Sailing School 2015
Sailing school starts as the winds start to pulse around 9:30am which gives you plenty of time to get breakfast and drive to the beautiful South end of the lake. You start out in the classroom, gaining an understanding of the sail boat and basic sailing instruction. The instructors will happily send you out for some water time as you gain a coherent/safe understanding of how to handle a sailboat.
The anticipation, nervousness and pre-sailing jitters subside as you mount up with two other crew members and assemble your boat. The mainsail/jib has to be attached to the mast and boom/keel and tiller/rudder have to be secured before the intimidating task of taking off from the dock. Once you break free of the dock you find the exhilaration that sailors have experienced since the beginning of time of being propelled by the wind. You learn to carve through the wind at different angles and tack into the wind. Upwind seems as though you are at time warp speeds while downwind you feel like you are crawling. You learn how to tweek every bit of speed out of the wind with sailing fundamentals taught in class while self-educating yourself in the water.
Cruising for an hour or so to get the basics is fun but we are all competitors at heart and when you see fellow students peeling off towards the race course you are drawn like a vacuum into the temptation of competition. Three buoys are positioned in basically a triangle shape to give you a race course configuration. Every turn you make around each buoy challenges you to adjust your sail and jib to maximize the wind angles that change dramatically at each turn. Sound complicated? It is not as bad as you may think and most people catch on very quickly, leaving you the rest of the week to race your newfound friends. Competition is intense in the water and you may find yourself talking a little smack to boats that you over take when your crew navigates perfectly around a buoy to take the lead. You take turns captaining the boat operating the main sail/tiller while the other crew member works the jib. Every action that you perform helps the boat by increasing or decreasing the speed; a slight mishap can allow the competing boats to painfully and slowly squeak by you.
As you work your way back to the docks after a fun day of sailing there is nothing but smiles, laughter and positive comrade array. What better way to meet new friends, learn to sail, and get a great workout while unleashing your competitive spirit. Take time to register yourself and bring along family and friends. After all, you have chosen this wonderful lake to build your family memories and sailing has to be one of the top ways to enjoy it. Highly recommended!
