Safety
• Follow program and harbor rules
• Stay protected from the sun
• Be safety conscious (Rule 1)
• Use a safety whistle appropriately
• Put on and take off a PFD in the water
• Tread water without a PFD for two minutes in the sea
• Avoid collisions
• Get in the safety position
• Capsize and recover
• Execute a squall/storm drill
Sportsmanship
• Avoid contact (Rule 14)
• Use windward/leeward (Rule 11)
• Use Starboard/Port (Rule 10)
• Use clear ahead/clear astern (Rule 12)
• Changing course (Rule 16)
• Be comfortable in an RS Feva on the water
• Tie an 8-knot, square knot, cleat knot, bowline, half hitch, and clove hitch
• Coil and throw a line
• Relate the RS Feva to a larger boat
• Know where the wind is coming from
• Explain actual vs. apparent wind
• Name the parts of an RS Feva
• Identify points of sail
• Explain how a sail works
- push
- pull
• Rig and de-rig properly each day
• Rig and de-rig properly for storage and trailering (de-masting)
• Steer responsibly on a tow
• Execute a MOB recovery
• Anchor
• Do simple navigation
- North, South, East, West
- recognizing landmarks
- navigation buoys
- water depth
- reading a chart
- using a compass
- using instruments
• Recognize and sail in currents and tides
- affects of current
- how to see current
- tide charts
• Assess weather
- simple weather systems
- clouds and what they mean
- wind and weather
- weather reports
- barometric pressure
• Use sailing as a way to get somewhere
• Take care of a boat
- proper and neat stowing and securing
- washing boats
- getting repairs taken care of
• Recognize and address the approach of puffs and lulls
- how to spot
- what to do
• Recognize and react to wind shifts
- headers
- lifts
• Row
• Sail as passenger or crew on a big boat
Boathandling
• Leave the dock
• Return to the dock
• Stay out of the no-go-zone except when tacking
• Recover from irons
• Maintain proper body position and weight placement in the boat
• Hold the tiller and mainsheet correctly
• Understand what is required of the different crew positions in an RS Feva
• Stop and start
- heading into the wind
- backwinding sail
- pull in and head off
• Gybe
- s gybe as apposed to c gybe
- pull-in sail and center tiller
• Tack
- position duties
- mechanics
- rolling
- letting the jib go
- trimming jib and main as you find “the groove.”
• Sail downwind
- reach
- run
- sail trim dictated by where the wind is
- body position and placement
- steering
- sail by the lee
- jib trim
- main trim
- skipper and crew’s jobs
- daggerboard position
• Upwind sailing
- close-hauled
- steering a straight course.....paying attention
- setting main trim
- setting jib trim
- steering by telltales
- hiking
- skipper and crew’s jobs
• Sail a figure eight
• Sail a triangle
• Sail a square
• Sail a sausage
• Adjust the daggerboard for different conditions and points of sail
• Execute a 360
• Where, when, and how to sit
• Position body weight
- steering with weight
- how body placement and movement affects the boat
- for different weather conditions
- for different points of sail
• Adjust sail shape using sail controls (when and why)
- outhaul
- boom vang
- cunningham
- halyard tension
- for different weather conditions - for different points of sail
• Fly a spinnaker
- Rigging the spinnaker
-- packing
-- mechanics
-- things to remember (top or bottom of jib)
-- sheet vs. tackling
-- fixing the sprit pole
-- re-packing while sailing or racing
-- re-running lines while sailing or racing
-- flying without a pole
- Hoists and takedowns
-- skipper and crew’s jobs and routines
-- what to do with the jib
-- mechanics
- Flying the spinnaker
-- sheet vs. tackline
-- trimming the sheet
-- tackling height
- Gybing the spinnaker
-- skipper and crew’s jobs and routines
-- gybing the main
-- gybing the chute
-- gybing the pole
- Spinnakers close to a beam reach
-- hiking
- Using the spinnaker on courses
-- estimating timing
-- timing and marks
• Sail backwards
• Sail rudderless
Sportsmanship
• Respect others
• Respect equipment
• View sailing as a team sport
• Work with a team member in the same boat
• Work in a team during rigging and activities
Racing
• Understand sportsmanship in racing
- responsibility
- fair sailing
• Start
- mechanics
- sequence
- keeping track of time
- rules
- clear air
- favored end
- first row
• Find clear air
• Avoid la-la land Round a mark
- the mechanics of it
- basic applications of Rule 18
- wide and tight
• Execute a 720
• Assess wind on a course
• Act on puffs and lulls
- tack on headers
- stay on lifts
• Adjust sail controls for different legs
• Adjust weight for speed
• Use rules in racing
• Work through a simple protest hearing
- how to use rules in racing
- sportsmanship
- presentation
• Finish
After three weeks, a Beginner Optimist sailor should know how to ... After six weeks, a Beginner Optimist sailor should also…
At the end of six weeks, an Intermediate Optimist sailor should know how to ...
At the end of six to twelve weeks, an Advanced Optimist sailor should know how to ...
After six weeks, a RS Feva sailor should know how to ...
After six to twelve weeks, a Laser Radial sailor should know how to ....
Jr Sailing Parents and Sailors
HYC Jr Sailing Committee appreciates all the hard work and perseverance of the sailors, parents, and coaches through the Summer of 2024; This Summer we hope to "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, spread joy up to the maximum, and bring gloom down to the minimum." -- same as last year ????
The first Open House for registration will be Sunday, January 26th, 2025, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Super Earlybird will be discounts for all who register by Monday.
The second Open House for registration will be Sunday, March 2nd, 2025, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Earlybird discounts for all who register by Monday..
We look forward to seeing you all again this Summer.
Safe Sailing,
HYC Jr. Sail Committee