Travelling and Photography

September 21, 2010

Sailing Tactics Revealed: Sailing Theory, Sailing Terms and Weather

Filed under: Sailing — Tags: , , , , , — arkan @ 4:28 pm

Sailing Theory The sum of all wind pressure on the sail is called wind force. The center of that force, which is above the water, is called the center of effort (CE). The center of the force below the surface of the water is called the center of lateral resistance (CLR). This is the point where all the boat’s resistance to sideways pressure is concentrated.

A boat performs best when the two forces are in balance. This is when they are positioned one over the other in a vertical line through the

boat’s sail and hull. Your job as a sailor is to keep these two forces in proper balance so that your boat will sail correctly. You keep the boat balanced by shifting your weight and adjusting your sail.

Your boat has weather helm when you have to constantly pull the tiller towards you to keep the boat straight on course. Lee helm is when you do the opposite; pushing the tiller towards the

sail. Most boats are designed to have a little weather helm. However, too much of it can make sailing difficult in anything other than light breezes. If your boat has a lot of weather helm, it means the CE and the CLR are not in alignment. There is more sail pressure aft of the CLR than forward of it.

To correct the balance, 1. Shift your weight aft (back towards the stern). 2. Pull up the centerboard. 3. If your boat has a jib, ease (let out) the mainsail. 4. Try any combination of

these.

Weather- The Sea Breeze

As a sailor you should know about local winds. The cause of these winds is difference in temperature; cold air is heavier than warm air. The most popular of these local winds is the sea

breeze. Warm air over the land rises…And is replaced by cooler air sinking over the ocean. At night the opposite happens. The land quickly loses its heat at night and oftenfalls to a lower

temperature than the water. This results in a light offshore evening wind. On a lake or river, the warm air can rise at the edges to be replaced by the cool air over the water. This can result in a nice breeze for sailing.

Forcast for a Typical Sea Breeze Day: Morning Very Light Winds -No Weather Systems Near -Clear Sky -High Temperatures But Cooler Near the Shore

Afternoon: Wind coming from water starting Midday -Cumulus Clouds over land -Clear over water- Winds Speeds 8 – 12 knots Evening: Winds Decreasing as sun slips over horizon.

Sailing Terms

Amidships- the middle of the boat.

Backwind- the wind flowing off the sail.

Close Hauled- one of the points of sail; sailing as close to the wind as possible.

Dead Astern- straight behind

Flaking- Folding the sail.

Glide Zone- the distance it take a boat to stop after turning head to wind.

Heave To- to head the boat into the wind in order to slow it down or stop it.

Linda Cullum is from Cape Cod, MA, with a second home in Vermont. She is the author of Learn to Sail! with Multimedia! a Sailing Training CDROM/DVD which teaches all aspects of Sailing including Knots, Piloting, Rules of the Road, Weather with digital video from Sail Magazine, narration, animation and quizzes.

LearnToSail.Net Click here to visit her site!

Happy Sailing_/)__

August 20, 2010

Looking at the Many Different Sailing Yachts That you Can Buy

Filed under: Sailing — Tags: , , , , — arkan @ 4:28 pm

Sailing yachts come in many different forms and types. You will find that there are different brands of sailing yachts which you can think about buying. These vessels can be used to travel on the surface of land and water in just about any type of weather. Depending on the type of terrain and sailing that you are planning on doing, you should look at the many different yachts you can buy.

Also when you are looking at these sailing yachts you should have a clear idea about the type of sailing that you are going to do. This is important as sailing yachts can be used for speed sailing, land sailing or having a luxurious cruise down a quiet river.

You will need to see if you are looking at sailing yachts which are capable of sailing in deep or shallow waters. Once you have clarified this part of the sailing operation you will know which yacht is best for you. There is one aspect of buying a yacht that should be firmly kept in mind. This item is the price you will need to pay.

Now depending on the type of sailing that you are going to indulge in you will find that the price of the sailing yachts can go hand in hand with this need. This means that while there are people who love to sail on open waters, there are others who are highly enthusiastic about sailing their yachts across solid land.

These people can be seen zooming over the surface of the earth in their highly streamlined, sleek sailing yachts which have been designed to speed across the surface of different terrains.

Since sailing yachts like so many other products are made to last for a certain amount of time it is in your best interests if you look after your chosen yacht with care. Provided that you give your yacht the attention that it needs you will have a sailing vessel that will last for quite a long time.

In many ways you will find that sailing yachts are vessels that can take you anywhere that you want. The many different yachts that you will see in marinas are a testament to the love that people have for these graceful sea going vehicles. With a sailing yacht you are free to travel at your own pace anywhere in the world. These are a few of the attributes and reasons why people love to have fun in sailing yachts of different styles and types.

Muna wa Wanjiru is a Web Administrator and Has Been Researching and Reporting on Yachts for Years. For More Information on Sailing Yachts, Visit His Site at SAILING YACHTS

June 17, 2010

Dinghy Sailing

Filed under: Sailing — Tags: , — arkan @ 4:30 pm

For an exhilarating sailing experience which is easy to begin and full of fun, there is no better way to enter the sport than with dinghy sailing.

Where to Start

You’ll find many dinghy sailing clubs around the lakes and rivers of the UK coast. Always keen to take on new members, especially families, you’ll find them welcoming and friendly.

Cost

Fees vary depending on the level of facilities, but a good club will cost around £150 per year for a family and may include a dinghy parking place. Individuals joining on their own will expect to pay around £50 per year. There are no fees to use the water but you will need insurance. This should cost a further £50.

Equipment

There are two vital pieces of equipment that you will need. A buoyancy aid or life jacket and a pair of non-slip shoes. Trainers are fine to begin with but they offer no protection from the water. You’ll also need to invest in a good waterproof jacket in the summer and a wetsuit for the winter months. Wearing layers of clothing is always advisable.

Buying a Dinghy

Some clubs will lend you a boat and a sailing centre will provide a boat as part of a course. It’s a good idea not to rush in and buy a dinghy straight away. It’s best to start with a used dinghy while you’re new to sailing. Beginners to the sport will normally start with an older boat and after a few months, when you’re sure you want to continue, you can upgrade to something to a newer boat.

Types of Dinghy

- Car portable such as Toppers. – Fixed keel dinghies. – Performance dinghies such as Catamarans. – One person dinghies like the One Man Lasers. – Two person such as Fireballs. – Family dinghies like Wayfarers.

Courses

Dinghy sailing is always taught by RYA qualified instructors starting with beginners courses. Courses are designed so that the skills you learn in one boat are transferable to the next. And you can complete courses in stages, so you can finish one section and continue with the next when you are ready – on holiday for instance.

Learning to Sail on Holiday

Learning to sail a dinghy on holiday is a great way to enter the world of sailing. With better weather and time on your side, you’ll feel more relaxed and possibly learn to sail much faster. With warmer waters you’ll almost certainly feel more confident when you capsize the dinghy.

Inshore Lakes or Costal Waters

Dinghy sailing on an inshore lake is generally considered safer. You’ll be sailing within easy distance of a rescue boat, making it popular with families. It’s also easier to lean this way. Without the distraction of the tide and avoiding other craft, you’ll feel more comfortable able to concentrate fully on your sailing. With stronger winds and greater challenges, coastal sailing is for the more experienced dinghy sailor.

Start Racing

It won’t be long before you feel ready to start racing and most clubs run novice courses. Boats designed for one or two people, and even high performance dinghies with a crew, can be raced without any official qualification. You will, however, need to learn to handle the dinghy and have a good grasp of the basics for your own safety.

Cruising

There is the option to cruise rather than race and there are clubs for people who simply wish to sail with others and discover new waters. Smaller boats for cruising are slightly different in that they are not designed for speed but for comfort. This means they handle easily in all weathers and are safer when away from shore with no rescue boat. Larger and heaver dinghies are known as day boats. You will also need to complete a course for cruising and have a good understanding of the basics.

Buying a Dinghy

Before you buy a dinghy you must bear in mind that your requirements will change as your sailing develops. You should also consider whether you want to sail alone or with a crew, if it needs to be portable and if you need a faster performance boat more or one more suitable for cruising. Newer, high performance boats will come at a higher price but there are bargains to be had with older boats.

Further information on dinghy sailing is available from TheYachtMarket.com. Their website also lists many new and used sailing dinghies for sale.

May 16, 2010

Fair Wind Sailing School Sailing Lessons: Intermediate Sail Trim

Filed under: Sailing — Tags: , , , , , , , — arkan @ 4:28 pm

In this lesson I will present a detailed perspective on sail trim, introducing the use of tell-tales and more sail controls, while keeping the relative time spent on sail trim to a minimum.

Novices begin sail trim with the mainsail. More advanced sailors start sail trim from the most forward sail on the boat. For a typical Bermuda Sloop, the most common rig today, that means the jib or foresail. We will also introduce sailing by the tell-tales—the little pieces of green and red yarn, cloth or ribbon hanging in about the middle of the sail. To begin, we put our boat on a steady course and while on that course we sheet the sail to the “all the way in” position. At this point, the “inside” tell-tales, those closest to the centerline of the boat, should be pointing straight back in line with the motion of the boat and parallel to the water, while the outside tell-tales will be flopping about. To properly trim our headsail, we will ease the sail slowly out. Eventually, the tell-tale movement will change with the inside tell-tales flopping about and the outside tell-tales flowing back in a straight line parallel with the water. When you have reached this point, stop easing the sail and gently (and slowly) trim in until both sets of tell-tales are streaming aft. This is the ideal trim position. One final note on headsails, many will have several sets of tell-tales and it can be difficult to get all sets streaming aft simultaneously. For our purposes, we will trim to the bottom set of tell-tales when there are two sets and to the middle set when there are three sets of tell-tales.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the mainsail. We will still use just our mainsheet for trimming our mainsail at this point, continuing to avoid adjustment of the boom vang and traveler car. We will center our traveler car amid ship and leave it there. At this point, with the headsail already trimmed, you are likely to see a big “bubble” along the luff of our mainsail where the headsail has turned the wind into our mainsail if the mainsail is trimmed out. The goal of mainsail trim is to get the mainsail tell-tales, located on the leach of the sail, usually along the battens, to stream back parallel to the water. The procedure is similar to headsail trim above: start with the mainsail all the way in and gradually ease the sail out until the tell-tales are streaming aft. As with the headsail, they may all not stream aft simultaneously. Try moving in and out—slowly—if you still can’t get them all flowing, concentrate on the tell-tales from mid-sail to the top of the sail—that is where you will find the strongest wind.

Lastly, let me point out that there are conditions such as very light winds, wet sails, heading dead down wind, etc., when the tell-tale trim method may not work. When you are sailing in these conditions, my advice would be return to simpler rules of trim until you are ready for the advanced trim methods.

Captain Dave Bello is the President of Fair Wind Sailing School, offering sailing lessons and sailing charters in the BVI, US Virgin Islands, Florida and the Chesapeake Bay.

March 13, 2010

Sailing is freedom and peaceful environments travel

Filed under: Sailing — Tags: , , , , — arkan @ 4:27 pm

For many people all around the world sailing is the main mean of relaxation. For them nothing is better than the feelings they experience in their confrontation with the untamed nature. Even if sometimes there might encounter some dangers the passion for the sea is more powerful than anything.

When asked what the reasons for which they love sailing are, the sailors usually respond that is the feeling of freedom that takes them further into the seas and oceans. They say that nothing can be compared to the feeling that you are the master of your own boat and of your own destiny.

Because the seas and oceans are the places where people get less into contact they can be considered the most quiet and peaceful environments. Few things, such as the sound of the waves and the birds’ songs, can interrupt the quietness of the sea. That is why many people choose sailing as a way of relaxation and meditation.

Yet, all these pleasures involve some knowledge in this field and also financial in order to purchase all the things needed for a perfect adventure on the water. The first thing that a sailor should do is choose correctly the type of boat he wants to sail.

Two main types of sailing boats can be distinguished: the sailing dinghies and the yachts. There are two differences in these two types of boats. The first one is that the dinghies have a centerboard, while the yacht has a permanent keel. In yachts the ballast is built in the keel, while in the dinghies the human crew should perform as ballast. There are many types of yachts and dinghies, too, so a sailor must ponder well all the advantages and disadvantages of any boat.

For the sailors that love the adrenaline brought by racing special regulations were formulated by International Sailing Federation. Racing Rules of Sailing are the set of regulations that should be respected by all the participants in sailing competitions.

For many people sailing is like a second life, where they can enjoy the quietness, peacefulness, fresh air and serenity of the sea, but at the same time experience the adrenaline when fighting the furious waves and untamed wind. Find more information about Sailing Cruise.

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