Sailing - Rigging a Sailboat

Alex Schulte: Hi, I am Alex Schulte with the Washington Sailing Marina's Summer Sailing School. And today I am teaching you how to sail. This is rigging and parts of the sail boat. The first thing you do when you rig up a Sunfish is make sure you have your life jacket on securely. Then when you get on the boat you want to be sure to keep your weight low and towards the center of the boat so you don't tip the boat over and the first thing you do once you are on the boat is to put the center boat down. The next thing you do is unravel the main sheet and the halyard the two lines that are wrapped around your sail.

Once the two lines that are wrapped around your sail are unraveled, you will take out the mast from the mast hole and lay it down on your boat and slide the main sail out from underneath the bridle, so that it isn't underneath it anymore. Next you will grab the line called the Halyard which is in the front part of the sail and put it through the hole on the top of the mast, then slide the little brass ring that is called the gooseneck back so it's lined up with the hole and the boat for the mast and then you are ready to pull up the main-sail. Then you tie down the halyard on the cleat with something called cleat knot.

Next, you will crawl to the back of the boat and attach the other line called the main sheet to the bridle. Once you have attached the main sheet to the bridle, you can put the rudder down. Once you have done all of this your boat is rigged up and ready to sail. That was rigging and parts of the boat. Next is basic maneuvering when sailing.