Why You Should Get Into Sailing

It’s relaxing. You know that song by Christopher Cross called ‘Sailing’? If that song alone was not able to convey how relaxing sailing can be for you, I don’t know what will! Seriously though, sailing is really an extremely relaxing thing to do.

There really is something to be said about ‘being in touch with nature’ and how it calms you inside and out. Sure, taking a walk in the woods can do that too but somehow sailing brings it up a notch higher doesn’t it? So give it a go and soothe your nerves!

It’s more cost-effective than you think. Many people think that sailing is a pretty expensive activity. Well, it is if you want it to be. However, do note that there ARE ways to indulge in boating without it costing an arm and a leg. For instance, did you know that you can finance your own boat for as little as $200-$300 a month?

Also, most marine lenders are boat men too so it’s kind of easy to work out a deal with them. Try it out before you shoot the idea down. You might find that you’re spending more on other activities you’d rather not do!

It makes for good exercise. Sailing is good exercise too you know. Even if you go sailing purely for recreational purposes, the preparation and actual sailing will provide good activities for you. Now, if you want to make a sport out of boating, then all the more calories you get to burn!

It’s a great way to bond with family and/or friends. With no TV, game console, pool table, and mobile phone to occupy people’s times, sailing is an excellent way to simply bond with family and friends. It’s great way to catch up on what everybody else is doing… and all that with such a great backdrop too!

Serious ME time. Of course, sailing can provide some serious alone time too which all of us needs every now and then. If you need to think clearly without fear of being bothered every now and then, sailing is the perfect way to go.

There’s no traffic. Sometimes, the only thing that prevents us from doing what we want to do is… traffic or the little obstacles we need to overcome to do what we want to do. With boating, the sheer space and sense of freedom you get makes these ‘obstacles’ seem very trivial.

It’s fun! Sailing is simply a very FUN thing to do because there are so many avenues to take once you’re in the water. You can go fishing, diving, waterskiing, or simply cruise along.

Sailing can be the best thing you take up this year so go and just do it!

Rig type and sail plan go hand-in-hand. Typically, there is a trade off between ease of sail handling and safety/flexibility. For example, a cat rigged boat with one large mainsail and no headsail (think Laser) is very easy to handle by one person, since there is only one sail. If you are day sailing in a small lake or close to shore where you can take cover if things heat up, this is a great rig–simple, easy to handle, quick to set up. However, it is not a very flexible design, since the sail can’t be reefed in big blows. A standard Marconi sloop is one step above in flexibility since it adds a second (head) sail that can be changed in size to accommodate wind velocity changes. In addition, these rigs today almost invariably offer roller-furling of at least the headsail, if not both sails, making on-the-fly adjustments simple and easy. This is certainly a rig with enough flexibility for stronger wind.

The tradeoff is that you have now added a second sail to handle, change, and furl. Moreover, the sloop is still pretty limited in terms of the changes you can make to sail plans. The cutter rig is the next step up in flexibility with 2 headsails and typically a much smaller mainsail. This configuration allows for significantly greater variations in sail configuration and a much wider spectrum on wind ranges within which the boat can comfortably be sailed. The tradeoff is a third sail to manage. Finally, the double-masted designs–ketchs and yawls–provide the greatest level of flexibility and therefore the greatest range of wind velocities to comfortably sail through. The obvious disadvantage is complication–2 masts, 4-6 sails. For my money, the sloop wins for Bay, Great Lakes and Coastal sailing, while I would want at least a cutter rig for ocean passages, with the ketch and yawl being that much better.

Keels are the next consideration with two primary questions–how deep and what kind. Deep keels allow for more stability (less heel) and greater angles to weather (into the wind), but limit the places you can safely sail without running aground. For me, the depth question is easy–racers should opt for the deepest keel practical for their sailing area, the difference on windward legs can be dramatic. I would recommend deep keels to anyone else who spends a lot of time beating to windward (whoever that may be). For everyone else, the shallower the better–more cruising grounds, more safe anchorages and less chance of hitting something as you go. As for type, if you are doing offshore passages or even long coastal passages, I recommend a full keel–the boat tracks better and gets much better “holding” than a shallow keel. Alternatively, if you do a lot of close quarters maneuvering, I would NOT get a full keel and instead opt for the fin keel.

Interior accommodations range from practically nothing in race shells, to full blown luxury (microwave ovens, flat panel TV’s, DVD players). The simple rule is to match the sailing type to the interior type. My guess is for all but the hard core racer, budget will dictate here (more on this in Part III).

Finally, consider the overall hull type. I examine two dimensions: SA/D (sail area to displacement ratio) for overall speed estimate and D/L (displacement to length ratio) for overall stability and maneuverability. Neither is a perfect measure and manufacturers have a tendency to fudge the numbers (but that is a different article), but they are a good general reference point.

In summary, the first step in buying a sailboat that will make you happy is to know exactly and in great detail how you will use the boat. The second step is to identify the characteristics of a boat that will best match your usage and start looking for boats with those characteristics.

The Offshore Sailing School was founded by former Olympic competitor and America’s Cup sailor, Steve Colgate. Colgate’s wife, Doris Colgate, opened the Florida sailing schools women-only courses. Today, the school has 11 Florida sailing schools which include some women-only and coed. Students of the course are housed at the Pink Shell Beach Resort on San Carlos Bay. The sailing classes use a training boat that was designed by Colgate, which is nearly unsinkable. The hull’s foam filled compartments help keep the boat afloat. By the second day of the sailing classes, you already become way more familiar with lingo and acronyms used by professionals.

During the physical sailing practice, don’t be surprised to spot green sea turtles or bottlenose dolphins playing in front of your boat. Students take turns steering and overseeing the boat. Instructors show students the basics as well as important tips such as how to read the boat and wind, what to do if you find yourself grounded, basic navigation and right-of-way rules and issues. Students learn how to maneuver the boat more instinctively and practice man-overboard drills. The sailing classes conclude with “free-sailing.” The “free sail” is the graduation. After a written test, students sail the boat without the instructor onboard. Find several other Florida sailing schools. Check out the different locations on the websites. Rent some affordable Florida vacation rentals in whatever area you decide to go for.

Offshore Sailing School

800-221-4326

Offshore-sailing.com

Lanier Sailing Academy

800-684-9463

laniersail.com

J World School

800-343-2255

jworldschool.com

360 Yachting

866-561-2175

360yachting.com

Rhumbline Sailing School

239-789-7510

sailrhumbline.com

Castle Harbor Sailing School

305-665-4994

castleharbor.com

Coconut Grove Sailing Club

305-444-4571

cgsc.org

Florida Keys Sailing

305-289-9519

Sailfloridakeys.com

And with a military school education, like most schools, there are extras. The uniform is the obvious one. Students dress in the school’s military uniform and a parent could spend $1000 on clothing items alone. But that doesn’t include special gear for outdoor activities like rock climbing or sailing.

Then if your child joins the school band, a clarinet or trumpet may find their way on to your credit card.

But to be exact you will need to consult the school you are considering for your child. Remember that fees change and often on an annual basis. At present you could pay about $4000 a month for the basic education and accommodation at a military school. Some schools which offer more activities will charge more, others less.

Now if that amount of money seems expensive, you need to consider two things. What are you getting for your money? And how much is too much for the preparation of a successful career?

A wealthy parent may not be fazed by the costs and a less well-off parent can investigate scholarships, student loans and part payment schemes.

But the main issue here is the content of the course. A military school gives top priority to the academic success of its students. They provide a first class curriculum and employ experienced, motivated and highly qualified teachers. The school requires students to study after lessons and this study activity is supervised. Parents who want their child to be pushed or enthused about their academic studies will get the best possible service in a military school. There is plenty of bang for your buck.

If you want to make a comparison about costs, figure how much it will cost you to feed, clothe and accommodate your child should they be living at home during their high school years. Remember that the fee at a military school includes full board and accommodation. If living on campus, your teen will not be raiding your fridge or burning your power bills as they spend hours online.

And don’t forget the time factor. With your teen living at home, how much time will you spend driving them to ballet or football and attending performances and games? There is much less parenting time involved with your child in a military school.

To find a successful career may require a good college degree or post graduate qualifications. A military school has an excellent reputation for getting the best out of their students with a college entry highly likely and, should it be of interest, an entrance into the military for one of its many career options.

The cost is relative. You should consider what you are getting for the price. As somebody once said, “If you want the best, you’ll have to pay for it”.

If you’re looking to find more information about military school and its environment, do check out Military Schools for Boys. Or if you need expert advice on what is the best program for your teen fill out this online form.

To start, you must know your points of sail. The sail trim techniques described here are based on your boat’s relative position to the wind, in other words, your point of sail. Next, we will also assume that at a beginning level you won’t be sailing in strong wind, so for now we won’t discuss techniques to use when the rig is overpowered. We’ll assume you are sailing in light to moderate winds for your boat. We’ll follow a very simple procedure–set the mainsail to a predetermined position and then set the foresail so it is parallel to the mainsail. Done!

Let’s start our trim lessons with the mainsail. First, let’s simplify the sail controls. For now we will leave the main traveler centered on the boat and the boom vang in one position. All our mainsail trim, then, will be with the mainsheet. For our purposes, we will assign three and only three possible sail trim positions for the mainsail. The first is “all the way in” with the boom at the center line of the boat. The second trim position is “all the way out” with the boom as far out as it will go before the mainsail is against the spreader. The final position is “half-way”; midway between the two extreme positions. Those positions are easy to understand and to execute using just the mainsheet. The only question remaining is when to use each position. We’ll use three rules to determine which trim position to use: – Rule One: use the “all the way in” position when you are sailing close-hauled. – Rule Two: use the “all the way out position” when you are sailing lower than a beam reach (i.e. broad reach or running). – Rule Three: use the “half way” position all the rest of the time (i.e. close reach and beam reach).

That’s all there is to it. No constant tweaking or adjusting. Just set once and sail. Using just these three positions and setting the sails just once will keep your boat moving at good clip and allow you to have fun while sailing!

With our mainsail trimmed, now let’s turn our attention to the foresail. We’ll use just two rules to get our foresail into a reasonable trim position. – Rule One: the curve of the foresail should be parallel to the mainsail. This rule does not require precision–just get it close. With just a little practice you will get quite close – just be sighting between the two sails. – Rule two is even easier: when you take the mainsail out, take the foresail out too. Conversely, when you pull the mainsail in, sheet in the foresail too. How far, you ask? Just follow Rule One–simple!!

Using the above procedure, the beginning sailor can sail reasonably efficiently by setting both sails just once for each point of sail. This takes a great deal of mystery out of sail trim and allows for significantly more enjoyment on the water.

Novices begin sail trim with the mainsail. More advanced sailors start sail trim from the most forward sail on the boat. For a typical Bermuda Sloop, the most common rig today, that means the jib or foresail. We will also introduce sailing by the tell-tales–the little pieces of green and red yarn, cloth or ribbon hanging in about the middle of the sail. To begin, we put our boat on a steady course and while on that course we sheet the sail to the “all the way in” position. At this point, the “inside” tell-tales, those closest to the centerline of the boat, should be pointing straight back in line with the motion of the boat and parallel to the water, while the outside tell-tales will be flopping about. To properly trim our headsail, we will ease the sail slowly out. Eventually, the tell-tale movement will change with the inside tell-tales flopping about and the outside tell-tales flowing back in a straight line parallel with the water. When you have reached this point, stop easing the sail and gently (and slowly) trim in until both sets of tell-tales are streaming aft. This is the ideal trim position. One final note on headsails, many will have several sets of tell-tales and it can be difficult to get all sets streaming aft simultaneously. For our purposes, we will trim to the bottom set of tell-tales when there are two sets and to the middle set when there are three sets of tell-tales.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the mainsail. We will still use just our mainsheet for trimming our mainsail at this point, continuing to avoid adjustment of the boom vang and traveler car. We will center our traveler car amid ship and leave it there. At this point, with the headsail already trimmed, you are likely to see a big “bubble” along the luff of our mainsail where the headsail has turned the wind into our mainsail if the mainsail is trimmed out. The goal of mainsail trim is to get the mainsail tell-tales, located on the leach of the sail, usually along the battens, to stream back parallel to the water. The procedure is similar to headsail trim above: start with the mainsail all the way in and gradually ease the sail out until the tell-tales are streaming aft. As with the headsail, they may all not stream aft simultaneously. Try moving in and out–slowly–if you still can’t get them all flowing, concentrate on the tell-tales from mid-sail to the top of the sail–that is where you will find the strongest wind.

Lastly, let me point out that there are conditions such as very light winds, wet sails, heading dead down wind, etc., when the tell-tale trim method may not work. When you are sailing in these conditions, my advice would be return to simpler rules of trim until you are ready for the advanced trim methods.