Sailing - Session 3 Overview

• Skill Area #1: Use reckoning dead abeam to reset a tight course when tacking port/starboard.

  Tips: You will become better at any physical activity if a self-measurement tool is available to assess your skills and progress. When you tack in sailing and want to know if you are doing it efficiently and effectively, here is a self-assessment tool. If you already are close hauled into the wind and immediately ready to tack the opposite direction, go mid ship on the leeward (downwind) side of the boat and pick a target on land that is directly perpendicular to mid ship. This is called reckoning dead abeam. Then when making your tack try to line the bow off that target on land that you dead reckoned. Since you were sailing 45 degrees into the wind before your tack, this approach will set you at 45 degrees off wind in the opposite direction.

• Skill Area #2: Tip the boat, right it, secure it, and set sail in winds greater than 5 knots.

  Tips: Swim time, with your PFD. Although you will always wear your PFD when sailing, make sure its snug for this drill. When you are ready to tip the boat, make sure you have all valuables secure or stowed. Then tip the boat over. Swim over to the hull bottom, either mid ship or slightly in front of the mast. If the dinghy boat is small step or kneel on the centerboard, grab a hold on the gunwale, apply body weight to the side of the boat, and while lifting yourself out of the water, let the hull come back upright. If the boat is heavier, or has gone upside down (turtled), it will take more body weight or more leaning to right the boat. It might even require a rope attached to the lower mast that will allow you enough leverage to right the boat. Once upright, use a pump or bailing bucket to get water out of the boat. Fortunately many cockpits are self-bailing so the boat will drain once you are back underway. Before re sailing, make sure the mast and standing rigging is secure, and that your main and jib sheets are unencumbered.

• Skill Area #3: Be able to define and describe the function of all parts of the dinghy boat .

  Tips: Many sailing instruction manuals require that you first learn sailing terms before you ever try sailing. In our approach we want you to get comfortable and somewhat confident in your sailing skills before learning all parts of the sailboat. There are many good web sites that freely describe sailing terminology, including www.hoofers.org/sailing. Now is the time to learn terms, and here they are:

• Skill Area #4: Explain right of way rules re: crafts, location, course, and upwind position.

  Tips: Again, there are very good complimentary web site references for learning detailed right of way rules, including, www.racingrules.org. But here is a summary of right of way rules: a) in general sailboats under sail have right of way over other motor and non-motorized craft; b) generally, pass to the right of an oncoming craft; c) under sail, an upwind boat has right away over a downwind boat; d) if two boats are beating into the wind, coming at each other on different tacks, the starboard tack generally has right of way; e) in a shipping lane, commercial tonnage has right away over a sailboat.

• Skill Area #5: Be able to make a smooth jibe in winds greater than 10 knots.

  Tips: One of the more defining moments in your sailing career is the first time you attempt a jibe in strong winds. Not only does everything happen more quickly, the impact of the boom and mainsail racing overhead, and the potential "pop" of the main resetting itself, are enough to produce high anxiety. So practice jibing every chance that you can in low wind conditions until you are smooth and comfortable in doing the turn. Be very careful on a windy day that the sheets are unencumbered before starting your jibe - if they are not, and if they get stuck, you will likely tip the boat. Perhaps high on the list of critical skills to remember when doing a strong wind jibe is to be smooth and decisive in your tiller movement as you go into the jibe - no hesitating or stalling. Try diligently to at least tacitly retrieve the main sheet part-way so you shorten the amount of free swing and velocity the boom can build up as it shifts from one side of the boat to the other. And remember, when the foot of the jib starts to "toe-in", that’s your early warning signal that the boom is about to follow.

• Skill Area #6: Demonstrate safe upwind and downwind landings at a dock.

  Tips: Although you have done this maneuver many times by now, try to do it more smoothly, and with an intended stopping point. For downwind docking, which requires more skill that upwind docking, try demonstrating all of these sequential skills within 60 seconds before landing: 1) release or furl the jib; 2) check the immediate area for vessels under way, 3) align the boat to be approximately 30 meters away from the dock and parallel to it as you approach; 4) when across from the dock, allow your boat to continue last the dock end by a few feet before starting your jibe; 5) retract the main sheet as you commence your turn; 6) bring the boat alongside the dock and release your mainsail with no tangled sheets and 7) step overboard with bow and stern lines in hand, and secure the lines to the cleats.

• Skill Area #7: Show at least 2 effective approaches for getting out of irons.

  Tips: By now you have been in irons at least several times. You have tried to come about only to have the bow stall before the sails reset on the opposite side of the boat. You can’t progress - you are "in irons". Go at least 200 meters offshore to dry these drills. Position yourself upwind so you get in irons then alternately try these remedies: A) release the jib and allow the main to regain speed so you can reset the jib; or B) release the jib sheet and try sculling with the tiller arm until your boat comes around to a favorable tack; C) release the jib and try back winding the main with a sailing partner so the hull will back itself into a better course. There are a myriad of possible techniques for getting out of this frustrating and potentially dangerous situation.

• Skill Area #8: When playing "chase" with another sailboat, be able to stay close to them.

  Tips: Even novice sailors can learn a lot of good sailing skills when involved in a game of chase. The novice sailor takes off first followed by the chasing instructor. Try one of everything to ditch your instructor including 2 jibes in a row, 2 tacks within 15 seconds, and so on. Go for it. Then switch roles, with you trying to catch your instructor. Since the instructor is probably pretty skilled at trimming sails, carefully study the course and trim the instructor sets - then try to make tiny adjustments in your own jib or mainsail trim to see if you can increase speed.

• Skill Area #9: Explain how to read a chart for depth, current, and right of way.

  Tips: Correctly reading a chart requires both art and science. The bigger the boat, and more complex its equipment, the more you will understand how to interface technology, like radar, into chart reading. Basically, navigational charts are Coast Guard approved maps that show bottom depths and obstructions in a particular geographic area. Depths are measured in 6-foot units called fathoms. So if a chart shows the number 6 at a particular point, it is referencing the fact that the water is 36’ deep at that point. There are many books, tapes, CD’s, and other guides available about learning to read charts - but perhaps none is better than the classic "Chapman on Boating". In short, a novice sailor particularly wants to avoid being in a situation where a series of adverse variables combine to produce an unsafe situation on the water. Consider this set of adverse variables: winds in excess of 30 knots; having to beat into the wind, trying to move away from a harbor at low tide (less than a fathom deep), with a keel that "draws" or extends below the water line nearly 5 feet, and a current that is moving 5 knots toward you. This is a recipe for serious problems should your hull stop moving away from the harbor. Every skill counts at this point: no getting in irons, smooth tacks, no tangled sheets.