Sailing Games
Learning to sail to can be really fun! The following are some of the games the optimist sailors play to have fun while practicing their skills:
Tennis ball tag: This game works just like regular tag, but it takes place with boats on the water. The person who is “it” has a tennis ball in their boat, and to tag someone else he or she has to throw the tennis ball into another boat. If the ball misses the other boat, the person who threw it has to sail over and pull it out of the water and try again. This game challenges sailors to maneuver their boats close to each other and builds confidence with steering and important boat handling skills.
Red Light/Green Light: Sailors follow the coach in their boats and when the coach says red light, they try to stop their boats as quickly as possible and when the coach says green light they try to get their boat up to speed as quickly as possible. This game practices important starting and stopping skills.
Collect the Points: Up to ten tennis balls are scattered on the water, each with a different number on it. The sailors sail around and each try to collect as many tennis balls as they can. After all are collected, each sailor counts the number of points they have by adding the numbers on the balls they have collected. The most points wins. This game reinforces different points of sail and proper trimming by having the sailors aim their boats in a variety of directions while trying to collect the tennis balls.
Knot tying Contest: While not sailing, sailors practice tying knots such as the figure eight, bowline, and square knot. Sailors can practice their knot tying by having tying races.