on the most important propulsion system available to us...

This bit of news got me thinking about electric propulsion, various mindsets on sailing and what passes for the norm where sailing is concerned. 

Now, as someone who spent over a decade obsessed with getting affordable electric propulsion to work as a sustainable system aboard "So It Goes", it's safe to say that I've spent a lot of time thinking on how best to get a boat from one place to another. All those years of study resulted in a strong belief that the answer is not electric propulsion. Just to be fair I'll add that it is not an internal combustion engine either.

Some years ago we were in the BVI and having a drink next to a couple who'd just sailed down with the  Caribbean 1500 rally who were quite proud of the fact that they'd only motored for 48-hours. Yesterday I saw that Mads of Sail Life fame spent something like that under power on his way to the Canaries. I suspect that both are an example of the current mindset that the only way to get someplace is to point yourself where you're going full speed ahead. A mindset that's a bit off where wind power is concerned.

One of the things I love about sailing is harnessing the wind to your purpose is both fun and requires some lateral thinking to get you where you want to be. In my experience pointing at where you want to go is seldom the best way to get you there.

Sure, some form of auxiliary propulsion allows you to point your boat dead to windward and current but it is seldom, in my experience at least, a comfortable way to go. As far as being needful to always making forward motion towards your destination the fact that you might sit becalmed for a day or so is not a major tragedy in my thinking as it's just part of a voyage or should be.

Wind power is the most evolved form of propulsion available to us and has the added advantage of being simple as well as inexpensive. Granted, there is a learning curve but nothing too difficult but with the added bonus of being fun.

Sadly, too many these days miss the whole fun element and every time the wind is not blowing you directly to where you want to go the answer is to turn on the engine/motor and thrash to windward instead of enjoying the chance to build your skill set and gain a couple of extra points in your course. For far too many the fact that they have an engine/motor that can be turned on at will is the biggest obstacle in learning how to get the most of of your interface with the wind.

For someone on a budget being able to use the wind to your advantage whichever way it happens to be blowing is a vital tool in your tool kit. Plus it will save you a lot of money in the process...

Need I say more?

Some impressive sailing chops...

For more of the same check out this...

Stuff you need to know...

Off Center Harbor has a truly excellent two part video on sail trim featuring Carol Hasse that you might want to check out... It's well worth the price of admission.

an educational conundrum...

I find it interesting that in the sailing world so much emphasis is devoted to having the best of the best and how little emphasis there is the the process of learning how to use it...

So, just why is sailing education so unpopular here in the states? People take classes to learn to ski or scuba dive but as for sailing it seems to be more of a I don't need to take any stinking lessons attitude.

Most of my French friends who sail and cruise went to Glénans or a reasonable facsimile and most of my British friends have done RYA courses...

And, you know what? It shows.

Really.

Most folks flying the stars and stripes however never take a class and if they do it's the bare minimum requirement that gives them a piece of paper to show the bareboat folk. Sort of a somewhat problematic state of affairs...

I suspect, part of the problem is that there is not a good umbrella educational system akin to the RYA in the US of A but that does not mean there is not a good local or convenient class that folks could take... you just need to ask around.

That said, learning how to do something right is never a bad way to get started, especially for folks of a VolksCruising bent.

about the whole sailing thing...

Over at Simply Sailing Online there's a post that makes a lot of sense... You really should read it if you have not already.

I mention it because there are a lot of people who think that having stuff is what makes them safe. As opposed to something, shall we say, as mundane of being a competent sailor and having the sort of skill set that will, if needful, get you out of trouble when things go FUBAR.

Folks of the greater VolksCruiser persuasion have the advantage over our fellow sailors with deeper pockets because we're forced by budget constraints to be better sailors and do such unfashionable things as sailing to windward. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that the more you sail the better you get...

The really cool thing about learning to sail better is it hardly costs anything and its fun. Sure, it's not considered hip in some quarters these days of folks-who-need-to-turn-on-their-motor-to-tack but it does have it's own simple satisfaction of being content in your skills set.

That's a great place to be.