Can you see the wind? OR

When a CBI sailor capsizes his or her boat,  our staff plucks them out of the water and returns them to CBI safe and sound.  While we retrieve their vessel they have an opportunity to find something dry to put on and fill out a "Capsize Report".  One of the questions we ask on the report is something along the lines of "What caused you to capsize? What happened?".  From time to time folks have reminded me that if they could answer that question then they probably wouldn't have gone swimming. So I'm here tell you what may have (most likely) happened.  You were not watching the wind.  You didn't see the big gust of wind charging along in your direction.  You were caught unawares and the wind blew you over. Simple. So all you have to do is watch the wind to anticipate when it will hit your sails and be prepared to to ease them out, and more importantly hike out hard and allow your boat to head up (some) as your boat  heels over in the gust..

But wait, you may ask.  I can't see the wind.  Air is clear.  How can you possibly see it and therefore anticipate when it will strike the sails?  Ah Grasshopper, here you ask about one of the great secrets usually revealed only to those already in possession of the secret handshake.  While I am not willing to reveal anything about the handshake I am willing to reveal the secret of "seeing the wind"

You can't see the wind.  You can see the surface of the water which the wind rubs against creating little wavelets or wrinkles as it moves along.  The more wind the bigger the wrinkles you can see on the water. On gusty days if you just sit and watch the water sheet for a while you will see big dark areas on the water surface moving along quickly.  Kind of like moving ink blots.  These are gusts. Wind does not simply move horizontally. A good bit of it moves up and down.  When a significant downdraft hits the water surface, it  spreads out and moves in the general direction of the prevailing breeze. There can be a significant temporary change in the direction of the gust.  If you are caught (surprised) by the leading edge of the gust which probably changes direction by 10, 20 30, 40 degrees or more (on the Charles River), then you have a good chance of a surprise tack or jibe. This can leave you sitting on the leeward side of the cockpit while the boat heels over and fills up with water.  You probably won't recover from this before finding yourself completely immersed in the water and wondering just what happened and why. 

To avoid this adventure in swimming, pay attention to where the wind is coming from all the time.  Keep looking upwind at the surface of the water for dark areas that are moving in your direction. As a novice sailor you are most interested in managing the sudden increase in velocity.  When you become more expert you will actually seek out these dark areas for the excitement and speed they can produce.  Sailboat racers are always trying to "connect the puffs" - that is sail to and in the puffs as much as possible.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Charlie

Steering Tips and Tricks.

For all you new sailors here are a few more tips and tricks to advance you along your sailing learning curve.
You have three ways to steer you boat.  The first one we talk about is the rudder.  Push the tiller off center and the rudder pivots such that water pushes more on one side than the other and the the stern of the boat is pushed left or right.  Like a grocery cart being pushed backwards.  Fine enough so far.  You can steer the boat with the rudder. However.... 

There are two other ways to turn your boat.  The first is to shift the weight of the skipper and crew to either minimize or accentuate the heel of the boat.  When sailing, if you let the boat heel to one side the boat will  turn toward the other side.    The last way to steer the boat is to  use your sails to increase or decrease weather helm.  Remember that when turning the boat it tends to pivot at a point roughly over the centerboard. Most of the mainsail is aft of this point.  So when the force of the wind hits the mainsail, it has a tendency to push the boat such that it turns around that pivot point.

You will know that you are becoming an expert helmsman when you use the rudder less and less and use your weight and sails more and more to steer your boat.

These pointers are generalizations which are true.  As with all generalizations there are a few exceptions.  However, as a beginner working toward your Helmsman rating there are no exceptions! Follow these "rules" and you will be on your way to becoming an excellent sailor.  Next blog - How to "See the Wind"

Charlie

New Sailor Tips and Tricks [top secret stuff!...please share].

For all you new sailors at CBI  - progressing to the Helmsman Rating will be one of your first goals as you learn to sail.  The Helmsman Rating means you can go sailing at CBI most days without restriction and bring guests.    So I will keep posting some  tips and tricks along the way which I hope will help you out.

Tip #1
Keep the boom vang off except when sailing.

Tip#2
Face forward when tacking and gybing.  Avoid turning or facing backwards at all.

Tip #3
When you're not moving at all and you want to get going, straighten the helm, trim the sail until it stops luffing, wait until you start moving forward before you attempt to turn or tack.  Often you will see newbies attempting to turn their boat by pushing the tiller hard-a-lee before moving forward.  It never works.  Have you ever tried to turn your car when it is parked with the brake on?  Nothing happens.  Same in a sailboat.  If you're not moving forward then you can't turn using the rudder.  More advanced sailors learn how to steer with the aid of their sails, but that is something we'll teach you after you have a Helmsman rating.

More to follow...

Charlie    

Welcome New Members! Here are some Rigging Tips and Tricks

Last Saturday CBI held an open house and welcomed close to 100 new members.  Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped conduct orientations, take new members for sailboat rides, and helped cook some delicious b.good burgers on the grill. It was a breezy day with it's share of capsizes.  We measured the water temperature and it's creeping up to 70 degrees....not bad.

For you new members we taught several rigging classes yesterday so I am going to share some tips and tricks for rigging a Mercury sailboat correctly and quickly.

1)  CVS is a Retail Store

Once you have pulled your Mercury out of the slip to the front of the dock and secured it with a NIGHT KNOT, put your  Centerboard down first, loosen the boomVang 100% (often referred to as simply the Vang), then uncleat the mainSheet.  Then you'll put on the Rudder  and bend on the Sail. (IMPORTANT! In order to keep the Rudder safe from collision with other sailboats while at the dock please leave it  until last.)

2) When bending on the sail remember this: front before the back and bottom before the top. I'll give you a clue, the tack is not the back, the clew is.

3) When hoisting the sail crouch in front of the mast where you can easily hoist and guide the sail's bolt rope into the mass groove. You will be positioned such that the boom can not bump you on the head and the boat will be very stable because you are centered athwart ship.

4)  TOP SECRET TRICK!! Better than the secret handshake!!!  Do not tighten the boomvang until you have cast off from the dock and are a boat length away. AND when you are returning to the dock make sure you have loosened the boomvang as soon as you are inside the island or similarly close to the dock.

Next blog I'll continue to reveal some of the most helpful tips and tricks about tacking, gybing, avoiding irons and docking on a breezy day.  Stay Tuned.

Charlie

Open House - Top Secret Answers to Trivia Questions

#1  1941

#2  1946

#3  Wareham

Friday Night Racing - Giving Informal Instruction

Last Friday was a fun evening for sailing and racing on the Charles River - The breeze was up and down and a bit shifty.  I want to recommend that you use Friday night racing as a good opportunity for giving informal instruction to newer and less experienced sailors.  I raced with a young man named Matty.  He's got a Solo rating and has been sailing for a couple of weeks and had not a clue about racing sailboats.   I warned him in advance that a good part of the evening would be me giving him direct commands such as "trim, ease, weight to leeward, hike out now, centerboard up, centerboard down, tack, gybe, etc. He would learn more by doing than by me explaining.  On one race, approximately 45 seconds before the starting gun he started to ask about how the jib telltales work.  "Later" I said, "TRIM!".   He picked it up rather quickly. We had a great time. By the end of the night he was shifting his weight in and out, forward and back, while paying close attention to the jib's trim, and starting to "see" the puffs before they hit us.  I found an opportunity to give him a short lesson on telltales.  I think he learned a lot and enjoyed the whole experience. He asked me if he showed up next Friday night would he be likely to find a crew position. I said yes.

I think that what I described here is a small slice of the essence of CBI. I hope you agree and will join in by inviting more novices to crew on Friday right races too. I can tell you with complete certainty that Matty will be a great crew in the next couple of weeks and probably will be skippering his own Mercury by the end of the summer.

Charlie

Sailing World Archive 1997 - Recovering from a Bad Start

In sailboat racing a lot has changed since 1997. There are new composite materials for hulls, rigging and sails. The shape of hulls and keels are not what they once were, and in the America's Cup both competitors will be catamarans going very fast with a good chance of capsizing when the breeze pipes up. However, some thing stay the same.  Check out this article from 1997 by Terry Hutchinson - "Recovering from a Bad Start".  Still works as well as it did15 years ago.  I know. I had a bad start last week.  After applying the principles enunciated in the article - voila! first across the finish line.  Thank you Sailing World!  http://tinyurl.com/cpgeun2

charlie