FVSPS Sail Course, Class 1

Welcome to This Course! FVSPS Sail Course with OTW Training We are Bringing Together: - Old FVSPS members and soon-to-be new members from our introduction to sailing meetup class - Sailors and power-boaters, people with substantial sailing experience and those with none - Traditional USPS bookish instruction combined with OTW training

What to Expect: - Those continuing from the Sailing in Portland Meetup Introduction to Sailing class: There will be some overlap, but more material, depth, and OTW practice. - Variety of people participating and making comments - Readings and questions to study, questions to go over in class - Opportunities to sail after class sessions - Exam at end of course

Introductions 1) What is your boating background? 2) What USPS courses have you taken/taught? 3) What do you want from this class? Leslie, Myself Other Captains, People Assisting People enrolled in Course

Other Preliminaries Your information in our records – check! Pay for course, membership, if needed Fill out membership application, if needed Get your copy of USPS textbook (if paid) Basic Keelboat book Leslie’s house Boater’s one-minute IQ test

Yacht Club Bar Song Lin and Larry Pardey singing their song, “Yacht Club Bar”, from their “Storm Tactics” DVD.

Yacht Club Bar Song, Chorus I love to sit around the yacht club bar and talk about the things we’re going to do. I love to sit around the yacht club bar because it doesn’t move. The swells are big and the winds are high but that don’t bother me. Cause I never get lost and my tummy doesn’t toss It’s a wonderful life on the sea.

Yacht Club Bar Song, Verse 1 My boat it is a big one boys. My crew it is the best. We race around the entrance buoy, beating all the rest. We’re the first ones home with a bent elbow and a powerful salt spray thirst. We sit around and drink all night and see who comes in first.

Yacht Club Bar Song, Chorus I love to sit around the yacht club bar and talk about the things we’re going to do. I love to sit around the yacht club bar because it doesn’t move. The swells are big and the winds are high but that don’t bother me. Cause I never get lost and my tummy doesn’t toss It’s a wonderful life on the sea.

Course Approach Combine : - Concepts, from the classroom -Practice sailing, OTW training Rationale for this approach: -OTW without background from study does not work well. -Show video, new sailor confused at the helm. Note: OTW training is in the Sail course is optional. You can take the Sail course and exam without doing OTW Training.

Specific Course Goals Learn Basic Sailing Knowledge and Skills - Basic Keelboat book - OTW training Learn Deeper Sailing Knowledge and Terminology - USPS Sail book

FVSPS Sail class, Spring, 2015, Schedule

Class Meeting Structure 10:00-12:00 Classroom (Order will vary.) - Cover material from the Sail book, go over questions. - Present sailing material oriented towards the OTW training - Brief on OTW training for that day. 12:00 Lunch 12:30/1:00 Leave for OTW Training

OTW Training: General Issues and Safety Issues

Should You Do the OTW Training? Your decision – Can make each day. Reasons not to: –Takes time, your Saturday afternoon. –You may not like sailing. –You may get scared, esp. heeling, in higher winds. –Conditions on a particular day (e.g. weather, winds) To decide if you want to do OTW, consider the daily conditions and you. –Show video of contrasting reactions – sailing off of Newport.

OTW Training: Possible Topics OTW 1 (On-dock only): Practice on, Inspect, Boats at the Dock Following OTW’s: Basic Skills in all Crew Positions Basic Skills Refinements Shortening Sail, Sailing with only Jib or Main Sail Balance, Heaving To Helm Tied-Off when Sailing to Weather and Tacking MOB Patterns Spinnakers

Is Sailing Dangerous? USPS has a big focus on safety, promoting safety. How dangerous is sailing? Keelboats have thousands of pounds of lead ballast. - Monohull sailboats are designed to heel; no need to be scared. Compare sailing and powerboat death/injury rates. Compare sailing and powerboat liability insurance rates. Hull speed on these boats is about 7 knots.

Is Sailing Dangerous, continued? I know lots of sailors but do not know anyone who has been killed or even injured. My own injuries have been in other sports. In the Perfect Storm, the sailboat - that the CG forced the captain to abandon - never did sink.

Our Main Safety Concerns When Sailing on the Columbia in Portland 1) Falling Overboard 2) Tugs, Tows, Ships (down-river) 3) Rarely - Fast Powerboats 4) Inadvertent Jibes My advice – Be wary of the big 4 above, but stop worrying too much about everything else!

Training OTW – What Might Happen Some captains might let you make lots of mistakes; other captains might micro-manage more. Some captains might focus more on instruction; other captains might be more casual. We will rotate through different crew positions. We will use points of sail all the time when sailing. We will take fewer people in stronger winds.

Different Captain/Crew Attitudes Captains: Micro-Managers vs. Expect Crew to Think Crew: Just-Tell-Me-What-To-Do vs. Trying-Hard-to-be-Independent

Expectations for Crew during OTW Training on S/V Ubiquity and S/V June Bug - Wear non-marking shoes. No dark rubber soles. - Wear no clothes with hardware (buckles, zippers), especially on the back, that could scratch the boats. - You will have a life jacket. - Bring enough warm clothes, wind/rain parka. - No smoking, no alcohol during OTW. - Use bathroom just before leaving the dock. Wait if possible for return to use again. If head use needed during OTW tell the captain. Only liquids in head!

END OF General Issues About the OTW Training

Why Sailing? Why not do only power-boating instead? “Life is too short for sailing” – a power-boating friend of mine. How do power-boating and sailing differ? Why do sailing? What are the advantages and disadvantages of sailboats compared to powerboats?

Basic Terminology: Parts of a Sailboat Basic Keelboat, pp. 6-7 Go to look at the boats

Basic Terminology: Sails and Major Control Lines Most sails have: 3 corners, each with a name 3 sides, each with a name Sail, p. 33; Basic Keelboat, pp Halyards – To hoist sails Sheets – To trim sails Inspect the boats to identify halyards, sheets

Core Concept in Sailing How the Boat is Oriented to the Wind Implications: - Must keep track of wind direction. - We need terminology to describe boat’s orientation to wind. - Orientation of boat to the wind determines how we adjust (trim) the sails.

Orientation to the Wind Basic Keelboat, p. 15 Sail, p. 115 Can we sail in all directions? General Terms: Beating Reaching Running Points of Sail gives us more specific terms.

Points of Sail See Basic Keelboat, p. 15See Sail, p. 115

Terminology for Changing our Heading Always relative to the direction of the wind: “Head up”, “Heading up”, “Come up”, “Bring it up”, Sail closer”, “A little tighter” “Head down”, “Head off”, “Back off”, “Bear off”, “Bear away”, “Fall off”, “Not so close” -Basic Keelboat, pp Sail, Glossary

Even the Sails Act Differently Depending on the Point of Sail - “Pull Mode” vs. “Push Mode” - Basic Keelboat, pp Sail, p. 79, par. 37, last sentence - Illustrate “Pull Mode”: Do Bernoulli Effect exercise with spoon under faucet.

Sec. 1-2: Sailing Rigs/Plans What are the ways that sailing rigs, sail plans, can differ?

Sec. 1-2: Sailing Rigs, cont. Variations in: –Spars –Sails Look at pictures in Sections 1-2, Sail book

Sec. 1-2: Terms Catboat Sloop – masthead, fractional Cutter Ketch Yawl Schooner Spars, gaff-rigged

Sec. 6: Running Rigging Running Rigging vs. _______? Rigging

Sec. 6: Running Rigging, cont. What are the two most important types of lines in the running rigging, and what are their purposes?

Sec. 6: Running Rigging, cont. What are some other lines, equipment, that are part of the running rigging? Give some names.

Sec. 6: Running Rigging, cont. Mainsheet traveler Genoa blocks/cars Boom vang Main outhaul Lazy jacks Topping lift Whisker, spinnaker poles Cleats, line-stopper/clutches, winches

Start by wrapping the line clockwise Pile the wraps up from the bottom to the top Make more turns for a heaver load The correct way to wrap a line around a winch. This will not jam.

This is the incorrect way to lead a line to a winch. This will jam.

Sail Section Questions, Assignments for Next Week Section 1 Section 2 Section 6

OTW Briefing We have two boats available today for inspection and practice of sailing skills. If you already know about what we are going over today, please try to help others who need help.

Boat Inspections Boat Inspections: See “Boat Inspection Guide” handout* for items to inspect on both boats. Sailing Skills: See “Sailing Skills” handout* for skills to practice on the boat or on the dock. *In “FVSPS Sail Class 1 OTW.doc” which you should have printed prior to class.