The Keelboat Sailing Certification Program is made up of seven stages while Small Boat Sailing Program contains a further two stages.
The Basic Small Boat Sailing Standard requires no previous experience or qualifications. It is the first course in the Small Boat Sailing Program. Students must demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of the names and functions of various parts of a boat together with common sailing terms, the sail and its ancillary components, the International Rules for Collision Prevention both at sea and on inland waters and hey should demonstrate a basic knowledge of safety procedures. Upon completion he or she will be able to sail a centerboard or multihull sailboat in light to moderate winds and sea conditions in familiar waters.
The first course in the Keelboat Sailing Certification Program is known as Basic Keelboat. The different sails including the names of part of a sail - foot, leech, luff, head, tack and clew. Students will understand the points of sail be it close hauled, reaching or running. On the practical side they must demonstrate sail handling skills, they will display competence at the helm including mooring, sailing both upwind and downwind together with a successful tack and gybe. Upon completion of the course students should be able to sail a boat of some 20 feet in length in moderate winds in familiar waters.
The second stage is called Basic Coastal Cruising and students must hold the Basic Keelboat Sailing Certificate prior to undertaking this course. The course looks at safety on board including equipment and procedures. Students will be required to demonstrate a knowledge of first aid and the treatment of hypothermia. Basic meteorology is considered and students must demonstrate an understanding of shipping forecasts. The practical side of this course looks at boat handling under power and sail, man overboard recovery, the various points of sail, reefing and heaving to, docking and mooring and some knot work.
Trailerable Multihull Standard, this course is the second in the Small Boat Sailing Program. It may be taught as part of or following the Basic Coastal Cruising course. On the practical side the sailor will demonstrate: how to cast of and leave the quay with at least two different wind directions relative to the bow and then return and berth alongside, pick up a mooring buoy, manoeuvre in a restricted space, reverse, recover a man overboard, the different points of sail, tacking and gybing, sail a compass course within 10 degrees. They will anchor in the following ways, bow anchor and bridle and single bow with a stern line to the shore. The theory side covers the preparation of both crew and boat for a one week cruise including the preparation of a passage plan. Students must obtain and interpret a shipping forecast. When completed the individual can act as skipper of a boat up to 50 feet in length sailing by day in coastal waters.
Students will be required to demonstrate knowledge of various State and Federal regulations pertaining to sailing. The Cruising Catamaran course deals exclusively with multihull sailing and concentrates on the differences a sailor finds as opposed to monohull sailing. Advanced Coastal Cruising follows and participants should have completed both the Bareboat Chartering and Coastal Navigation stages. On the water students must: sail on all points of the wind and tack and gybe in a wind of at least 15 knots, sail a compass course to within 10 degrees, carry out a man overboard recovery in darkness.
The student must be able to demonstrate the Celestial Navigation required to navigate a sailboat on an offshore passage. The successful student will have demonstrated their ability to: Convert longitude into time and standard time and zone time to GMT. This celestial theory can be put into practice during the Offshore Passage Making course. When the course is completed is the sailor cans skipper a sailing vessel on offshore passages in any weather.
Saturday 19 April 2014
Understanding Sails and Sailing
Efficient Sailing
Some cruising sails are still made like this. The maximum camber of a sail should be somewhat forward of the middle of its cross-section. In practice this varies to a degree with what sort of sail it is and how hard the wind is blowing. As the breeze hardens, the power of the fullcut sail will become too great for the boat. It must then be flattened or reefed, if either is possible; or changed for a different sail if not.
This requirement is underlined by the fact that as the wind increases, a sail naturally becomes fuller and the point of maximum camber is blown aft towards the leech. Most sails twist away from the wind in their upper sections. When a boat sails along, the wind she actually experiences is a composite known as apparent wind. This phantom combines with the true wind to generate the actual breeze across the sails. Clearly, the faster the true wind for a given boat speed, the less will be the interference caused by the boat's movement. If the upper part of the sail can be twisted to take advantage of this, its resultant force will produce a larger forward component than that being delivered by the lower section of the same area of canvas.
In the case of a fractional rig, the upper section of the mainsail cuts undisturbed air, while the lower parts receive their wind already bent further aft by the headsails. Twist control is vital if the top of the sail is not to be stalled completely.
Shaping the headsails
In most boats, the primary tool for headsail camber control is the halyard winch. Hoist the sail, then steer the boat on, or nearly on a closehauled heading. Now look up at the mid-part of the sail. If it is too far aft, tension up the halyard and watch the draught move forward. If the sail seems susceptible to this treatment, check it again once your boat speed has built up. The apparent wind will now be greater and the sail may require some adjustment. It's important to do this with your fully open roller reefing genoa as well as a hanked-on sail.
The sail should now be overpowering the boat if the sailmaker and the designer got their sums right. The converse of keeping your sails reasonably flat as the wind hardens is that a sail can sometimes be set up to be too shallow-cambered. It will then lack the power to drive the boat in light airs. If the sail seems lifeless, ease the halyard, and the sheet too if necessary, so as to power up the canvas.
Attention to the luff of the sail may cause the leech to require service. The leechline, if fitted, is a light piece of small stuff sewn into the trailing edge of the sail. If the leech is already hooked, slack away the line as far as the sail will let you.
Most boats have these on sliders. If yours doesn't, the sail must be cut to the position of the fixed leads.
Sheet-lead positions are crucial. When the helmsman brings the sail a little too close to the wind from closehauled or a close reach, the luff should lift evenly all the way up. If the bottom of the luff lifts first, the lead is too far forward, making the leech too tight so that the sail is not twisting enough. The windward ones will always flick up just before the sail lifts. Shaping the mainsails
As in a headsail, mainsail camber is largely controlled by luff tension. However, sails on boats with any pretension to performance generally also offer a clew outhaul. The effects of this will extend approximately to the lower third of the sail. The more powerful sail of a fractional rigger should carry its maximum camber somewhat further forward, but still with a flat, gentle entry.
Mainsail twist is highly controllable on a modern yacht. On a race boat, the powerful kicker may be brought into service even closehauled to help flatten the sail. I've heard people complain along the lines of `All this sail shape nonsense is for the boy racers. Sail combinations
Una-rigged craft often sail excellently. From time immemorial, therefore, sail plans have been divided.
Because individual sails are set forward and abaft the centre of lateral resistance (CLR) about which the boat effectively pivots, they can be sheeted so as to balance her steering characteristics. Secondly, the slot between two sails produces a venturi effect, accelerating the air which is squeezed through it. The result is weather helm. Lee helm is a dismal condition.
Hull balance
In addition to the disposition of her sail plan, a yacht's helm balance varies depending on how much she is heeling. As she heels to leeward, any tendency to weather helm will increase. Rolling to windward generates lee helm. As the boat heels, the centre of effort of the mast and sails moves outboard.
Shortening sail
Shortening sail as the wind strengthens is part of the sailor's everyday life. Similarly, a reef in the mainsail moves the leech inboard along the boom. The sails are therefore generating less weather helm than if the yacht were spreading everything she carried. It would be unwise to generalise about where to begin sail reductions. Poorer gears produce a dismally reefed sail which looks more like a flour bag than a number 3 genoa. None the less, all such arrangements give the benefit of instant sail area adjustment. It can therefore be used routinely for heavy weather sailing.
Mainsail reefing systems now exist which are way in advance of the old 'round-the-boom' roller reefing. Mainsail reefing options therefore subdivide into three choices: in-mast roller, inboom or round-boom roller, and traditional gear for reducing the sail in `slabs' at the foot.
Cruising chutes
Today's Bermudan-rigged yachts have much in their favour, but sailing downwind in light and moderate going is not one of them. Sailmakers will deliver them complete with a `snuffer' - a sort of sleeve which rolls down over the sail, spilling its wind miraculously.
Some cruising sails are still made like this. The maximum camber of a sail should be somewhat forward of the middle of its cross-section. In practice this varies to a degree with what sort of sail it is and how hard the wind is blowing. As the breeze hardens, the power of the fullcut sail will become too great for the boat. It must then be flattened or reefed, if either is possible; or changed for a different sail if not.
This requirement is underlined by the fact that as the wind increases, a sail naturally becomes fuller and the point of maximum camber is blown aft towards the leech. Most sails twist away from the wind in their upper sections. When a boat sails along, the wind she actually experiences is a composite known as apparent wind. This phantom combines with the true wind to generate the actual breeze across the sails. Clearly, the faster the true wind for a given boat speed, the less will be the interference caused by the boat's movement. If the upper part of the sail can be twisted to take advantage of this, its resultant force will produce a larger forward component than that being delivered by the lower section of the same area of canvas.
In the case of a fractional rig, the upper section of the mainsail cuts undisturbed air, while the lower parts receive their wind already bent further aft by the headsails. Twist control is vital if the top of the sail is not to be stalled completely.
Shaping the headsails
In most boats, the primary tool for headsail camber control is the halyard winch. Hoist the sail, then steer the boat on, or nearly on a closehauled heading. Now look up at the mid-part of the sail. If it is too far aft, tension up the halyard and watch the draught move forward. If the sail seems susceptible to this treatment, check it again once your boat speed has built up. The apparent wind will now be greater and the sail may require some adjustment. It's important to do this with your fully open roller reefing genoa as well as a hanked-on sail.
The sail should now be overpowering the boat if the sailmaker and the designer got their sums right. The converse of keeping your sails reasonably flat as the wind hardens is that a sail can sometimes be set up to be too shallow-cambered. It will then lack the power to drive the boat in light airs. If the sail seems lifeless, ease the halyard, and the sheet too if necessary, so as to power up the canvas.
Attention to the luff of the sail may cause the leech to require service. The leechline, if fitted, is a light piece of small stuff sewn into the trailing edge of the sail. If the leech is already hooked, slack away the line as far as the sail will let you.
Most boats have these on sliders. If yours doesn't, the sail must be cut to the position of the fixed leads.
Sheet-lead positions are crucial. When the helmsman brings the sail a little too close to the wind from closehauled or a close reach, the luff should lift evenly all the way up. If the bottom of the luff lifts first, the lead is too far forward, making the leech too tight so that the sail is not twisting enough. The windward ones will always flick up just before the sail lifts. Shaping the mainsails
As in a headsail, mainsail camber is largely controlled by luff tension. However, sails on boats with any pretension to performance generally also offer a clew outhaul. The effects of this will extend approximately to the lower third of the sail. The more powerful sail of a fractional rigger should carry its maximum camber somewhat further forward, but still with a flat, gentle entry.
Mainsail twist is highly controllable on a modern yacht. On a race boat, the powerful kicker may be brought into service even closehauled to help flatten the sail. I've heard people complain along the lines of `All this sail shape nonsense is for the boy racers. Sail combinations
Una-rigged craft often sail excellently. From time immemorial, therefore, sail plans have been divided.
Because individual sails are set forward and abaft the centre of lateral resistance (CLR) about which the boat effectively pivots, they can be sheeted so as to balance her steering characteristics. Secondly, the slot between two sails produces a venturi effect, accelerating the air which is squeezed through it. The result is weather helm. Lee helm is a dismal condition.
Hull balance
In addition to the disposition of her sail plan, a yacht's helm balance varies depending on how much she is heeling. As she heels to leeward, any tendency to weather helm will increase. Rolling to windward generates lee helm. As the boat heels, the centre of effort of the mast and sails moves outboard.
Shortening sail
Shortening sail as the wind strengthens is part of the sailor's everyday life. Similarly, a reef in the mainsail moves the leech inboard along the boom. The sails are therefore generating less weather helm than if the yacht were spreading everything she carried. It would be unwise to generalise about where to begin sail reductions. Poorer gears produce a dismally reefed sail which looks more like a flour bag than a number 3 genoa. None the less, all such arrangements give the benefit of instant sail area adjustment. It can therefore be used routinely for heavy weather sailing.
Mainsail reefing systems now exist which are way in advance of the old 'round-the-boom' roller reefing. Mainsail reefing options therefore subdivide into three choices: in-mast roller, inboom or round-boom roller, and traditional gear for reducing the sail in `slabs' at the foot.
Cruising chutes
Today's Bermudan-rigged yachts have much in their favour, but sailing downwind in light and moderate going is not one of them. Sailmakers will deliver them complete with a `snuffer' - a sort of sleeve which rolls down over the sail, spilling its wind miraculously.
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