May 25th to May 27th I traveled to Wayzata Minnesota to attempt to become a US sailing certified small boat instructor. It was a very humbling experience.

I’ve been teaching small boat sailing at Lake Davenport Sailing Club the last two years. We claim to be a US sailing accredited sailing school so I thought I should get certified. I didn’t really understand what this was going to require. I mostly assumed it was going to be rubber stamp on my basic competence to not kill someone else in a sailboat.

I registered for the class and did the online portion. The section on power boating was the most difficult because I don’t have a lot of boating experience. Overall though the online section was fine and I was curious what class was going to be like in Wayzata.

The Friday before memorial day weekend I made the trip to Wayzata and on Saturday morning I arrived at Wayzata Sailing School. There I took Instructor Certification with eight young adults mostly young women aged 16 - 20. All of them were young enough to be my children and all of them had been sailing since they were 10.

We took the class in a 420Z sailboat. The 420Z is a rather unstable planing dingy mostly sailed by 13 - 22 year olds. Early on in the class I went out to help rig the boat. We launched it from the dolly and brought it alongside the dock. I stepped out on the boat to mount the rudder and raise the sail and promptly capsized the boat falling in the water. My pride was greatly harmed by I was otherwise fine. I think this was the sign for how things were going to go the rest of the week.

My first sail was in 18 mph winds gusting to 25mph. I couldn’t handle myself in the boat well and mostly got my ass kicked. I was paired with Kate who was very experienced sailing the 420 and she coached me through some things. I appreciated here patience. I fell out of the boat at least once and lost control of the rudder a couple of times. It was brutal. I came to shore after the experience bruised and humbled and wondering if I should just go home.

The next morning I headed in and failed my Power Boat operator review. It was a big drag.

I did grind the rest of the class out. I knew the book of sailing much better then the young kids and I had more experience instructing and talking in a group setting so I did fine in those areas. The on the water drills were the worst because I didn’t have experience acting as a college or High School sailor and that’s how the one the water section was taught. I had difficulty following the hand signals and leading the boats about.

In the end I did not complete the class because the last on the water test was cancelled because of a hail storm. The follow up was scheduled for when I returned to work so I was unable to make the trip. I did succeed in finishing the course. The only thing that kept me there was the shame that I would have felt facing my kids if I had left. I’m disappointed that I’m not technically certified, I don’t know if I’ll have the time to complete the class again in the future.

All in all it was a big learning experience. I got to see Wayzata and its sailing legacy. It was a lot nicer then my muddy river and most of the kids who took the class with me came off as wealthy. The area is pretty even if its overly suburban and the lake access seems to be controlled by the wealthy who can live on it. But such is life.

One interesting side show was that the Wayzata sailing center was mostly funded by Mike Plant’s mother. And Athough I had never heard of Mike Plant I did know about his boat Duracell which now lives on in youtube fame so that was at least moderately interesting.

On reflection I don’t think I would go again knowing what I know now and I would look for a sailing class that was a better fit for someone my age. I’m curious if I’ll finish my certification or just try again in a couple of years (if I’m even still interested). I did learn I have a lot to do to improve as a sailor and I really need to get more experience driving a power boat… Hopefully this will come with time. I think probably the best part of the experience was getting humbled. As an adult man you don’t often get put in situations your so uncomfortable in. I think you learn how to avoid them. But uncomfortable situations lead to a lot of growth. Its probably good to be uncomfortable sometimes and be taught a little humility. I sure was.