Sunny days and good wind had met together last weekend, which was a fantastic time for sailing. Another group of ASA 101 trainees arrived on 4th of September at our Sail Global Suzhou base. Most of them are Germans, but there are also Dutchman and French.
Group photo of Sail Global sailing course.
As a result of nice wind and hard training, all of them had passed the ASA 101 test. Though they are still not experts of sailing, they really enjoyed the fun of sailing and can handle the boat by themselves in most of situations. As they looked back on the experiences in the past days, their compliments are always made to the teaching and services offered by Sail Global：
It could be hard for you to believe that after one and half days of training, Sail Global trainees even could drive the boat and enjoy sailing in such a cool way .
01
Three measures to help rookies grow into sailors
You may be curious about how they learn so quickly？
01
Practicing to learn
The instructor Chris found that it is more helpful to learn sailing skills in practice rather than keep explaining theories separately. Therefore, after a short lecture on theoretical contents, Chris take them onto the J80 boat introducing parts of the boat. Then starting form unfastening the wrap cloth of the sails. Showing the right way to tie the knots, how to set the sail with motor engine, how to control sailing orientation, how to do tacking and jibing, and so on.
On the pier, Chris emphasized that it is important to get familiar with techniques of docking. Eespecially when back to the pier, if there is more wind, it's easy to go across the pier or hit something else. On an open water area, it is comparatively easier. But in a busy port of Asia or Europe, such as Croatia, thousands of boats are mooring there. Unlike parking a car, there is no lines for references or brake to push. Unqualified mooring techniques cause collisions unavoidably .
02
Working in rotation
The strong wind that hardly came made Chris excited. He told trainees wind could create more complicated sailing conditions which are beneficial to them to grasp sailing skills with higher level of maturity. And Chris asked them to take charge of different works in rotation to learn sailing in an all-round way.
How did they feel on the boat?
Stan: It’s my first time ever to take a sailboat. I like it very much and I’ m very excited.
Frederic: I like it a lot.
03
Racing to enhance
Among them, Freddy is an old friend of Sail Global, who had participated in the sailing events and journey organized by Sail Global several times. Every time he had lots of fun and enjoyment. When he got to know that there are sailing courses, he said I like it and I need learn it. And he told us he had already expect next round to improve sailing skills.
What has made Freddy to be into sailing?
This time, there are seven trainees and good wind. The instructor Chris divided them into two teams and had a fun race. All of them are beginners who can discover their own mistakes and shortcomings through competition and comparison with the other team. Moreover, Chris would help them to analyze and give them advices. As a result, the efficiency of learning had been largely raised.
Apparently, Freddy can't wait to win the next round.
02
Learning for ocean sailing, not only for the ASA certificate
It has been already a routine for Chris to share his exclusive experiences as a bonus for his trainees in every session. He mentioned two aspects that are worth to take care of beyond ASA 101 standard contents this time.
01
Anchoring
Beside the fundamental content of anchoring on the ASA101 handbook, according to the navigation experiences of Chris, it is also crucial to think of the position of other boats around and the space of boats’ swinging around. Since the direction and speed of wind are always changing, it is necessary to take this into consideration.
02
Lights and sounds
Except for navigation lights included in ASA101 course, Chris also introduced lights and sounds of anchoring and power boat. There are full of giant boats in busy ports around Asia and Europe, to understand the meaning of lights and sounds plays an important role for a secure navigation.
03
Fun time beyond sailing
Franky, one of the trainees, is a big fan of water sports. He is living in Suzhou about a decade. He joined because his friend George told him that there is an event in Sail Global base. Then he found out it was a sailing course which he likes a lot.
Of course it is more than training, there are also happy hours of sailors when they are off boat.
At the sunset, trainees finished their day’s tasks and went back to the club with remained excitement. As Marc said, how can Germans take a rest without beer. Sail Global team has already prepared them cold beer on the lawn .
Sailing is a lifestyle more than just a sport. A lifestyle is not completed without fine food. Sail Global team had done a survey and found that some of trainees prefer Japanese food and Sake. Therefore, we booked the table in a fancy Japanese restaurant close to the sailing club several days before the training course started. After a whole day's sweetening practice, delicate and tasty food is the best option.
While the food is to feed the stomach, the sunset is for our eyes and soul. Relaxing on the catamaran, talking with friends, appreciating the senery of sunset on the lake, feeling the breeze touching your face, isn’t that the ideal life we all dreamed for a weekend.
04
Instructor's Review
It was a special group on last weekend because I know some of them and they all know each other somehow, which makes it different from other groups. That makes everything a bit more private andfun. And it combines bringing many more personal parts to our training session, like on the first day we had dinner in the Japanese restaurant, and second day had barbecue at the boat with relaxing on the catamaran. We discused what happened during the day and other private topics.
Happy Teacher's Day ！
Coming to the sailing, this group was largely motivated. Luckily, we had very good wind so that we could do a lot of things on the lake and the learning curve was much higher because the students saw immediately when they made a mistake. It makes everzbody more concentrated.
This group was also a sporty group and we had a lot of fun. Just in the beginning they were afraid that the boat will capsize. After I told them don’t worry about it , the keel is 630 kg and the boat will never (hardly) be capsized. When they understood that ,they felt safer and enjoyed it more. Even with strong wind, the nervousness disappeared. On the practical part, they learnt super good and fast. On the theoretical part, I had to push them a bit. They are practical guys and they didn’t get used to learn theories form the handbook. Finally, they have remembered the theories and passed the paper test. Everybody was looking forward to next course. I’m sure they can all have a nice sailing future. It was really a great weekend and successful for everybody.
05
Never too late to learn sailing
Most of the trainees are middle aged, who live affluent and comfortable urban lives. But they are willing to tolerate the hot weather and to learn sailing as a new skill. It deserves our admiration for their enthusiastic and vigorous spirits.
Marc has been planning to buy a sail boat after his retirement so that he can take his family and friends to sail, which is the happiest thing for him. That is why he wants to keep learning and practicing.
Skipping a boat is something extra-ordinary (not everyday) and an exceptional skill for Vi Ton. It was also a childhood dream to drive a boat himself. Also, he learned you must bring a team together to create an unique experience for all.
George fell in love with sailing because it brings him a lot joy to make everything under control.
Everyone has his own purpose to learn sailing. It can bring them a high quality spare-time life as sailing both strengthen them physically and relax them mentally.
If you feel the same way, why not join us and start your sailing adventure right now.
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