While sitting in the warm sun aboard a client’s boat yesterday the question was asked – “how can you possibly know what the wind will do?  Do those clouds tell us anything?”  The sky was clear, there was little to no wind and only a few whispy cirrocumulus clouds in the sky.  While today’s sailors are hopeless inured to devices, immediate buoy data and forecasting tools; the sky still has an awful lot to tell us about what to expect next.

There are plenty of old weather rhymes to help make your next forecast accurate and easy.   Read more

Annapolis Yacht Club hosts annual frostbite racing every Sunday from mid-November until mid-December.  Annapolis frostbiting is exhilarating, challenging, fun and unlike most other kinds of racing “discipline” in Annapolis.  Few other racing events (except for J World Annapolis Thursday Night Racing) put such a huge premium on starting, boat to boat tactics and local knowledge.

Why is frostbite racing so different?  Short courses, crowded heavily end favored start lines, obstructions, a very healthy mix of reaching and upwind/downwind, limited passing lanes and funky geographic influenced wind patterns make for racing that is unlike anything else taking place in Annapolis throughout the year.  It is FANTASTIC! Read more

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, which creates and maintains the nation’s suite of over a thousand nautical charts of U.S. coastal waters, will no longer print traditional lithographic (paper) nautical charts starting April 13. Here are some options for chart access:

NOAA nautical charts now available as free PDFs

The latest addition to the nautical charting portfolio is the new Portable Document Format (PDF) nautical chart, which provides up-to-date navigation information in this universally available file type. Initially, the PDF nautical charts will be available for a three-month trial, from October 22, 2013, to January 22, 2014. Details.

Coast Survey unveils NOAA ENC Online Viewer

For more than ten years, since NOAA introduced its electronic navigational charts, you have needed to purchase a specialized chart display system to view the NOAA ENC® as a seamless chart database. Starting November 6, you don’t need a system to view the ENC depictions; you can use Coast Survey’s new web-based viewer called NOAA ENC® Online. Details.

More and more we are fielding questions about certification courses.  To sail in EU countries charter companies are routinely requiring the Bareboat Cruising certification or International Proficiency Certificate (IPC) in order to obtain a boat – and the Islands probably aren’t far behind.  In addition to opening doors for sailing abroad, certifications are a great way of benchmarking your sailing education progress.

We get equal amounts of inquiries from students who have or are interested in receiving US Sailing and American Sailing Association (ASA) certifications.  J World Annapolis is proudly a US Sailing School.  If we could, we would operate as both ASA and US Sailing in order to serve the greatest number of students, but both US Sailing and ASA require certified schools to choose one or the other.  We get loads of ASA-certified sailors inquiring about getting US Sailing certifications, reciprocity and the difference between the two.  In short, the difference between the two is less about the curriculum (both teach tacking and gybing) and more about the teaching materials, instructor and school standards and also the expectation of time on the water. Read more

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, which creates and maintains the nation’s suite of over a thousand nautical charts of U.S. coastal waters, today announced major changes ahead for mariners and others who use nautical charts. Starting April 13, 2014, the federal government will no longer print traditional lithographic (paper) nautical charts. Coast Survey will continue to create and distribute other forms of nautical charts, including Print-on-Demand paper charts as well as electronic and digital formats.

“Like most other mariners, I grew up on NOAA lithographic charts and have used them for years,” said Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. “We know that changing chart formats and availability will be a difficult change for some mariners who love their traditional paper charts.” Read more

Proof that in a long regatta you are never out – even if you are feeling down.  Coaching Tihansky’s note to the team back home is full of lessons for the rest of us…

“After yesterday’s difficulties, there were a couple of key areas Team USNA/USA needed to work on to get back on track.

The number 70 has been floating around my head quite a bit lately.  I recently competed in the J/70 North American Championship and competed with 70 Sunfish sailors at the 43rd Sunfish World Championship.  Nothing like highly competitive racing drives home the lessons and axioms of sailboat racing.

Both events served me with heaping spoonfuls of humble pie.  While I wasn’t satisfied with my finish score in any of the events I had fun at both and through this blog will use the lessons learned to make each event beneficial to my sailing – and maybe yours.  Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing my thoughts, memories and lessons learned  Read more