Learn the essential sailing knots: Figure 8 Bowline Square Knot Half Hitch Cleat Hitch Clove Hitch Double overhanded stopper Five essential sailing knots required for Optimist sailors and 420 sailors Square knot Half hitch Stopper knot Cleat hitch Bowline Knot combinations you should know: Dock pole 2 wraps and 2 half hitches Two half hitches […]

Boat Parts Rigging the boat, learning the parts of the boat. Chalk talk/hands on.Some of this will be information we have previously covered, but we will dive deeper. This should be the transition from coaches rigging the boats up to the students doing. Each week after, the kids will need to be “rigged and ready” […]

Capsize Recovery The goal here is to take the fear out of capsizing, we want every aspect of sailing to be fun, so we get everyone comfortable in the water, and righting their boat.  Then it’s all just a game! We’ll involve some treasure to make it even more fun!

Sail Trim This week we will focus on getting the most out of our sails. We want the sailors to understand where the sail needs to be positioned for each point of sail.

Upwind Sailing We’ll do a short chalk talk then try it on the water. One of the hardest skills to learn is to sail into the direction of the wind, but it is one of the most important. If home is in the direction of the wind, you have to be able to get there.

Buoy Course Sailing This practice will work on our ability to make the boat go where we want it to go regardless of the wind direction – practical upwind and downwind sailing. This will also be our intro into racing, the kids will begin to learn how to make their way around a racecourse.

Fun, Fun, Fun We’ve got to have a little fun in the middle of all our hard work, so we’ll do some sailing and exploring and maybe some sweet treats. Big boats and Optis Stiletto and Optis sail to the island beach for fun and practical sailing in our local environment.

Let’s put it all together and have a race. Followed by Island Party with the other club members and sailors. We will take all of the skills we have learned over the session and hit the racecourse. Everyone will have a chance to show off the skills they have learned. End of season awards ceremony […]