Hi everyone! Coach Calli here today telling you all about our day
Mercury mentors: Today the kids were introduced to the idea of gybing. The coaches wrote out a step by step process during classroom time to help them visualize what to do before they got on the boat. The coaches then showed them what to do when they got out on the water. With individual time steering, everyone nailed the concept. Some of the sailors had an encounter with the pirates of Fort Lauderdale. The pirates cooled the sailors off with water, squirting from their canons!
The beginner Opti’s had a really great morning learning how to dock between the east dock and the coach boat. This is a super important skill to learn when sailing, because we don’t want to break the boats when going full speed into the dock. In the afternoon they did an upwind triangle. This helps a lot with the sail trim, to keep the sail into the corner, and shows how close they can point the boat until the sail starts luffing. All of the kids did such a great job!
420’s started off their day with a little boathandling to warm up. Boathandling is a sailing term that is just what it sounds like- ‘hands on the boat.’ It is how the sailor moves their hands to make the boat do what they want it to do as efficiently as possible. Boathandling includes maneuvers like tacking, gybing and mark roundings. They then sailed up and down the canals to practice their tacks and trimming on the upwind. Later, they did a few races and all the sailors are doing a great job. In the afternoon they did an adventure sail. An adventure sail is when they sail up the new river and around the canals, it’s a fun way to work on maneuvering in and out of the boats since the houses will block the wind from hitting the sail.
Green fleet started out their morning with “the cone drill,” this drill helps out the sailors with their boathandling skills. It is also a great way to learn when you are coming up on a layline to the mark. Laylines are super important when sailing a race because you don’t want to go too far over it, or else you’ll have to reach into the mark to make it. In the afternoon they practiced starts with coach Joey. They did two starts and then raced to the top mark. Joey said all of the sailors improved with being on the line to set up for GO!
