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BBBS 10 Sailing Cycle 1 Session 1 Reflection

Pre-Sailing Reflections 

Objectives Identified:
1. Push Close-hauling limits (sail as close-hauled to the no-go zone as possible and ride just on the limit)
2. Maximize Velocity Made Good
3. Seek to hike first before releasing sheet when boat heels



Post Sailing Reflections
Managed to close in my close hauling envelope a little. More wind awareness. Obtained via letting out the sheet, allowing the sail to flap, and then sheeting in. And then remembering the rough direction of the wind. However, at times, it was still a great challenge to determine and respond quickly to wind direction, so I used nearby wind-telling aids like flags. For this, though, sometimes it feels like the wind that hits the flag is different in nature from the wind that hits my sail, so I'll have to be careful about that and discern accordingly. 

Encountered a lot of gusts today and had to adapt quickly to the new gust. As for a legitimate technique to deal with gusts, I haven't quite gotten it yet. It's mostly reactionary now, when I find the boom coming towards me and me having to dodge it and change sides and adjust my course.

I did not manage to do much about velocity made good today, as I was just seeking to get to my checkpoints in as direct a manner as possible. 

There were moments when I wasn't sure if I was trimming for the appropriate point of sail (I.e. The boat was heeling, and I think I was originally close hauling, and then not sure if due to the wind shift, I had ended up on a beam reach, and then I sheeted out, and felt like the boat had lost some heel, although I couldn't really tell for sure, and don't have much confidence to tell for sure, if the boat had lost speed. I straightaway sheeted back in to maintain the heeling force and hiked out to flatten the boat.)

Heeling force just tells me how much side force there is, right? It does not really tell me how much driving force is actually driving and accelerating my boat forward, does it? 


So I think all in all, these were some of my thoughts/reflections after today's sailing session. Perhaps it might do me better to clarify if there is any kind of framework preferred by BBBS also. 
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