The subtle intricacies of sailing in 18 knots with 3 foot rollers and chop reminded me why I love sailing last week when I was out with Pete. We beat upwind heading up over the top of each wave and back down the other side; the boat accelerating underneath me felt unreal. Then we set the spinnaker and flew down wind! We caught the waves and surfed down them breaking into a plain and crashing into the next wave and continuing down wind. As I felt the boat decelerate we headed up again and would take off on a plain and soak down as deep down wind as the wind and waves would allow.
Sailing is a sport that is unlike any other, and teaching an adult dingy course was a new experience but one that was enjoyable. Most of the adults in my class had never been sailing and had limited boating experience. We took out 420’s the first day in rough conditions (but not as rough as the day Pete and I were out) and everyone did amazing. Teaching adults is different from kids because progress is much quicker and attention spans are longer. At the end of the two Saturday courses everybody took the rental test and passed with flying colors. We went over the basics of how to steer and rig (put together) the boats. The capsize test demonstrated that everybody would be able to right the boat if it tipped over, and that tipping over is not so scary or dangerous. Then we were able to get out and go sailing. Everybody was nervous as I released them from the docks but quickly nervousness turned into excitement and then the desire to go faster!
-Chris
