The sailing season has come to an end. Even though we didn't have a good record, we had a GREAT time. I would say, this has been one of the most fun teams I have ever been on. If you have never sailed before, you are missing out! Join the SHS sailing team!
While on the sailing team, I have made so many new friendships that will long live. Sailing is all about team work, so when I am sailing with someone, its bonding! On light wind days, we can chat and get to know each other in the sailboat. On heavy wind days, you work as hard as you can together to keep the boat flat in the water. Sailing is such a fun sport to be a part of. On the SHS sailing team, if you're new to the sport, you'll surely forget it by the end of the season. All of the sailors will help you in any way you need! Whether it's tips on sailing, tips on rigging (setting up the sails on the boats), tips on rolling sails, etc. These young adults are such a polite and helpful group of people!
Add Comment The skipper also steers the boat as mentioned before. While holding the tiller in one hand, he or she is able to steer the rudder. In the skipper's other hand of course, the main sheet will be held. The skipper is in charge of the boat, and is in charge of telling the crew what to do. Things like when it tacks, how tight or far the sails are, etc. They are very educated as far as the rules of sailing (which there are a lot of). They have to be able to know right of ways, etc. As the crew, you are in charge of the jib sail and the centerboard. You have to take commands from the skipper, as far as those go. there are jib sheets and fairleads (which are cleats and keep the ropes in place) on either side of the boat. When sailing, you always have those two ropes in your hands. As far as the centerboard goes, you really only adjust it when leaving and returning to shore. However, on a very light wind day, the skipper may tell the crew to pull the centerboard up while sailing, to create less friction with the water. Some very important terms in sailing are tacking, jibing, and roll tacking. Tacking is when you switch the sails from one side of the boat to the other, and you shift the weight of the boat as well. While tacking, the skipper will say "tacking in 3,2,1..." and then it will happen. And when it does happen, you have to go to the other side of the boat as soon as possible so that the boat doesn't capsize (fall over). Jibing is the same thing as tacking however, it is much quicker and without a 3,2,1... I like to think of it as an emergency tack. Roll tacking is tacking, and the definition is in the word itself. You roll the boat. The point of this kind of tack is to loose as little speed as possible. While in the process, the skipper will say "tacking in 3,2,1... HIT" and the hit is when the skipper and crew will simultaneously slam all of their body weight onto one side of the boat, then quickly go up onto the other side. The less wind there is on the certain day, the more likely the sailors will roll tack. It is truly amazing how much the weight on the boat makes a difference. You always want to even out the boat so that it is flat on the water (not heeling). The boats go faster this way. Heeling is when the sailboat is leaning up onto a certain side in the water. Sailors want to avoid this as much as possible. In this event, the sailors will hike, which means they will lean their body weight as much as they can, over the side of the boat that is heeling out of the water. These are the parts of a 420 sailboat, which high school sailing teams use. These are two man sailboats. One person called the Crew, operates the sail in the front and the centerboard. The person in the back is called the Skipper, and they operate the rudder and the main sail. First of all, the main parts of the boat are the bow, stern, starboard and port sides, centerboard, rudder, and of course the sails. Bow: front of boat Stern: back of boat Starboard Side: right side of boat Port Side: left side of boat Centerboard: a pivoted fin in center; underneath the boat Rudder: vertical blade at stern which steers boat Tiller: steers the rudder Main Sail: larger sail in the back Jib Sail: The Main sail is the larger sail, which is directed by the boom which is the horizontal pole. The main sail is vertically connected to the mast, which is the tall vertical pole in the center of the sailboat. As mentioned before, the skipper is in control of the main. The line or rope that controls the main is called the Main Sheet. Through a system of pulleys, the skipper is able to adjust the main sail easily. So we kept on trying to get the boat up the way were before, but it was still not working as it wasn't before. We were really tired because the cold water was draining our energy and the sailboat was really heavy. The committee boat which all of the coaches were on came over to us and tried to give us some useful directions. However, it was still a challenge. Eventually, Emily and I swam into place and held onto the hiking strap, while the Martha's Vineyard coach stood onto the centerboard of our sailboat. The idea was that he would be heavy enough to pull the sailboat back up. The idea worked! He pulled the boat back up and we were able to get into it. He jumped back into the committee boat without a problem. Emily and I sailed back to shore and other sailors took over our boat to de-rig (dismantle) our sails. I was the coldest I had ever been in my entire life. I could barely take off my dry suit, and when I did, my pants were soaking wet because water got into my dry suit! When I got home, I immediately took a really hot shower but even after I did that I was still shivering. I will never forget that day sailing! On Thursday, the twenty-fourth of April, we had a sailing meet at home against Martha's Vineyard. It was a very cold day out on the water that day, but the wind was just perfect. Varsity sailed, and we lost to Martha's Vineyard. Following the Varsity races, we had JV races. I sailed with Emily, who I have sailed with many times before. We communicate and work well together. We started sailing in the race, doing an awesome job. All of our tacks were on point, and we were trying out best to hike as far out of the boat as we could, to keep the boat from capsizing. We were in second place out of six boats which is spectacular, not to mention we were facing Martha's Vineyard who is undefeated. One certain time when we tacked, we went from port tack to starboard tack. As I sprung up underneath the sail to the starboard side of the sailboat, I started hiking right away because the boat was heeling up on the port side. However, I missed the hiking strap with my feet so I fell off the side of the boat! The hiking strap is a strap that goes from the mast area to the back of the boat. This strap is used when a sailor is hiking, or leaning out of the boat to stop the boat from heeling. When I sprung the starboard side, I had to immediately start hiking, as the boat was heeling. I missed the hiking strap with my feet, so I lost control and fell over the side of the boat backwards, into the water. As soon as I realized that Emily was sailing away in the boat alone... I started swimming after the boat and soon enough, when Emily went to un-cleat (unhook) the jib (small, front sail) she tipped the boat over! When I eventually made it over to the boat, we both started trying to pull the centerboard down and flip the boat back up. This is quite a hard task when there are only two light weight girls. So we keep going at it and finally, the boat comes back up! So Emily and I swam around the back, trying to get back into the boat, just to have it tip over again!!!! This time it turtled, which means it was all the way tipped over. |