Mission Bay Aquatic Center Keel Boat 1

[tuxonpup]

Made a quick video of our weekend keel boat sailing class in San Diego:

[Russ]

Nice.

Looks like the weather was good for the class. Not so much for the ride home.

[OverEasy]

Hi Tuxonpup!

Looks like you guys had fun!
Nice boats to learn on too!

How did you like the course?
Did it apply toward certifications?
What did you each feel you gained the most from the lectures? From the practical?
Would you do it again?
Would you go back for a more advanced course if the opportunity arose?

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[tuxonpup]

Hi Tuxonpup!

Looks like you guys had fun!
Nice boats to learn on too!

How did you like the course?
Did it apply toward certifications?
What did you each feel you gained the most from the lectures? From the practical?
Would you do it again?
Would you go back for a more advanced course if the opportunity arose?

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Keel Boat 1 is the first half of their US Sailing certification, we have to take another weekend long Keel Boat 2 class for the certification.

We'll plan another trip for Keel Boat 2, but see if we can build it into a longer trip, the drive-boat-boat-drive 4 day turn around is fun, once.

Definitely ingrained where my sails should be trimmed for all points of sail and I doubt I would've had the confidence to dock in a crowded marina using just the main sail before this. The instructor team switched up between the two days and we changed boats the second day, which was good to see differing techniques. Saturday's instructor wanted you to take the boom in close before jibing and let it back out again when complete. Safety first with four people on the boat. Sunday's instructor was a racer and wanted us to leave it out and let it swing hard on a jibe, relying on communication before any maneuver. I can see the argument either way and appreciated being shown both approaches. Some interesting tips like keeping your boom set to the angle of the waves on a broad reach, which only one of the instructors liked. The racing background instructor was getting into finding the groove for your boat on Sunday afternoon, feeling for the proper amount of heel and sail trim for any particular heading, without relying on watching for the luffing point or tell tales.

For a basics class, there was plenty of content for both those with no experience and those who had crewed sailing before.

[Willburrrr2003]

Sounds like you had a good time, and got a lot out of the class! Glad to hear it , I took a 3 day keel boat 1 class here in Seattle and had a blast! Like you I gained a lot more confidence then I had going in. I think it's awesome they let you dock under sail, our marina did not allow that so all our docking maneuvers were under outboard. Do you think at this point you can launch, sail, and retrieve your own boat now?

Regards,

Will R.

[tuxonpup]

Sounds like you had a good time, and got a lot out of the class! Glad to hear it , I took a 3 day keel boat 1 class here in Seattle and had a blast! Like you I gained a lot more confidence then I had going in. I think it's awesome they let you dock under sail, our marina did not allow that so all our docking maneuvers were under outboard. Do you think at this point you can launch, sail, and retrieve your own boat now?

Regards,

Will R.

Yes, our first two trips were entirely motoring but we learned a lot on the fly about launching, docking and anchoring overnight on both trips. We didn't mount the boom until our third trip, when we tried a bit of downwind sailing, and beaching the boat for the first time. Last month was our first week long stay on the water, and the first time out with the new genoa on the furler, where I learned a lot about the running rigging. Got pretty good at motoring back onto the trailer this time, but that first time out... yikes!

[Be Free]

Keel Boat 1 is the first half of their US Sailing certification, we have to take another weekend long Keel Boat 2 class for the certification.

We'll plan another trip for Keel Boat 2, but see if we can build it into a longer trip, the drive-boat-boat-drive 4 day turn around is fun, once.

Definitely ingrained where my sails should be trimmed for all points of sail and I doubt I would've had the confidence to dock in a crowded marina using just the main sail before this. The instructor team switched up between the two days and we changed boats the second day, which was good to see differing techniques. Saturday's instructor wanted you to take the boom in close before jibing and let it back out again when complete. Safety first with four people on the boat. Sunday's instructor was a racer and wanted us to leave it out and let it swing hard on a jibe, relying on communication before any maneuver. I can see the argument either way and appreciated being shown both approaches. Some interesting tips like keeping your boom set to the angle of the waves on a broad reach, which only one of the instructors liked. The racing background instructor was getting into finding the groove for your boat on Sunday afternoon, feeling for the proper amount of heel and sail trim for any particular heading, without relying on watching for the luffing point or tell tales.

For a basics class, there was plenty of content for both those with no experience and those who had crewed sailing before.

Docking your X under sail is going to be a lot harder than the boat you used in class but you can do it. You have a lot more windage to contend with. If you're lucky it works for you; other times not so much.

The gooseneck on an X is a lot lighter and you don't want to intentionally let the boom come about hard. Centering the boom as you gybe is safer even if you are the only one aboard but you won't win any races that way (like you were going to win a race in an X anyway ). If I want to make a fast gybe (intentionally or not) I just reach up and grab the main sheet in the middle. This acts as a "shock absorber" and allows me to slow the boom as it crosses the cockpit without that gut-wrenching, gear breaking crash at the end.

Using the wave angle to initially set the boom angle works well on an X. It's not always the absolute best but it is usually a good starting point that does not require any other instruments or indicators. I tend to check my Windex and tell-tails after the fact to verify that my seat-of-the-pants sail trim is working but a lot of people do it the other way around. Whatever works for you is right for your boat.

Let us know how your keel boat training applies to your future trips on your boat. It's going to be a fun journey.