Page 27 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

On the 13th April 2017, I and six other Officer Cadets embarked on a voyage around the Solent, the stretch of water which sepa-
rates the mainland of England from the Isle of Wight. A busy waterway, especially on a bank holiday weekend such as the one we were sail- ing over, vessels of all shapes and sizes could be found regularly moving between the ports of Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton. This busy waterway provided several challenges to the Solent cadets, as the group consisted pre- dominantly of novice sailors, trying their hands at sailing for the very first time. The beginning of our adventure training saw us learning vari- ous skills, such as tying the relevant
Exercise SOLENT CADET
OCdt Woodford
knots, using the navigation screen and raising and lowering the sails.
In the first few days we learnt to tack.
of the boat allowing us to take advan- tage of the wind. On a few occasions when ropes were too tight, the wind you catch in the sails can tilt the boat dramatically onto an angle, as if it were going to capsize (at least that’s how
In the first few days we learnt to
tack. This involved steering the
boat into the wind whilst other
members of the crew worked as a
team releasing and tightening several ropes to reposition the sails. This would alter the course
it felt to us beginners). Throughout the day we practiced this basic sailing skill, until our handling of the sail was (almost) fluid, and we found our- selves moving through the water much faster.
Once we had mastered the tack we moved onto jibing. This involved positioning the boat so that the wind was behind us. This can be quite dan- gerous, particularly if you lose concentration of the wind position, as it can cause the main sail to swing very quickly from one side of the boat
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