-way thru the time available. Because the weather is turning less favorable, the goal should be to complete sailing exercises as soon as reasonably possible!




This means the cadets who are ready will sail on their own, no coaches riding along with them. If this sounds like a big step, it is. However, we have had classes do very well with less sailing time... and do so in the tipper, more complex FJs!



The summer Sail Academy is held in Lasers, which are very responsive (good for learning fast) but also very tippy; and these students -never- sail with a coach aboard, riding with them. We have the luxury of taking it slow & easy with the Javelins, and this allows us to push for a higher level of achievement in sailing skill.

Coach Dave Pettipas and his students getting underway, just as the wind starts to die.

So, what level of achievement are we, currently? We should be able to rig the boats, hoists sails. This means knowing all the terminology and the knots. We should be able to sail the boat on any point of sail, and turn the boat from one point of sail to another.... this includes adjusting (trimming or easing) the sails' sheets.

Our first three on-line lessons: Terminology (Boat Parts) 1, then we need Directions (on a boat), and then Terminology 2 (the rig)... this should help



We should able to TACK (lesson on tacking) reliably.




The Points of Sail and TACKING depend on the skill of determining wind direction. Not much to that, we have yarn tell-tales and nearby flags and smoke stacks, plus the undignified but reliable method of licking your finger and holding it up.


Sure we need more pratice at this, and we will get it. Because there are a few more things we need to do, to successfully complete this course!


Todays lesson was supposed to be on STOPPING under sail.
Boats do not have brakes!

In light wind, it's more difficult to make the boat go and keep it under control. Here is Coach Ed Thompson's students doing a good job. The sails are full, the boat is moving, although not very fast.

In these photos today, you can see how our sails got satained by slimey flooding in last year's Hurricane Florence. These sails have been professionally cleaned and are safe to handle but they don't look as nice as they did before New Bern's disastrous hurricane last year.


Ok let's keep going on the class: we did get good practice tacking, and at least some practice in both avoiding obstacles and in stopping.
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Here's two boats avoiding a collision.

Both the skipper and crew have a job to do, in successfully keeping their boat from crashing into stuff!



When a boat is moving slowly, it is actually more difficult to steer. The rudder generates less turning force, and all maneuvers take more time.



Therefor, thinking ahead is vital, even though the action seems slow paced!



For example, in this picture, the skipper here has just successfully avoided another boat going past quite close. Even at slow speed, collisions can cause damage and also embarrassment.


The maneuver of avoiding this collision started several minutes before this photo was taken.








Success in the sailing class today! We got more practice in all the terminology, ropes & knots, and handling the boats in close quarters, nearby docks, obstacles, and other boats.
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Now it's time to go back to the dock and start unrigging. We must put everything away.

On the way back to the dock, it should be easy to tell what Point Of Sail this boat is on.









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 Approaching the dock, this student (blue striped sail) could have steered a bit further away from the dock to allow himself room to complete a turn & stop. Also, by this point, the crew should have the bow line ready and be prepared to fend off and then step onto the dock taking the boat's bow line and securing it.









 With the usual sense of humor, our wind today starting picking up again as we returned to the dock.


What else do we need to complete the sailing class? Well, we have a number of exercises and drills for the students to demonstrate their ability, and we need to cover Right-Of-Way. So there is still plenty of study to do!
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Still more work to do! Unrigging the boats and putting everything away, squared away.

The boats must be trailered back to the high school each lesson. This, as well as ongoing work on the boats themselves, keeps our coaches busy!






... posted by Douglas King




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