Big Boat Sail Training Reduced at Naval Academy

Richard du Moulin, well known for his support of the Storm Trysail Club Junior Safety at Sea training, wrote today in Sailing Scuttlebutt #2574 about reports that the US Naval Academy was severely reducing the opportunity for midshipmen to experience the traditional summer cruise aboard offshore sailing yachts. See Washington Post story.

His comments echo some of the reasons that junior big-boat sailing is popular with JSA LIS sailors:

"Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy need sea-time aboard grey ships, and dinghy racing is a great sport fitting for the Academy, but sail training (ocean racing and passages) provides the basic skills and judgment that every commissioned officer needs.

Aboard a sailboat with a small team, the Midshipman is given immediate responsibility and learns hands-on navigation, seamanship, leadership and boat handling, forming a basis for a successful naval career. Aboard the smaller vessel, the Midshipman usually gets more responsibility than on a bigger ship.

About 35 years ago, the US Navy had a series of ship handling mishaps resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of damages and many lives lost (one was a collision of a carrier with a destroyer). I recall the Navy followed up with a fleet-wide seamanship test which had a surprising finding that officers with Academy sailing program experience did significantly better than other officers. That "discovery" served to re-invigorate funding for sail training.

Today the daily cost of a ship, and the cost to train an officer, is higher than ever. Sail training is a very smart investment for the Navy."