Onshore Drills & Exercises

Knot-tying is a fundamental skill that must become automatic - you cannot tie a bowline while thinking about it in 25 knots of wind. This relay format adds time pressure and competition to make practice engaging.

Setup: Lay out 3–5 stations around the room, each with a rope, a laminated instruction card, and a sample knot. Teams of 3–4 rotate through stations. At each station, every team member must tie the knot correctly before the team can move on.

Core Knots to Include:

Scoring: Award points for speed and correctness. A knot that fails a pull-test scores zero. This teaches students that a fast but wrong knot is worse than a slow correct one.

Racing rules can seem abstract when read from a book. Walking through scenarios physically - with students acting as boats - makes the rules intuitive and memorable.

Setup: Use masking tape or chalk to mark a "course" on the floor. Two students at a time act as boats, holding a card showing their tack (port/starboard) and point of sail. The instructor calls out a scenario, and the students physically walk through who has right of way.

Key Rules to Cover:

• Rule 10 - Port/Starboard: A port-tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat.
• Rule 11 - Windward/Leeward: When on the same tack and overlapped, the windward boat keeps clear.
• Rule 12 - Same Tack, Not Overlapped: The boat clear astern keeps clear of the boat clear ahead.
• Rule 13 - While Tacking: A boat tacking shall keep clear of a boat that is not tacking.
• Rule 18 - Mark Room: At a mark, an outside overlapped boat must give mark-room to an inside boat.

Understanding points of sail is the foundation of all sailing. This kinaesthetic exercise gets students on their feet, physically pointing and moving to demonstrate each point of sail relative to the wind.

Setup: Place a large arrow on the floor (or point at a wall) to represent the wind direction. Students stand in a circle. The instructor calls a point of sail and students must face the correct angle relative to the wind arrow, with arms out to represent the boom angle.

No-Go Zone: When the instructor calls "head to wind," students must stand facing directly into the wind arrow with arms flapping - representing sails luffing and no forward drive. This reinforces that sailing directly into the wind is impossible.

A rigging race turns a routine pre-sail task into a competitive, high-energy exercise. Teams race to rig a boat correctly and completely, scored on both speed and accuracy using a checklist.

Setup: De-rig boats completely before the session. Split into teams of 2–3 per boat. Provide each team with a printed checklist. The coach starts a timer and teams race to complete all items. A second coach (or senior student) inspects each boat at the finish.

Checklist Scoring:

A good debrief is where the real learning happens. Students who can articulate what went well, what went wrong, and what they will change next time retain skills far better than those who simply pack up and go home.

What Went Well / Even Better If (WWW/EBI) - Each student shares one thing that went well and one thing that could be even better if they did it differently. This positive framework avoids negativity while still driving improvement.

3-2-1 Reflection - Each student writes down: 3 things they learned, 2 things they want to practise more, and 1 question they still have. Collect the questions - they become the starting point for the next session's briefing.

Hot Seat - One student sits in the "hot seat" and the group asks them questions about a specific scenario from the session. For example: "Why did you tack at that moment?" or "What would you do differently at the leeward mark?" This develops self-analysis and communication skills.