CT Jaunary 2011

Chalk Talk 1/31/2011

  • What is a boat?
    • we sail FJ’s
    • they’ve got two sails, the mainsail and the jib.
      • the main is connected to the boom, which holds it out and controls it’s movement.
      • crew trims (pulls) the jib and the skipper trims the main.
      • centerboard keeps the boat balanced
      • tiller determines direction
      • tell-tales (or tell-tails, if you prefer) on sails will tell you how the wind is blowing across the sails
    • directions
      • front of the boat is the bow, the back is the stern
      • left of the boat is port, the right is starboard.
    • parts of sails
      • http://www.umb.edu/umb/marineops/recreational/lessons/images/mercury_diagram2.gif

      • front of sail is called a luff, bottom is foot, and back is leech. corners are called head, tack, and clew. jib is the same.
  • Wind circle
    • http://terrax.org/sailing/glossary/gfx/pointsofsail.gif

    • fastest the boat can go is a reach, but we want to be close hauled to go upwind.
    • turning into the wind is a tack, and away from the wind is a jibe.
      • tacking and jibing is generally slow because we cross the no sail zone (in irons), but there are ways of speeding this up.

 

Chalk Talk 1/24/2011

General Information About Sailing

o An FJ is a small dingy.

o The FJ has two sails: main and jib.

o “Halyards” are used to raise and lower a sail, thus we have the main halyard and the jib halyard.

o “Sheets” are the ropes used to trim the sails, and we therefore have both main sheets and jib sheets.

o Boats sail on a “close hauled course” when they are at a 45 degree angle into the wind.

o The sails are used to generate lift, and the centerboard generates lift in the opposite direction, which allows the boat to go forward.

o When we go at a 90 degree angle against the wind, this is called a “reach” and is the fastest the boat can go.

o The right side of the boat is called the “starboard” side and the left side is the “port” side.

o If the wind is coming over the right side of the boat, we’re on a “starboard tack” and if over the left side then a “port tack”.

o Any less than a 45 degree angle is the “no sail zone”, which means that the boat can no longer go forward due to a decrease in lift.

§ To stay out of the no sail zone, we must “tack” (or turn) into the wind and sail upwind in a zig-zag pattern.

§ Downwind is easier because we can head more directly, but turning while going downwind is called a “jibe”.