I was hoping someone on this forum could direct me to a DVD that is a good educational tool for teaching the rules of racing. I am a Boy Scout leader and I want to use this DVD/game as part of a sailing merit badge, but also for me since I am not a seasoned racer. I know the basics, but I need something that will allow me and the boys to experience situations that will occur along the race course (e.g., at mark rounding).
Any suggestions you may have for such a DVD/game training tool will be appreciated. It can be as simple as a DVD that they can watch, or it can be an iteractive game that will place the boys in situations as if they were on a race course. Perhaps both a educational DVD and a game?

Thank you
Bob
College Station, TX

Bob for a game you can use www.tacticat.com they have various rooms with different types of boats that react differently. They also have a very tough fleet. A great tool to learn basic racing rules.

As far as the actual rules per say, your best bet is to pickup a book and read through it. The rules are not very hard to understand so I am sure you will have no problems.

Bob, there was a "Rules" thread on the main forum a few weeks ago. Do a "searh" for rules links and you should be able to find it. There were many links to rules web sites that have very good examples and even some videos. I dont' know of any rules DVD's however.

Try this to get started: http://game.finckh.net/index.htm

Bob,
Dave Dellenbaugh has a new two-part DVD on rules. Find it at www.speedandsmarts.com.

Thanks to all that responded.

I have requested a clip from the videos just to get an idea of the quality of the DVD presentation. I know teenage boys, and their attention span is directly proportional to how well they are entertained by the DVD. I will also check out the game site that Robi recommended once they know the rules.


Cheers
Bob

Hi Bob,

I taught the Small Boat Sailing Merit Badge a couple years ago and it was a blast. When I was a Boy Scout I remember sailing on some quasi sunfish--kinda slow. When I taught the merit badge we used a couple nacra 5.0s and it was an absolute blast--no substitute for flying a hull; they loved it. Good luck.

Thanks Eric;

I have also found that the Boys Scouts are very interested in catamarans that can fly a hull (they do not like my Wave). The older boys were disappointed the last time we had an outing and I no longer had the Inter. I took the Inter to summer camp one year and the older boys had a blast. I almost got one of the older scouts to buy a Prindle 15 after that summer camp, but his mom said ‘no’ plus he was saving up money for flight school. I guess it was not a bad choice on his part since flying is also a rush (and he hopes to make a career of flying).

Eric, Keep me informed about your boat.

Bob