Course notes Keelboat Crew Our Yachts - The International J/24, the worlds most popular One-Design Keel

l boat, which is
affordable, fun and competitive for all ages. J/24 is for everyone, age 12 to 80, no matter what their style: racing, day sailing or cruising. Her flared topsides make her dry on deck. Her 'weekender' cabin makes it possible to get warm on cold days and she can be sailed easily by one person with only the mainsail. In addition, the J/24 is the choice for the Rolex Women's International Keelboat Championship and St. Francis International Masters Championship (aged 55+). The International J/24 is built in the USA, Japan and Italy and has more than 50,000 people sailing 6,000 boats in 150 fleets in 40 countries. We assume you have never stepped aboard a sailing boat. We start with safety - can you swim? Your Instructor will go though the skills for the day and make reference to the lesson plan in the Instructor folder. Check the folder and make a mental note of the things you would like to go over in your practice sailing lessons. You will be steering from day one. Our courses are designed to train you as the skipper. Even if you just plan to crew, people trained as the skipper always make much better crew. You will learn the basics, which include the rigging a yacht, safety equipment, use, location and steering on all points of sail. You will also have a good understanding of knots, rules of the road and, most importantly, you will have a pretty good idea of wind direction - being aware of where the wind is and what to do with it! By the end of Course 2 you will have the skills to skipper a small yacht in reasonable weather conditions. The emphasis of the this course is very much on having fun, but first of all we must take a look at safety. All our yachts conform to regulations concerning stability, safety equipment including personal flotation devices (life-jackets), fire extinguishers and first aid kits. Each boat also has an anchor and a sufficient line to moor it anywhere in the Harbour, which is reassuring to know if worst comes to worst and your instructor falls overboard! (It hasn't happened, touch wood, but...) You must also be aware of the boom, always keep your eye on it and keep your head down. If you keep seated as much as possible and keep your head down you will avoid getting hit on the head. You should dress down for sailing: Jeans or shorts, plenty of sunscreen and a pair of soft-soled shoes such as trainers (black soles tend to leave marks on the decks and make you unpopular on any boat.) Leave all jewellery, expensive watches and especially bulky rings at home. Every lesson at the Pacific Sailing School starts with a weather forecast. Be sure to listen to this important safety information and ask your instructor about any technicalities. STEPPING ABOARD: Sailing boats with their heavy keels are much more stable than you would expect. Even so, take care getting aboard. Move around the boat with care, "one hand for the boat, one hand for yourself."

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Lesson 1 - This lesson begins with instruction and demonstration on rigging the boat and hoisting the
sails. Your instructor will be talking gibberish for about half an hour as he/she explains how each part of the boat works. The trouble is that every line and fittin fitting on a boat has a peculiar nautical name. We suggest you purchase the Introductory Keelboat handbook available in our office or the Sailing for Dummies text. Check out our merchandise section on our website. Once you are ready to set sail, sail we will practice sailing ling close to the eye of the wind. We all know that a sailing boat cannot sail directly into the wind but most people are surprised to find out how close to the wind we can sail approximately 45 degrees. This is called sailing close close-hauled (i.e. as close to the wind as possible and with the sails hauled in as tight as possible.) We will concentrate on the feeling the boat gives you on this point of sail and how it feels when she luffs by trying to sail too close to the wind. We will then try going about (some say tacking) ) by turning the bow through the eye of the wind. By a process of skilled and coordinated teamwork, we will zigzag our way to windward. This will probably make the boat heel over and might cause some spray, both of which are qui quite normal and all-the-fun-ofthe-fair. fair. When we sail back to our mooring with the wind behind, you will get a chance to get your breath back and realize you have Set Sail and youre probably smiling a lot! Well done, now its time for debriefing!

Lesson 2 - Since we now know more or less how the boat is put together, we will
look at how to make the sails smaller in case there is too much wind. This is a process known as "reefing" and will prove much easier to do on the mooring than, later, under sail! In this his lesson, we practice sailing on a "beam reach", with the wind coming over the side of the boat. This, the fastest point of sailing has a different feeling to sailing "close hauled". We will also focus on sail trim - setting the sails to get maximum performance with the aid of "tell-tales". tales". We e will be taking care to avoid the ferries, jet cats, cruise boats and other yachts. Just like on the roads, rules exists to prevent collisions between vessels. Dont worry - we have plenty of room!

Lesson 3 - We review view previous skills and now learn about reaching and sailing in the same direction as
the wind, known as running". You ou might think it wou would ld be the easiest point of sail but in fact it is by far the most difficult. It requires a steady hand on the helm an and d lots of concentration to stop the boat either rounding-up up onto a beam reach or accidentally "gybeing".

Lesson 4 - Gybeing is potentially dangerous as the sails are eased out fully for running and can get
flung hard across the Boat if not properly contr controlled and could hit your head. Remember emember to keep your head down. If we are quite comfortable running downwind, we will start to practice controlled Gybeing. Provided that everybody on board knows what is happening and what to do (as with any manoeuvre in sailing), ailing), you will find it goes very smoothly. If wind conditions allow, we will demonstrate an uncontrolled gybe - to give you an idea of what to expect when it doesn't go right. By the end of this lesson, you will be sailing the boat around the clock" (or more likely round the island), confident of your tacking and gybeing and fully in control - and what a sense of achievement you will feel! You will be hooked on sailing and raring to go.

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Lesson 5 Theory and Social Evening

Practice Sessions.
It is much better to go straight on to Keelboat Helm and then do practice lessons. It takes about seven or eight lessons for it all to sink in and get the confidence to crew or skipper a small sailing yacht. After you finish Keelboat Helm its now time do some Practice Sessions, a perfect way to keep sailing. They are free and unlimited for our Keelboat graduates for up to 6 months. Available on a standby basis, please call us any Friday or the day before you would like to sail.

List of Terms
AFT: Behind, further back in the boat. BEAM: Widest part of the boat amidships. BOOM: Metal spar attached to foot of mainsail. BOW: Front of boat. CLEAT: Device to secure a line. CLEW: Back corner of a sail. CLOSE HAULED: Sailing as close to the wind as possible. DEBRIEFING: Beer time at the Club DOWNWIND: In the direction the wind is going. FOOT: Bottom edge of the sail. GENOA: Large headsail which stretches back aft of the mast. GO ABOUT: Turning the bow through the eye of the wind. GYBEING: Turning the stern through the eye of the wind. HALYARD: Rope or wire used to hoist a sail. HEAD Top corner of a sail HEADS: Toilet on a boat HELM: Rudder, tiller, Means of steering a boat. JIB: Small headsail which does not overlap the mainsail. KNOT: Measurement of speed (1 nautical mile per hour). KNOT: or Device to attach ropes which can be undone after use. KEELBOAT: Yacht with a fixed keel (not retractable) LEACH: Back edge of a sail. LEEWARD: Side the wind is going to. Away from the wind LEEWAY: Sideways drift made by boat, reduced by having a keel. LUFF: Leading edge of a sail. The first bit that flaps or luffs". PORT TACK: The wind coming over the port (left) side. REACH: Sail with the wind coming at 90 to the boat. REEF: To reduce the size of the mainsail for strong winds. RIG: To prepare a boat for sailing. Mast. Sails and stays. RUNNING: Sailing in the same direction as the wind. SHACKLE: A fitting with a pin used to secure a halyard to a sail. SHEET: Rope which controls the trim of a sail. STARBOARD TACK: The wind coming over the right side. STERN: Aft end of the boat. TACK: Bottom front corner of sail. TACKING: A term often used when going about. WINDWARD: The side where the wind is coming from.

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