Wednesday Curriculum
From MITNA
Contents
Class 1 Curriculum
Introduction
- Brief History of sailing at MIT
- How the lessons will work
- Other activies:
- Lynx Catboats
- Windsufing
- Lasers
- Fireflies
- Moonlight Sails
- Harbor Trips
- Renting the Rooftop
- X Dimension
- What to wear
Policies and Procedures
- How to get a sailing card
- How ratings work
- Swim Rating
- Provisional Rating
- Helmsman Rating
- Ratings for other boats
- Life jackets must be worn at all times in boats
- Guest Policy
- All persons in small boats must know how to swim
- Each MIT boat must have at least one person with sailing card
- Sailing boundaries
- Don't go under bridges
- Keep the dock in sight
- Only land at the MIT dock
- Avoid shallows near Esplanade
- Avoid yacht club, community boating.
- Signals
- Lowering of red flag is the recall signal
- If you need help, lower your sail
- Capsizing
- Stay with the boat!
- You can try to right the boat or wait for help
Basics of Sailing
Steering
- Steer with tiller: point the boat where you want to go
- Sit opposite the sail on the windward side of the boat
- Pay attention to the boat's heading to steer a straight course
- Pay attention to wind direction: cannot sail less than 45 degrees into wind
- How to determine direction of wind
- How to get out of irons
Sail Trim
- Sheet sail all the way in when sailing upwind
- Sheet out when sailing downwind.
- Sheet out until sail luffs, then sheet in to stop luffing
- In gusts, sheet out to prevent capsizing
Boat Trim
- Skipper must sit to be able to steer properly
- Crew must move around to keep boat level
Tacking
- Turn upwind until bow crosses through the eye of the wind
- Remember to duck as boom moves across the boat
- Skipper must switch sides (always sits on the windward side)
- If you tack too slowly, you'll get stuck in irons
Jibing
- Turn downwind until stern crosses through the eye of the wind
- Boom can have much more force than during a tack, so remember to duck
- Beware of sailing by-the-lee when sailing downwind
