Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club

1. Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club Beginners Course Sailing

2. Sailing and Safety Sailing is a safe sport so long you stick to the following rules • Always wear a lifejacket • Check your equipment before you go out • Don’t sail in weather beyond your capacity • Never, ever, leave your boat while out on the lake • Keep an eye on your fellow sailors and act if you see something unusual • During racing: stop and help people in distress

3. Main parts of a Laser Mast Sail Kicker Boom Hull Main sheet Traveller Rudder Centre board

4. Why does a sailing boat move? Low pressure

5. Why does a sailing boat move? Low pressure

6. A boat moves…. • …when air flows smoothly along both sides of the sail • The low pressure on the ‘leeward side’ of the sail pulls the boat forward … • …but also sideways (drift)

7. A boat stops…. • …when air stops flowing along the sail.

8. And starts moving again…. • …when the sail is set in a proper angle to the wind

9. Drift With a closed sail, the drift is high With a more open sail, the drift is less When the sail is fully open, there is no drift When the wind hits a boat from the side or front, it is pushed sideways and forward at the same time – the sideways movement is called drift

10. How to stop drift?

11. How to stop drift? • You stop drift by putting your centre board down • When your sail is closed and the drift is high, your centre board is all the way down • The more open your sail is (and you move further away from the wind), the more your centre board is up

12. Sailing a straight line Your rudder and tiller are in the centre of the boat Move the tiller extension a bit to adjust for waves and gusts

13. Sailing a straight line: keep your boat flat • A heeling boat tends to turn in the wind. You have to fight the rudder to make it go in a straight line. • Therefore in moderate and strong winds: • Bum over the deck • Shoulders over the water

14. Sailing a straight line in gusts When a gust hits the boat: When the gust reduces… 1: Sheet in 1: Bring more body out of the boat 2: Bring your body back in 2: Drop a bit of mainsheet

15. Points of sailing • A point of sailing is the forward movement of a boat relative to the direction of the wind: • Beating – the boat moves as close as possible, roughly at an angle of 45 degrees, to the wind (close haul) • Reaching – the boat moves at an angle of 50 – 140 degrees to the wind (highest speed) • Running – the boat moves at an angle of 140 – 220 degrees to the wind (‘runs away’ from the wind)

16. Points of sailing: Beating Sail is closed (block-to-block) Centre board is down

17. Points of sailing: Reaching Sail is half open Centre board is half up

18. Points of sailing: Running Sail is fully open Centre board is up

19. Changing direction Hardening up – sailing closer to the wind

20. Changing direction Hardening up – sailing closer to the wind

21. Changing direction: hardening up Push the tiller away from you The boat turns closer to the wind Pull in your sail Straighten your tiller And continue sailing

22. Changing direction Bearing away (from the wind)

23. Changing direction Bearing away (from the wind)

24. Changing direction: bearing away Let out your sail Straighten your tiller And continue sailing Pull the tiller towards you The boat turns away from the wind

25. The no-go zone A boat cannot sail into the no-go zone Because the wind hits the sail too much from the front

26. No-go zone movement The no-go zone travels with your boat, and is always windward and in front of your centre-board when sailing close haul

27. No-go zone movement The no-go zone travels with your boat, even when you drift backwards. The no-go zone travels with your boat, even when you drift backwards. The only way out in this position is to turn your boat

28. Points of sailing A point of sailing is relative to the wind

29. Points of sailing A point of sailing is relative to the wind: When the wind shifts the boat’s direction relative to the land shifts as well if the point of sailing remains the same

30. Tacking

31. TackingStep1: Push the tiller away - The boat will turn towards the wind

32. TackingStep 3: Straighten your tiller when the sail is full, switch hands TackingStep2: Move your body to the other side while the boom comes across

33. Changing direction: Beating Beating

34. Beating: which route to take? All routes cover the same distance, but think about: Number of tacks Tack to arrive at the mark Wind shifts Other boats

35. Changing direction: gybing

36. Changing direction: gybing

37. GybingStep 1:pull your sail in a bit GybingStep 2:pull the tiller towards you – the boat turns away from the wind

38. GybingStep 3:while the sail comes across, move quickly to the other side of the boat GybingStep 4:straighten the tiller and continue sailing GybingStep 5:change tiller and main sheet hands

39. Basic rules: Port - Starboard Starboard This boat sails a starboard tack ... … because the sail is on its port-side This boat sails a port tack ... … because the sail is on its starboard-side When a starboard and port boat meet, the starboard boat has right of way Port Port Starboard

40. Starboard-Port The port boat can either duck behind the starboard boat ….

41. Starboard-Port … our it can tack

42. Basic rules: leeward-windward The windward side of a boat is where the wind hits the hull … The leeward side of a boat is where the wind leaves the hull … A boat sailing to windward of another boat has to keep clear Windward Leeward