On-line product reviews are in demand these days by consumers prior to making a purchase. A recent Nielsen report stated that forty-nine percent of online shoppers said they trusted consumer opinions posted online.
Investing your time, money and well-being in a professional sailing school instructor is serious business. So wouldn’t it be great to know what other students thought about the sailing instructor you’re about to choose?
Now NauticEd Sailing School has stepped up to be the first to provide on-line reviews of sailing school instructors.
Sailing School Instructor feedback form
How On-Line Sailing Instructor Reviews Work
When a NauticEd sailing school student takes practical training from one of it’s hands-on sailing schools, the student now has the opportunity to rate their learning experience with the instructor. When the student logs back in to NauticEd after their hands-on learning experience, a popup window appears. Instructors are rated on: Teaching Ability, Depth of Knowledge, Friendliness, Condition of the Vessel and their Professionalism. If the review is negative, the instructor has the opportunity to contact the student and resolve any issue. The student can then edit their review.
To view other student reviews of instructors, the browser clicks on the Sailing Schools link on the NauticEd website and then selects the sailing school in the Country, State or Province of their choice. There, each affiliated sailing school has a webpage where there is a listing of all the instructors associated with that sailing school. Each profile of the instructor shows a friendly photo, their contact information, their instructor credentials, their specialty and all of the past reviews by other students.
Each NauticEd student’s Sailing Certification is held digitally online. It displays all the online theory courses passed by the student as well as practical experience and practical school training. When a student completes their practical proficiency exam on the water, the sailing school instructor logs in, securely locates their student and then clicks on the “Proficient” button. This updates the student’s Sailing Certification instantly and also posts against the student’s sailing resume. Both can be reviewed by charter companies worldwide on-line, given a secret logbook code from the student.
Grant Headifen, Director of Education for NauticEd says that their professional Sailing Schools are serious about quality but for them it’s hard to be recognized and stand out for providing such quality. Now, potential sailing school students doing their online shopping research will more than likely choose a school with this form of social proof giving NauticEd Sailing Schools the competitive edge.
To learn more about NauticEd Sailing Schools and Sailing Certifications go to http://www.nauticed.org
Last weekend we were out racing and one of the legs was very similar to a race we’d done a few weeks back with the same wind condition. On that previous race we’d lost huge ground over the other boats solely because the sail configuration and hull design etc on this boat doesn’t allow the boat to do too well on a beam/broad reach. So this time we elected to keep up the spinnaker and try to use it much like a gennaker. This meant leading the spinaker pole all the way forward so that it was almost touching the forestay.
A couple of situations arise when you lead the pole this far forward. One, the guy (spinnaker sheet on the windward side) tends to tension up around the stantions and secondly there is very little ability to pull the pole back when needed because the guy is almost aligned with the spinaker pole. Applying too much force to bring the pole back could easily bend and snap the spinnaker pole.
The solution is a jockey pole. The Jockey Pole pushes out the guy keeping it away from the stantions and it also provides a more outward angle to pull on when you want to bring the pole back.
Sailing With a Jockey Pole
Here’s the photo with Rangitoto Island in the background.Any guesses on which country we were racing in?
The Jockey Pole Keeps the Guy Away From the Stantions
The next mark was more of a run and so we were able to winch the pole back with out a problem. Had the jockey Pole not been in place it would have been more difficult. You can see from the schematic that the force to bring the pole back is more outboard than it would have been if the jockey pole was not in place. The more outward force provides more turning moment to the pole allowing it to come back.
Moving the Spinnaker Pole Back
Once the run was established with the pole in its more aft position, we removed the Jockey Pole. All in all it was a good day sailing with the Jockey Pole and although we didn’t win the race, keeping the spinnaker up gave us a big advantage on that leg.
NauticEd announces some pretty exciting news today regarding gaining your USCG Captain’s Licence. We have made a partnership alliance with Mariners Learning System to allow NauticEd Students gain a United States Coast Guard Commercial Captain’s License.
Why would you want a USCG Captains License?
Simply stated: If you are ever planning on receiving remuneration for operating your vessel in the United States waters, you must obtain a Commercial Captains License.
The Captain’s License is often referred to OUPV (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels) or 6-pac license meaning you’re authorized to carry up to 6 passengers.
The USCG Captain’s License does not necessarily contain any specific sailing education but is very much related to boating and boating safety. There is a sailing endorsement that can optionally be attached to the captain’s license but the information and test is very basic.
How does the USCG Captain’s License compare to the NauticEd Captain’s Rank?
The two are designed for completely different purposes. The USCG Captain’s License allows you to gain valuable boating safety information and legally authorize you to captain a boat in commercial situations.
The NauticEd Captain Rank is NOT a commercial boating license – rather it is a recognition that you have studied and passed extensive courses relating to operation and safety of a sailboat and that you have practical boating experience to back it up as indicated by the levels awarded, Level I, II or III.
What are the requirements of each?
USCG Captain’s License:
360 days of any type of boating experience logged (4 hours counts as a day)
US Citizen
Security Background Check
Approx 40 hours of study plus 4 hours of exams
Total costs involved about $1500 including security checks study materials etc
Acceptance: United States Government plus Bareboat Charter Companies world wide
Can legally make money with your boating services
NauticEd Captain’s Rank
minimum of:
50 days of Sailing Experience (4 hours counts as a day) for level I
100 days for Level II
200 days for Level III
50% of which must be skipper of the vessel
50% of which must be on a sailboat greater than 28 ft
Approx 55 hours of study incl 10 hours tests
Total costs – about $300
Acceptance: Bareboat Charter Companies world wide
Can not offer your skippering services for remuneration
Can the License and Rank work in Unison?
Yes absolutely. If you’re intending on offering skippering services on a sailboat we’d recommend doing both the USCG Captain’s License for boating safety and legal reasons plus the NauticEd Captain’s Rank for extensive sailing and boating operations.
Mariners Learning System™ Suite of Coast Guard approved Online Captain’s Licensing courses offer an alternative to the regular testing process held at the USCG Regional Exam Centers. Over the years Mariners Learning System™ has trained thousands of students to get their Captain’s License. Our clients currently enjoy a 98.7% pass rate with our Coast Guard Approved Licensing programs.
We enjoy this high level of success because our curriculum is based on teaching understanding not memorization.
Mariners Learning System™ is an extraordinary learning tool that incorporates broadcast quality, on-demand audio lectures, professionally produced training videos, and integrated online computer based training. Included with each Mariners Learning System™ approved course is 24/7 access to our online instructors. Every instructor is a USCG Licensed Master that has gone through a rigorous approval process meeting the standards of the United States Coast Guard to become a certified instructor. They bring a level of knowledge, experience, and professionalism that adds to the total learning process. In the rare event that an online instructor cannot answer your question, toll free telephone support with one of our Staff Instructors will be provided.
Upon successful completion of your course simply submit, within one year, your application package to a Coast Guard Regional Exam Center. Upon their review and approval of your package, they will issue you an original Captain’s License.
ANYTIME, ANYWHERE LEARNING!
Mariners Learning System™ Coast Guard approved Online Captain’s Licensing courses offer an alternative to the regular testing process held at the USCG Regional Exam Centers. These courses are structured for those pursuing a professional career in commercial boating operations (including carrying passengers for hire) and for recreational boaters wishing to increase their knowledge and skills.
Last time I went sailing, I took a video camera with me and we shot some footage of the tell tales on the head sail as a NauticEd student turned the boat through various wind angles.
Here’s the video:
I was able to add an animation of a boat that exactly matched our heading with the wind as we turned. The exercise was done on a starboard tack as you can see since the green tell tales are on the same side of the sail as the camera.
At the start, you can see the red tell tales are unstable, thus we’re pointed too far down wind. As we come up on the wind the red stabilizes and begins to fly smoothly backwards. Then the green starts to go unstable. At this point we’re too far turned into the wind. As we turn back down the green stabilizes again – meaning that we’re flying the sails most efficiently for the direction of the boat. We then turn down wind more and you can see the red goes unstable again.
Quite a fun little exercise and the animation was cute to add.
Please enjoy this learn to sail – sail trim video. NauticEd provides 2 sailtrim sailing courses
Of the dozens of flotilla trips I’ve lead to the Mediterranean, Pacific and the Caribbean, I’d say it was about 50/50 between monohull charter and catamaran charter. Chartering in the Mediterranean, however tends to be more monohulls because of the tight space available in the marinas. Not to say that you can’t do a catamaran charter in the Mediterranean but if you want to, you should plan on booking ahead far in advance ( perhaps 1 year).
Sailing a Catamaran on a yacht charter sailing vacation in the Caribbean is much easier and more prevalent. Still, these days with the popularity of Catamaran Charter, you should still book at least 6-9 months in advance.
Catamaran Charter in Belize
A good money saving tip here is to get on the email list of the catamaran charter companies. When they’re having a special – they’ll be certain to let you know. One week either side of a low/mid/high season could save you thousands.
There’s lots of advantages to a catamaran sailing boat over a monohull on a sailing vacation. First off, you don’t spill your rum drink ( I say Rum drink here now because of our newly formed alliance with My Gay Rum who sponsor the Sailing Spoken Here website and community. Mt Gay Rum has made NauticEd their exclusive Sailing Education partner (slight pat on the back to the NauticEd team)). Whilst sailing a catamaran, even on a beat to windward, you don’t heel over. You can just set your drink down and it won’t slide off the table.
No heeling over while sailing a catamaran
New sailors like catamaran chartering again because of the no heeling factor. Funny – I can’t understand it – but new sailors don’t like spending all day hanging on for dear life. Go figure that one out.
True monohull sailors tend to scoff at sailing a catamaran but – we say get over it. Sail a monohull at home and do a catamaran charter on holiday with your family and mates. It’s not about you – it’s about everyone on the boat having a really good social fun time. Apologies for the admonishment but ….
One of the interesting differences about sailing a catamaran is that because they don’t heel over, you have to be especially weary about the loads on the rig. On a monohull, as the boat heels over, the load stays about the same because there is less sail area presented to the wind. When you get too much heel, it’s a signal to reef the sails. When sailing a catamaran, the loads just increase as the wind strength gets higher. Usually there is a chart that comes with the catamaran to show when to reef according to the wind strength. You should identify this chart before you leave the dock.
You can also twist out the top of the sail to reduce the wind load on the sails. You do this by pulling the traveler to windward and letting out on the mainsheet (with the boom vang loosened). This allows the boom to rise up and twist out the top of the mainsail. Thus forces aloft are reduced and consequently the forces on the rig. BUT you should reef the sails when you reach the windspeeds shown in the reefing chart else risk the rig coming down.
The traveler on a catamaran is so wide that this becomes a more noticeable effect over many monohulls. In the photo below you can see how the sail aloft is pointing at a much different angle than the sail section near the boom. Thus the bottom of the sail is doing the powering with a vastly reduced heeling (rig breaking) moment.
catamaran sailing: sail twist out
NauticEd’s Catamaran Sailing Confidence Sailing Course leads NauticEd Sailing Students through the switch over from monohull sailing to Catamaran Sailing. It even has a sailing game that helps the students learn to maneuver and dock a catamaran using the dual engine controls embedded into the catamaran sailing course. And as a reward for reading this blog – we’ll tell you that the Catamaran Maneuvering Game is Free when you set up a free student account with NauticEd. Login now using your facebook account.
We highly recommend (of course) that if you’re going to do a catamaran charter in the Caribbean or Mediterranean, that you take both NauticEd’s Bareboat Yacht Charter Sailing Course and NauticEd’s Catamaran Sailing Confidence Sailing Course.
Sailing a catamaran is pretty easy but there are some nuances that you should know like reefing etc above that you really should learn before you leave the dock.
If you’re thinking about a bareboat yacht charter sailing vacation, invest in the NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master Sailing Certification accepted world wide by most charter companies including The Moorings, Sunsail, BVI Yacht Charters, Sailing New Zealand, Kiriacoulis etc etc.
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