Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / Each year, more and more people are participating in the wonderful sport of sailing so that, today, it ranks as one of the most popular pastimes in the United States. Years ago, sailing was considered a sport for the "wealthy." Now, due to the development of new materials and designs, sailboats may be purchased and maintained at a much lower cost -- thus enabling more people to own their own boat. Sailing is also becoming an important part of the recreational programs of many camps, colleges and communities. Many excellent books have been written on the subject of sailing and much will be learned by reading them. The writer wishes to state at this time that this is not a textbook but rather, in outline form, a suggested course in fresh water sailing. The author believes, however, that the following material may be easily adapted to suit the needs of those instructors whose sailing programs are conducted on bodies of salt water.

The Effects of Fatigue on Vigilance in Sailing. Twelve male subjects were tested to determine if increasing amounts of physical fatigue are related to the attention paid to sail trim during sailing. A sailing simulator was used to determine if fatigue, either mental or physical, caused vigilance to vary while the subject was sitting on the side deck, hiking or hiking with weight. Each subject responded to 45 windshifts by adjusting the main sheet to provide proper sail trim for three separate sessions, each one being fifteen minutes long. Telltale deflection was videotaped to provide a vigilance score with deflection time starting when the telltales lifted and ending when adjustment of the sail stopped. Five fitness tests, number of sit-ups in one minute, percent body fat, isometric strength in the hiking position, isometric endurance in the hiking position and maximum oxygen uptake were administered on a separate day to determine if fitness scores were related to vigilance capacity. It was found that neither mental nor physical fatigue caused a decrease in vigilance over the fifteen minute test session. There was a learning effect associated with the apparatus as mean vigilance score for each successive sailing simulator session decreased regardless of the treatment used. Only one of the physical fitness tests was related to vigilance capacity as maximum oxygen uptake values were inversely correlated with mean vigilance scores. Subjects with high aerobic capacity were faster at responding to windshifts, thus supporting the use of a large aerobic component in dry land fitness programs. / Education, Faculty of / Kinesiology, School of / Graduate

Modern day ocean voyaging in private sailing vessels dates back to the turn of the century. Despite this, the present thesis is the first academic study of ocean cruising to be completed. Of the thousands of people who make ocean voyages only a few hundred are committed to the lifestyle of cruising, that is, see cruising as a whole way of life that they will pursue indefinitely. The thesis first presents an ethnography of the lifestyle of cruising with particular attention to (1) what activities constitute the lifestyle, (2) why people cruise, and (3) what values, attitudes, and characteristics attach to the participants. Second, the thesis relates this ethnography to several theories in sociology and psychology. In sociology, subculture and deviance theories are used to place cruising in the context of the wider scholastic study of society. Pearson (1979) and others are drawn upon in placing cruising in the context of subcultures while the work of Walter Buckley (1967) is used to modify deviance theory to account for the apparently positive nature of the deviance inherent in the cruising lifestyle. In psychology, theories of autotelic rewards, enjoyment, and human satisfaction are used to understand the experience of and motivation to cruise. In addition, theories of personal growth developed by Hampden-Turner (1970) and others are applied to cruisers and their way of life. The thesis concludes that cruisers, as cultural 'heroes', can be seen as affirmative deviants. That is to say, given an humanistic and western individualistic value system their deviance can be seen as contributing to their individual health and growth, and to positive social evolution.

Modern day ocean voyaging in private sailing vessels dates back to the turn of the century. Despite this, the present thesis is the first academic study of ocean cruising to be completed. Of the thousands of people who make ocean voyages only a few hundred are committed to the lifestyle of cruising, that is, see cruising as a whole way of life that they will pursue indefinitely. The thesis first presents an ethnography of the lifestyle of cruising with particular attention to (1) what activities constitute the lifestyle, (2) why people cruise, and (3) what values, attitudes, and characteristics attach to the participants. Second, the thesis relates this ethnography to several theories in sociology and psychology. In sociology, subculture and deviance theories are used to place cruising in the context of the wider scholastic study of society. Pearson (1979) and others are drawn upon in placing cruising in the context of subcultures while the work of Walter Buckley (1967) is used to modify deviance theory to account for the apparently positive nature of the deviance inherent in the cruising lifestyle. In psychology, theories of autotelic rewards, enjoyment, and human satisfaction are used to understand the experience of and motivation to cruise. In addition, theories of personal growth developed by Hampden-Turner (1970) and others are applied to cruisers and their way of life. The thesis concludes that cruisers, as cultural 'heroes', can be seen as affirmative deviants. That is to say, given an humanistic and western individualistic value system their deviance can be seen as contributing to their individual health and growth, and to positive social evolution.

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The topic of this master‘s thesis is design and analysis of a sailing boat in accordance with ergonomic and technological requirements. The goal is to create a sailing boat, which will be modern, visually interesting and which and which will take future development of both design and technology into account.

The purpose of this study was to investigate novel methods on an unmanned sailing boat, which enables it to sail fully autonomously, navigate safely, and perform long-term missions. The author used robotic sailing boat prototypes for field experiments as his main research method. Two robotic sailing boats have been developed especially for this purpose. A compact software model of a sailing boat's behaviour allowed for further evaluation of routing and obstacle avoidance methods in a computer simulation. The results of real-world experiments and computer simulations are validated against each other. It has been demonstrated that autonomous boat sailing is possible by the effective combination of appropriate new and novel techniques that will allow autonomous sailing boats to create appropriate routes, to react properly on obstacles and to carry out sailing manoeuvres by controlling rudder and sails. Novel methods for weather routing, collision avoidance, and autonomous manoeuvre execution have been proposed and successfully demonstrated. The combination of these techniques in a layered hybrid subsumption architecture make robotic sailing boats a promising tool for many applications, especially in ocean observation.

Despite the steady growth of coaching science over the last two decades, research on coaches of persons with disabilities is scarce. This study examined how an adaptive sailing coach learned through and from experience using a single case study methodology. Jarvis’s (2009) lifelong learning approach and Gilbert and Trudel’s (2001) reflective conversation model framed the thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the coach, Jenny, was exposed to collaborative environments that optimized her learning process. Social interactions with a number of people (e.g., mentors, colleagues, and athletes) possessing different types of expertise made major contributions to Jenny becoming a coach. As time progressed and Jenny was exposed to a mixture of challenges and learning situations, she advanced from recreational Para-swimming instructor to developmental adaptive sailing coach. This study informs future research in disability sport coaching.

Despite the steady growth of coaching science over the last two decades, research on coaches of persons with disabilities is scarce. This study examined how an adaptive sailing coach learned through and from experience using a single case study methodology. Jarvis’s (2009) lifelong learning approach and Gilbert and Trudel’s (2001) reflective conversation model framed the thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the coach, Jenny, was exposed to collaborative environments that optimized her learning process. Social interactions with a number of people (e.g., mentors, colleagues, and athletes) possessing different types of expertise made major contributions to Jenny becoming a coach. As time progressed and Jenny was exposed to a mixture of challenges and learning situations, she advanced from recreational Para-swimming instructor to developmental adaptive sailing coach. This study informs future research in disability sport coaching.

Voyages of discovery could not be entertained until the advent of three-masted ships. Single-sailed ships were effective for voyages of short duration, undertaken with favourable winds. Ships with two masts could make long coastal voyages in the summer. Both these types had more or less severe limitations to sailing to windward. To sail any ship successfully in this mode it is necessary to be able to balance the sail plan accurately. This method of keeping course could not reach its full development until more than two sails were available for manipulation. Rudders never were adequate to hold ships to windward courses. Ships with three or more masts could be sailed in all weather with very little dependence on the power of the rudder and the freedom from this limitation made it possible to build ships large enough to carry sizable crews, their stores and spare gear over ocean crossings. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate