Issue date
Rudderless sailing
Why do we teach this?
The point of this game is to teach balance to your sailors. It's a great way to understand the relationship between body weight, sail trim and the effect of the boats shape through the water.
How do they do it?
The key points here are to move body weight smoothly to help steer the boat, use small amounts of sail trim at the same time and get these 2 things coordinated.
Helpful tips!
Pulling the mainsail in, sitting backwards and leaning in to leeward will turn the boat towards the wind.
easing the mainsheet out, sitting forwards and leaning out to windward will turn the boat away from the wind.
If the sailor can do a little bit of each of these things they will be able to execute the drill well.
How to run the game
Depending on the type of boat used either pull up the rudder blade or take the whole tiller and stock and rudder off the boat. (You can place this in your coach boat if needed for the next drill.)
set a course or run a drill you would normally use (one that all your sailors can easily achieve at the level they are at.) sailing around a square is a good example.
make sure the sailors are spread out so they have enough room to sail without crashing into each other.
if any individuals are struggling get them to stop and watch some of the other sailors then give it a go again. (another option is to tie the tiller to the centre with bungee so they can make some small corrections.)
Sailing Blind (with your eyes closed)
Some of the best helms people I have ever sailed with are blind sailors, how do they get so good? The answer I think is that they rely on other senses to sail the boat. The key to sailing fast is to learn to feel the boat. Feel the wind on your face, feel how tipped over the boat is, feel the weight on the tiller and try to make this as light as possible.
How do we teach this?
Talk to your sailors about feeling wind on their face and keeping that wind at a constant angle, teach them to listen to the bow waves so they can gage how fast or slow they are going, teach them to feel the boat, is it flat or leaned over and is the tiller hard to hold.
How do they do it?
Either Blindfold the sailor or challenge them to sail with their eyes closed for as long as they can.
Helpful tips!
Either the coach or another sailor should stay close by to give them instructions when they are close to hitting something or if they are going off course.
Its all about feel!
How to run the game
this game can be played as a free sail or around a course or during a drill that the sailors have done before.
If you are coaching 2 handed or multi crewed boats you can run races where either the crew or skipper sails with their eyes closed/blindfolded.
