“A Parents’ Guide to…” is a series to give YOU, the parents and guardians, insight into the activities and traditions of Camp Chippewa. We want to share the background of each activity, how they are taught, the skills our campers learn, and the ranks they can achieve. Hopefully your campers come home brimming with stories. Our hope is that when your camper says, “I passed my Cadet Sailor,” or “I can’t wait to get my Bar IV and shoot in kneeling,” you will know what that means! With the hope of furthering your precious conversations about camp, here is “A Parents’ Guide to Sailing”.
Background
Sailing is a storied camp activity. When Cap and Mom Endres founded Camp Chippewa in 1935, the shimmering waters of Cass Lake were too beautiful and well-suited to sailing to pass up. The lake offers a variety of conditions – everything from gentle breezes perfect for learning, to stiff breezes and whitecaps sure to thrill the most experienced sailors.
Through the years, camp has been blessed with dedicated educators, keen campers, and a thriving program. Boys who started sailing on Cass Lake have gone on to sail competitively in college, plan sail trips in the Carribean and Pacific Northwest, and enjoy the undeniable pleasure of sailing with their family and friends on a local body of water. Sailing is a communion with wind and water, an exercise of intellect, and a source of lifelong enjoyment.
Let’s talk about Camp Chippewa’s fleet. We have six X-Boats, four Open Bics, and one Hobie Cat Wave. X-Boats are 16 feet long, have a mainsail and a jib sail, can easily fit five crew members in, and are perfect for learning the fundamentals. When your son chooses sailing as an activity period, they will be sailing X-boats. Open Bics are nine-foot boats designed perfectly for a single occupant. They are small and nimble, and fun if you want a boat all to yourself! Our younger boys spend many evenings tacking back and forth in light breezes. The Hobie Cat is a 13-foot-long catamaran with a single, large sail. It is best suited to going fast in a straight line. Sailing the Hobie in strong winds has been a highlight for many campers!
Teaching
Sailing is a unique activity at Chippewa because every day is different. The wind speed, wind direction, and weather change how the period is taught. Stiff winds make for an exhilarating day and a chance for campers to crew the boat with a counselor at the helm. A calm, reliable breeze is a perfect time for campers to take the tiller and practice maneuvering the boat under the watchful eye of the instructor. And a dead calm day is not a total waste – sailors move to the shanty to tie knots, learn parts of the boat, and pass ranks.
It doesn’t matter whether your camper has sailed before or not: during a period, the sailing staff will work with him on the comfort, skill set, and knowledge needed to sail! Maybe he has never done this before: the staff will take him sailing and teach him the basics. Maybe he has sailed at camp for six years: the staff will teach him more advanced techniques in racing, tacking and jibing, mooring, and understanding how to read wind. Sailing at camp is a dynamic activity that constantly challenges campers and gives them a clear progression for increasing their knowledge and skillset. And sometimes there is nothing better than cruising the crystal-clear waters of Cass with the wind in your hair! Many songs have been sung, jokes told, and memories made in a sailboat at camp.
Ranks
Our system of progression in sailing is an objective means of challenging campers, rewarding growth, and maintaining safety. It has been largely unchanged for decades. For you, understanding what our campers are working towards each summer means you glean much more from a letter home saying, “I passed my Crewman today!”
The first rank in Sailing is Apprentice Sailor. Campers learn basic parts of the boat (like the stern, jib, and mast), learn to tie a few knots we use often when sailing (the clove hitch and figure-eight), and follow water safety rules while on the docks and boats. It can be passed in an evening and requires patience and listening in a didactic setting, much like school! Next is the Crewman. Campers learn more sailing terminology, more knots, and start taking control of the jib. The third rank, Cadet Sailor, takes campers away from the X-Boats (the main boats in our fleet), and focuses on the smaller, single-occupant Open Bics. They will learn how to rig and derig a Bic, learn the important boat parts necessary to operate one, and take one out sailing under staff supervision. This rank is not awarded until a camper has learned enough to control a small boat on their own. Once they achieve the rank of Cadet Sailor, campers add Open Bics to their options of watercraft they can take out during free periods (again, under the watchful eye of staff!).
Able Seaman gets campers back in the X-Boat. They learn more boat parts, more knots, and master important terms (like ‘in irons’, ‘heading up’, and ‘tacking’). They also learn about the points of sailing (the boat’s direction in relation to the wind, which comprises the most integral and often vexing concept of sailing). They also master controlling the jib on all and start controlling the tiller (the steering mechanism of the boat), both relying on knowledge of the points of sailing. As a Midshipman, campers know how to maintain a given point of sail on the tiller and know how to properly set up and take down a boat without assistance from a counselor. Midshipman incorporates a considerable amount of cumulated learning and represents a big step forward in sailing ability.
The First Mate is an extremely challenging rank to earn, because it is the most important. Campers will have demonstrated the ability to set up a boat, control it successfully and safely in a variety of wind conditions, bring it back to the dock safely, and derig it properly. They will know what to do when a boat capsizes and know three important ‘rules of the road’ and use them in competitive sail races. Another requirement is to guide another camper through a lower rank. Above all, a camper needs to demonstrate leadership, composure, decision-making, and above all responsibility. Achieving First Mate shows the sailing staff that the camper is trusted to sail a boat without a counselor on board! Few campers achieve the rank of First Mate.
Moving along, we have the Helmsman and the Skipper. These two ranks are also challenging to achieve and have campers honing and perfecting their sailing abilities, racing more often, performing maintenance alongside the sailing staff, learning broader sailing knowledge, and teaching other campers to pass more ranks.
I hope this gave you some insight into our program and what campers do during a sailing activity period! I always look forward to the first day of the summer when we can get our X-Boats out on the water.
-Will Norris