Crew Rating

Purpose

The purpose of the Crew Rating is to allow a sailor to demonstrate a mastery of nautical terminology, line-handling techniques, and marlinspike skills that can be used on a wide variety of boats at and beyond MIT.

Original Crew Test

At one time, the Crew Rating was a pre-requisite for obtaining a Helmsman Rating at MIT. In the 1990s, this fell out of practice and since then, the Crew Rating test is rarely given.

Sailing Terms

The original Crew Rating could be taken after the sailor aquired a Provisional Rating. The test required that the sailor know all of the nautical terms contained in the booklet, Sailing and the Tech Dinghy, that were not previously covered in the Provisional test. These included:

• windward
• leeward
• starboard
• port
• forward
• aft
• head up
• bear off
• jibe
• tack
• by the lee
• on the wind
• broad reach
• sailing free
• ease
• trim
• ready about
• prepare to jibe
• pinching
• hiking
• shooting to windward
• weather helm
• lee helm
• heavy weather
• heeling

Knots

The sailor was required to demonstrate tying the following knots:

• Bowline
• Stunsail Tack Bend
• Figure Eight Knot
• Square Knot
• Sheet Bend
• Fisherman's Knot
• Clove Hitch
• Rolling Hitch
• Anchor Bend
• Double Half Hitch

The sailor was required to demonstrate the following skills:

• Whipping
• Splicing and eye splice
• Splicing a short splice
• Coiling and Heaving a Line

Section 1: Knots & lines Reviewer name & date Square Sheet bend Fishermen’s Double half hitch Anchor bend Rolling Hitch

Whipping Plain Sewn

Splices Eye Short

Section 2: Boats & parts Anchors (types, parts, uses) Parts of the hull and sail Fittings (cleats, lines, blocks, lights) Rig types Coil and heave a line Sailing terms

Section 3: Navigation Nautical maps The Boston area harbor Buoys and markers