By:  Mike Klatt

The first Small Boat Sailing (SBS) class of 2006 took place at the BoatHouse from Monday, June 5 through Monday, June 12.   Five students completed the class.   I was the lead instructor for this class, and a class like this requires a large number of volunteers to be successful.  The following people donated their time and experience to the class: Corbett Brown, Chad Cox, Les Cummings, Howard Haines, Dave Karoly, Sarah Lobban, Jerry Lojka, Te Woei Poon, Jesus Salas, and Miranda Shaughnessy.  The five graduates were Sarah Fox, Julie Halterman, Kirsten and Chris Lee, and Brandon Morgan.

While the Essentials of Sailing class is a sprint,  SBS is a marathon.  The class met on five weekday evenings and all day Saturday.  Fortunately the weather was mostly cooperative and we were able to take advantage of our scheduled off days of Wednesday and Sunday.  You can’t go an entire week in Oklahoma without experiencing some type of adverse sailing weather, and this class was no exception.  This was the hottest week of the year so far, so everyone got a real workout moving boats and equipment to and from the waterfront.  Light winds early in the week gave way to heavy air just as the students were beginning to get a feel for sailing by themselves.  There was a little frustration and a lot of time in irons as the students adjusted to the stronger winds.  By the end of class on Monday evening, however, the winds were perfect for the students to complete their skill verifications.

This was the first time for me to be lead instructor for a class of this nature.  The planning and logistics are much more involved than for Essentials of Sailing, so this was a quite a learning experience for me.  I came to truly appreciate all the volunteer resources the BoatHouse has to offer.  Nothing make life easier for the lead instructor than being able to delegate a task and knowing it will get done properly, and I had no problems staffing the class even with the short lead time.  Another first for the class was the inaugural use of the new BoatHouse safety/teaching boat, the Carolina Skiff J14.  The boat easy to start, easy to maneuver, and very quiet.  It should be a real asset for the BoatHouse.

Enrollment has begun for the next Small Boat Sailing class, which starts on Monday, July 31.
 

Back row, left to right: Brandon Morgan, Miranda Shaughnessy, Mike Klatt, Principal Instructor, Kirsten
Lee, Chris Lee, Corbett Brown
Front row, left to right: Sarah Lobban, Julie Halterman, Sarah Fox, Jesus Salas