Advanced Sail Handling and Navigation

This capstone unit builds on foundational sailing skills to teach advanced boat handling, anchoring, navigation, knots, safety, emergency procedures, and vessel maintenance. Students will practice advanced piloting, electronic and celestial navigation, anchoring under sail, and emergency response to prepare for independent small craft operation and further study.

Learning Objectives

• Apply advanced piloting and sail-handling techniques to safely control monohulls and multihulls in varied conditions, including downwind sailing, planing, surfing, and foiling.
• Demonstrate proper anchoring, mooring, and knot-tying techniques (including selection and retrieval of anchors, two half hitches, clove hitch, rolling hitch, fisherman’s bend, and trucker’s hitch) and troubleshoot common anchoring and mooring problems.
• Evaluate and apply navigation and collision-avoidance strategies using electronic tools (GPS, navigation apps, chart plotters), celestial navigation, and Rules of the Road to navigate at night and in reduced visibility while integrating weather interpretation.
• Analyze vessel seaworthiness and maintenance needs, perform routine engine and hull checks, assess required safety equipment and cost/value considerations, and execute emergency procedures including damage control and abandoning ship.