Sail Trim Seminar

[Don Guillette]

On 9/20/11 I'll be conducting a sail trim seminar for the Lake Pleasant YC of Phoenix. It is open to the public and you can find the meeting time/place details on their web site.

My normal sail trim seminar lasts over 3 hours but for YC's I conduct a shortened version, which lasts about 35 minutes and is followed by a Q&A. I've had the Q&A goes on for over an hour!! I don't mind and I stick around until all questions are answered. I like talking about sail trim.

During the shortened seminar I discuss draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack. Unless a sailors understands those 4 elements sail trim will never make any sense.

 

[Sublime]

I humbly request that you come to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and conduct a seminar.

 

[Don Guillette]

Sublime: I'd love to come to Dallas but there's no money in it. A number of years ago I conducted a couple of seminar's for Shoreline YC in Long Beach, Ca. They provided the space so that was a big savings. Marina Sailing, which is a big outfit in So Ca, also did the same thing. At that time I charged $75 for a 3 hour session and included my book and chart plus handouts (a $40 value) as part of the class fee - and some people complained about the price. If what I was doing wasn't a labor of love I don't know what is. It certainly wasn't a money maker.

Once I expand out of my easy driving area (iSo Ca, when I lived there, from Ventura to San Diego or Tucson to Phoenix), a bunch of other factors come into play - motels, gas, food, class room etc. All that cuts into a small bottom line. On the shortened seminars (35 minutes plus Q&A) I don't charge anything but sell my books and charts. That free seminar is another labor of love. I really do like talking to sailors about sail trim, especially beginners. There's nothing like seeing their eyes light up when the sail trim lights come on.

I conducted a couple of seminars for the Catalina 30 club in San Diego. My wife loved going to San Diego (she'd probably love Dallas too). She never went to the seminar. She went shopping instead. I never made a dime on those deals - in fact I lost money!!!

 

[Don Guillette]

Just got back from conducting a sail trim seminar for the Lake Pleasant Sailing Club (Phoenix, AZ). What a pleasure it was to meet this great group of sailors. Trailer sailors are a special group to me as I came from that group. They, above all other groups (non - trailer sailors), really, REALLY want to know how to trim their sails. I don't know why that is but I was that way myself. After the seminar I had folks 3 deep asking questions. The commodore told me they only get about 30 to 35 members at these events. The other night 62 people showed up and they almost ran out of chairs.

I used to hoist the main and jib in my driveway and then turn the trailer closed hauled and then I tried to figure out what the sail trim controls for the main and jib were actually adjusting. Most importantly, I wanted to know WHAT they were adjusting. I never could figure it out because I didn't know what I was looking at.

My neighbors thought I was nuts hoisting sails in my driveway, but I only did it when I didn't have the time to put the boat in the water. Actually, I did it all ther time because I just loved doing it. I confirmed I was nuts when a large gust of wind hit me and I almost sailed the boat and trailer into my fence!!