Specifications

DOCKING: Of course the motor is the safest means of docking, but after you have gained a little
experience, you may not want to use your motor. Everything depends on how the dock sits in rela-
tion to the wind. If the wind blows straight into the dock it can be pretty tough, but if the wind blows
away from the dock, it’s easy.
The problem with the downwind dock is hoisting/lowering the sails, except on the ends of the dock,
where you can turn the boat into the wind. Coming back into the dock is going to be difficult,
because you have no way of slowing the boat down.
The upwind dock is the ideal dock. You can raise the sails, push the boat off and sail away. In sail-
ing up to the dock, slowly reduce speed by allowing your sails to luff. Keep just enough headway on
so you can maneuver. Obviously, all this will take some practice. Be patient and don’t rush yourself.
Try practicing around some small buoy away from other boats. See if you can sail up to the buoy and
stop from different points of sail. You will quickly learn that when sailing upwind, you will be able to
slow down more quickly, and that when sailing downwind, you will sail right on by. Now just imagine
that the buoy is the dock. After you have tried this for a couple of hours, you will be an expert at
docking under sail.
If you take your time, and apply some of the basics mentioned here, you should be doing quite well
in two or three days.
Good Sailing!