A Sporty Day Sailing Big Boats

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Our first day actually sailing real actual boats! A HUGE "Thank You" to the owners of  Dutch Wind, Vertical Wing, Georgie Girl, and Wicked Good.




This class has made progress, but not as much as it should for this time in the course. We've covered terminology, knots, and basic Points Of Sail, but the students are struggling to put this info to work.





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Here is Dutch Wind shortly after a "TACK." You can see that crew still has work to do, that jib  should not be flapping (luffing).





Here is our Sailing Lessons On-Line, which covers the material for the 'Basic Sailing' course.

I strongly suggest more study, in fact we have laid down a rule that without turning in the written assignment, no student will be allowed to sail.

Now let's get to the photos... the weather today was grand for sailing, overcast but a steady southerly wind (what does that mean?) and light choppy waves. The boats were really moving today!

I can guarantee that the boats were moving well today because I took my family's motorboat out to observe the sailing class, to help if necessary, and to take photos. As we chased the keelboats today,  we had to really push the throttle up. My family's motorboat has a Caterpillar turbo V8 diesel with 450 hp so that shows the power of the wind!


Dutch Wind and Vertical Wing are racing rivals, and both were pushing 10 knots in todays' wind.

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First, the students sailing on Georgie Girl. This boat has also won more than her share of races, and was moving right along. We can see the student skipper and crew preparing to TACK.













Now let's follow the tack, thru this maneuver. What is the first step?

Sailing lesson: TACKING


In this photo, the boat has begun turning into the wind. You can see that the mainsail is luffing (shaking or flapping). What has the crew already done?





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What can go wrong when TACKING?




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Now you can see the boat has turned far enough that there is no risk of getting stuck "in irons." The jib has come around to the new side.

You can also see, there is no wake. The boat has almost stopped completely. Could this be a problem? Why?






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Now the sails are starting to fill on the new tack. Which tack is the boat on?

This terminology can be slightly comfusing at first, because "Tack" is part of the sail, and it is the name of this maneuver.

What is the crew doing now?








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Okay, now the boat has TACKED. You can see the sails are full of wind, and driving the boat forward. The boat is beginning to heel as it gains speed.

Note for beginners... although the boat leans over when the wind is strong, the boat will actually go faster if the heeling is controlled. It is exciting but it is certainly possible to let the boat heel too far even if these keelboats will not capsize.








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OK now what? The boat kept turning, past the point where the sails are full and the boat is driving forward strongly. Why?

My guess, as instructor of the class, is that the student at the helm, steering, was not familiar enough with how far to turn and did not do a very good job controlling the boat.







 So, we have much to learn. This was only our first day of real sailing, but we have done many days of preparation and practice for this (if not much study).


Conditions permitting, we will sail again next week and our standards of performance will be much higher.

We have a lot more to learn!

For example, this was not really a close call, but if it were, which boat would have Right-Of-Way? Yes, in order to pass this course, we will learn the Navigation Rules (which include Right-Of-Way).

I bet we all learned one good navigation rule today... none of the boats went aground, and part of that is due to the old saying "Red Right Returning" !! What does this mean?

Please work on the answer to all questions here today, they are relevant to THIS SECTION of the course. You should already know all the basic boat terminology without being reminded, and be well on your way to tying all the knots. This is the goal, to be able to sail, to be a SAILOR!!

... posted by Assistant Sail Coach Douglas King


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