Sailing Certifications

While there are plenty of ways to learn to sail, perhaps the safest method is by taking one (or several) sailing classes and getting certified to sail in many of the situations you might encounter in your boat. US Sailing offers several different courses that can be taken at various accredited sailing schools across the country. While there is no “official” governing body for sailing in the States, US Sailing is generally regarded as the closest thing to it.

There are several levels of certification offered by US Sailing, and each level builds on what you learned in the previous course. You start out by learning to captain a small boat in daylight with favorable conditions, and gradually move your way to learning how to chart a course and sail to any spot on the globe. Let’s take a look at the courses offered by accredited US Sailing Schools.

Basic Keelboat – In this beginner course, you’ll learn to sail on a small (18′ to 25′) dayboat in favorable conditions. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Basic Cruising – The second beginner course will teach you how to sail and navigate on a larger sailboat, usually 23′ to 32′ in size. You’ll also begin to learn how to handle some mild adverse conditions. The Basic Keelboat course is a prereq for Basic Cruising.

Bareboat Cruising – In the Bareboat Cruising course you begin to learn to chart and select a course to take on your trip. You’ll also learn to pull in and out of docks and moorings, as well learn several techniques for anchoring. In addition, you’ll learn more bad weather techniques. Basic Cruising is a prereq for this course.

Coastal Navigation – The Coastal Navigation course focuses on teaching you to plot a course on a map and helps you become familiar with traditional navigation methods. You’ll also learn to integrate electronic/GPS data into your navigation. There are no prereqs for this course.

Coastal Passage Making – The Coastal Passage Making course prepares you to chart a course, and captain a ship, to any coastal destination, essentially meaning any destination you don’t have to leave sight of land to get to. You’ll also learn some necessary skills such as how to inspect a boat for wear or damage, spotting inclement weather, and charting longer sailing courses. Current First Aid and CPR certifications are recommended for this course, and Bareboat Cruising and Coastal Navigation certifications are required.

Celestial Navigation – This course teaches you to plot your position and desired course of travel on a map or chart with only the most basic of tools: a sextant and the stars. Coastal Navigation is required as a prereq.

Offshore Passage Making – The final course, Offshore Passage Making teaches you everything else that you need to know to be able to pick a spot on the globe and sail to it. Once you have this certification, you’ll be able to go anywhere you please, and will be able to handle just about any situation you encounter. First Aid and CPR certifications are required to pass this course, and Coastal Passage Making and Celestial Navigation are prereqs for taking it.

December 17th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: General | Leave a comment

Sailboat Buying Guide

When purchasing a sailboat the first question you want to ask yourself is “What do I want to use it for?” Do you want to day sail around a local lake, do you want to race your boat or do you want to spend weekends camping on board?

Most but not all racing is done in relatively small boats, ranging from 8 to 28 feet, called “one designs”. In a one design, each boat of a given class is built to very rigorous standards and are supposed to be identical to each other thus making the race a test of skill versus one of hardware. If you want to sail one designs, then find out what the local clubs or groups are racing and buy one of those. These clubs are always looking for new members to race with and will usually help you to find and purchase your boat. Most one designs are not conducive to day sailing but there are some that will perform both functions quite well. Some racing is done via a handicap system in which case you can buy pretty much what ever you want as long as it is conducive to the local style of racing.

For day sailing, most people choose a somewhat larger heavier boat than a one design but one that can be carried on a trailer. These usually range from 16 to 25 feet long. While most boats will suffice for tooling around on a pleasant afternoon, try to purchase one that will best conform to local sailing conditions such as water depth and average wind strength. A very heavy boat on a lake with light winds will be frustrating to sail as would be one that is constantly running aground.

For camping or living on-board, you will probably want something 28 feet or longer. These boats are not readily able to be towed and must reside in a marine. Such boats usually come with a small engine, head (toilet) and small galley (kitchen). Obviously the larger the boat, the more elaborate and roomy the accommodations. Once again, take local conditions into account. Big boats draw more water and are not suitable for areas where the water depth can vary widely or is normally very shallow. They are also much slower in handling and thus require much more room to maneuver.

The vast majority of boats these days are built of fiberglass. You want to find a boat where the hull is smooth with no bubbles or blisters on the surface. The wood or “brightwork” may be varnished or not but it should be solid without soft spots, rot or cracks. The running rigging or lines that control the sails should be smooth and not frayed and the sails should be in good shape with no tears, worn spots, split seams or be all stretched out. This last is somewhat hard to judge. Newer sails are often very stiff, almost plastic like, older sails are soft and somewhat baggy. If there is decking, make sure that it is firm and does not flex much or at all. Most boats leak a little, this is why large boats have a “bilge pump”. Some designs will leak more than others, but it should never be more than a very small amount. If any of the boats leak quite a bit, then you will either need to find and repair the leak or buy something else.

December 16th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: General | Leave a comment

Types of Sailboats

There are two main ways of describing a sailboat, by the boats hull type and by its rig or masts and sails. By and large, the rig is mostly used to describe larger boats and yachts and hull type to describe small boats. However there are a few exceptions where both descriptions are used.

For yachts, the vast majority of which use “fore and aft” rigs ( one or more triangular sails), the most common descriptions are sloop, cutter, ketch, yawl and occasionally schooner. These can be determined as follows:

A sloop has two sails, one extending from the bow to the mast called a jib and one extending behind the mast and along the boom ( the “spar” or pole that is perpendicular to the mast) called the mainsail. This is probably the most common type of rig.

A cutter looks identical to a sloop but the jib is usually fastened to an extension pointing forward from the bow called a “bowsprit”. Sometimes there may be more than one forward sail with the second sail usually referred to as a “staysail”.

A ketch is a very common rig for larger yachts. It will have two masts with the forward mast (the one closest to the bow and called the main mast) taller then the aft mast ( the one towards the rear of the boat and called the “mizzen”). The aft mast will be mounted forward of the “rudder post” or where the rudder is mounted to the boat. A ketch may or may not have a bowsprit and may or may not use one or more staysails.

A yawl is not as common as a ketch. The description of a yawl is the same as that of a ketch with two exceptions. The mizzen mast is mounted behind or “aft” of the rudder post and it is usually significantly smaller then the main mast.

A schooner is not a very common rig these days. It two is similar to a ketch except that the masts are reversed. The smaller mast is up front and called the “foremast” and the aft mast is the same height or much taller and called the main mast. In a schooner, the main mast is usually mounted more to the front of the boat then it would be on a ketch. A schooner may have more than two masts, may or may not have a bowsprit and often uses staysails and other types of sails.

A catamaran will have two hulls with a deck housing between them. They usually come rigged as a sloop or ketch. A trimaran is the same but with three narrow hulls.

In small boats the vast majority of the rigs are sloop so these boats are usually described by the hull type.

A dinghy is usually a small boat that is mostly or completely open.
A scow is usually a very “flat” wide hull that is mostly open and low to the water.
A cruiser is a somewhat larger heavier boat with high sides or “freeboard” that will have a small cabin.
A catamaran will have two very narrow hulls, usually with a fabric deck or “trampoline” between the hulls.

December 16th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: General | Leave a comment
 
  Older Entries »

Categories