Bluewater Crew Class Syllabus

This page will list items that sailors are expected to know to receive the Bluewater Crew endorsement.

Sailboat Operations

Winch Operation

• Requires two people to safely operate: one to tail, one to grind
• Proper number of wraps for sail and wind conditions.
• Safe technique for adding or removing wraps from winch
• Proper tailing technique to prevent over-wraps

Raising and lowering the mainsail

Raising mainsail:

• Remove sail cover and sail ties
• Shackle halyard to head of sail
• Boat must be headed into the wind
• Mainsheet & boom vang slack
• Two people to operate winch from cockpit
• Apply enough tension to halyard to remove wrinkles from luff of sail.
• Slack lazyjack lines and secure around reefing hooks
• Slack topping lift if necessary

Lowering mainsail:

• Hoist lazyjacks
• Tighten topping lift if necessary
• Boat must be headed into the wind
• Close companionway hatch for safety
• Center traveler and tighten mainsheet
• One or two persons on deck to flake the sail as it lowers
• Apply sail ties and sail cover
• No lines should be dangling from boom
• Boom must be high enough to avoid contact with dodger

Unfurling and furling the foresail

Unfurling foresail.

• One person on the furling line (black)
• In strong winds, one person on sheet (with a wrap around a winch) to control unfurling of sail
• Do not use a winch with furling line

Furling foresail

• One person on the unfurling line.
• One person keeps light tension on sheet (not necessary in strong winds)
• Do not use a winch with the furling line
• In strong winds, one more person may need to assist with furling line
• Furl to three wraps of the sheet around the foresail
• Cleat furling line
• Pull both sheets tight by hand and cleat them

Basic mainsail and foresail trim

Mainsail

• On a reach or close-hauled, leech tell-tales should be streaming aft (top most may occasionally stall)
• Mainsail should not be luffing (except perhaps at the luff when close-hauled)
• When close-hauled, sheet and traveler should be adjusted to position boom on centerline of the boat
• Sheet and traveler used to adjust sail twist when sailing upwind
• Vang used to adjust sail twist when sailing downwind

Foresail

• Use tell-tales to gauge foresail trim
• Foresail sheets should be led inside of shrouds to track when close hauled
• Foresail sheets should be led outside of shrouds to rail when reaching or running
• Foresail should never be pulled tight against spreaders or shrouds

Knots

• bowline
• cleat hitch
• rolling hitch
• figure-eight knot
• round turn and two half hitches