Goal: Singlehanded Dinghy Sailing
Sailing a Laser or an Opti reinforces the basics, no matter how long you’ve been on the water. This year we’ve incorporated morning singlehanded dinghy sessions into our training program.
While each Warrior has worked together on a team to complete our Basic Training Camp aboard J22s, most have never sailed a boat by themselves. With help from the Northport Youth Sailing School, we’ve been able to introduce everyone to the Laser 4.7m and Optimist with morning dinghy sessions to get the blood flowing.
Winds have been a bit light, which makes for a more forgiving first experience sailing alone. The consensus is that controlling the boat completely on your own has been one of the most helpful experiences putting the subjects learned on the whiteboard to good use on the water. Gaining comfort on the helm, reacting to wind shifts, and trimming the sails helps keep people fresh on the fundamentals, allowing us to focus more on the specifics of crew work aboard a 53′ race boat!
