How I Earned my Light Weather Helmsman Ranking

In October 2022, on Lake Macbride with the Iowa Sailing Club, I earned my light weather helmsman ranking. This credential qualifies me to sign out an FJ, Laser, or Hobie Wave in light weather. 

To earn this ranking, I had to demonstrate competency in the following skills:

• Rig, launch, retrieve, and stow an FJ
• Leave and return to dock
• Helm an FJ on all points of sail
• Tack and jibe
• Control boat heel
• Stop the boat, recover from irons
• Crew an overboard drill
• Capsize and recovery
• Points of sail and rules of the road

The Capsize Challenge

The hardest part about this accomplishment, in my opinion, was the capsize drill. It involved capsizing an FJ (yes, on purpose), uprighting the capsized boat, then re-entering the boat.

I made 2 mistakes: 1) I wore a nice, slim, low-profile personal floatation device (PFD) that inflates only when it gets wet, and 2) I spent down a LOT of energy getting the boat upright.

My type II PFD inflated as soon as I hit the water. It is designed to turn an unconscious wearer face-up in the water, therefore, my mobility in the water was hindered! Like, a lot! It felt like a big inflatable donut around my neck.

Once I was in the water with the inflatable donut around my neck, I swam over to the other side of the hull to begin uprighting the boat. I had the idea that this was going to be a bit of a process so I reached up and grabbed the centerboard, using my body weight for leverage. I attempted to pull my whole body out of the water and it simply wasn’t necessary. The boat came up slowly, but surprisingly easy! It would have been enough to just grab ahold of the centerboard and wait for the sails to peel off the water and rise up. 

Because of the donut around my neck and the energy I wasted getting the boat upright, I was fairly hog-tied when the hard part started, which was getting myself back in the boat. It required a bit of upper body strength and well, I thought I had it but I was wrong! After much trying and grunting, I swapped out my neck donut for a less intrusive life jacket and finally, I was able to pull my bod back in the boat. 

It was a great experience though, one that I’m very proud to have conquered! The cheer squad in the safety boat provided great encouragement!

See my video here:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oz-NaTbzkko%3Fsi%3DOJWnKeQDVkj8UtbS