- Whoa!

(upbeat music) - And now our main is up.

- It's huge.

This thing isn't gonna start swinging yet, is it?

I have not yet made a mockery of myself yet.

(upbeat music) (cheerful piano music) I've seen sailboats, but I've never been on one.

I wouldn't even know where to start.

Today, I'm gonna throw on my captain's hat, hoist up the sails and set sea on Bde Maka Ska.

(upbeat music) You might think you need to own a boat to sail, but you don't.

Look for community sailing groups that offer lessons, or let you take boats out by the hour.

Other than waterproof grippy shoes and a few safety items, you don't need much to sail, but I definitely recommend a captain's hat for style.

Ahoy!

I take it you're Joe.

- Great to see you, Chance.

We're on a Pearson Ensign, it's a keelboat.

It's got an extremely heavy keel underneath the water that makes these impossible to tip over, which should give you some security.

- That's good.

I'm not gonna be that parody that gets hit by this thing flying across.

- Yep.

- Or we do need a bloopers reel.

- There is a lot on the front end, but it'll be words that I've said before.

- Sure.

- Once we're going instead of hearing it for the first time.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Joe] Inland lake sailing is all about wind shifting.

If the wind is coming from the front of the boat, you can't go directly into it.

You can sail 45 degrees off of the wind to either side, and that's called close hauled.

And if you're sailing 90 degrees relative to the wind, that's called a beam reach, 45 more degrees down and you're on a broad reach.

That down wind is when the wind is right in your back.

This handles the tiller.

- The tiller.

And here's the tiller extension here.

- Wow.

That's a lot to remember.

I'm glad you're here 'cause we'd crash.

- Are you ready to get us out?

- Yes.

Here we go.

Not falling in.

- Freed from the buoy?

- We're free.

- Excellent, we're sailing.

(moving music) - I'm sailing!

I'm a sailor now!

- [Presenter] Sailboats come in all sizes and aren't just for tropical waters and ocean crossings.

Smaller boats are great on inland Lakes and you know we've got a few of those.

In fact, as far back as the late 1800s, Twin Cities boat builders and yacht clubs played a key role in establishing yacht racing as a popular sport in America.

From recreational sailing at Bde Maka Ska to crewing on a race boat in Lake Minnetonka.

It's easier than you might think to set sail.

- Are you ready for us to practice our first maneuver?

- Sh- yes.

- So, when you go from close hauled from one direction and cross through the wind That's called tacking.

- I'm going to push the tiller towards the sail.

- Yep.

Oh-ho!

- And then we cross and sit on the high side of the boat again.

- That's pretty sweet.

- The sail switched sides when we did that, it's so that the windward side of the boat is where the wind is coming from, so it's gonna push the sail to the leeward side.

Windward is which side the wind touches first and leeward is the direction that's after.

- Got it.

- Yep.

- Windward and leeward.

- There's sailing vocabulary all over the language when you start looking for it.

Running a tight ship.

Trying a different tack.

- Starboard.

- Crossed lines.

- Poop deck.

(laughs) - (laughs) Yeah.

I like to point at something in the distance on shore and aim towards that.

So, then you keep a consistent direction.

Ready to jibe?

- Yes.

Jibe-ho.

Tally-ho.

(cranking and click) - There we go.

- (laughs) Yes.

- Here we're in a position where we could tack when we're ready.

We're getting close to the shore.

You wanna switch places and do it?

- Sure.

(somber music) I'm the captain now.

(laughter) (upbeat music) Oh ho ho!

Oh!

You're leaning!

- 90 degree turn.

That was steered toward that building.

Yep.

- And you can see how it- - Whoo.

- you have to be constantly steering otherwise - Woo hoo!

Whoa!

Here we go.

Oh my gosh, this is amazing.

(laughs) I'm uh- feel like I'm gonna fall off.

This is so cool.

- That's why these are great boats to learn in too because you're really safe.

- I hope so.

(Laughs) - No way to capsize and there's no way to fall off.

You're sitting on a bench.

Trim in, keep a hand on the tiller.

- Okay.

(laughs) It's a lot to remember.

- Yeah.

You'll have to do a dance for your like kind of gripping but also having enough fingers free to sheet in.

So right now we're, yep.

You're about to initiate the tack so keep the tiller towards you.

(wind and rattling) Sail.

Switch sides.

And- - Woo.

- We tacked.

- This literally makes my stomach just like churn.

We're leaning real far.

- Yep.

And so if you've ever seen Olympic sailors, they're always really Far out.

- Like they're laying off the boat.

- Yeah, they're way off the boat and that's so that they can keep the boat flat, then get even more speed.

- To get started in sailing- what was your journey like?

- My dad actually started sailing with some guys that he knew if my dad could do that, I, I would like to do that too.

I was kind of marginally employed.

I took my first sailing lesson here at the Minneapolis Sailing Center.

They gave me 50% off scholarship because of my income.

- Nice.

- And it made it way, way easier to partake.

Then I took more lessons over the next few summers and then I started really uh- getting into it with the racing scene.

- That's sweet to hear that the Minneapolis Sailing Center has affordability based on your income.

because that's super helpful when it comes to access.

- So one thing that I really like about the sailing center here is that there is- and we're jibing again - Thar she blows!

(laughter) - Yeah.

So one misconception I had is that it would be really easy to like tip this thing over.

Is there other like misconceptions that people often have about sailing?

- I think a lot of the misconception is around like who gets to sail and really it's something that anyone can do.

The boat we're on right now has been donated to the sailing center restored by us.

We try to keep cost really low so that the barrier to entry is also low.

In terms of diversity.

That it is fairly um- bleak uh as a saying.

So I actually crew for racing on Lake Minnetonka and White Bear Lake, I'm in a fleet of about 60, 70 sailors.

I'm the only person of color.

Whereas here we pulled up, we got South Asian families getting out on boats, we got Asian families, we got you and I out here.

It is genuinely a different scene.

That's a lot of the work that we've been doing over the last two years with our equity and inclusion initiative here.

Working with community organizations, that - That role is so important.

I think just because of inertia.

There's so many generations and years of exclusion.

It really takes an effort to kind of undo that momentum of people feeling left out or feeling like it's just not for them.

- Absolutely.

- Holy cow.

We just pulled a 180.

- Oh I was like, that's because of me.

- Yeah.

(laughter) Oh wow!

We just keep turning.

(laughter) Amazing.

(upbeat music) You know, I'm really enjoying like when the wind picks up and we get rocked and it was like whoa - The immediacy of the wind of controlling the vessel.

It makes it hard to do anything else but be present for the activity.

- Knowing there's power in my hands but there's also a power that could easily overtake me.

You know?

- Yeah.

What I want the wind to do doesn't matter.

I have to figure out what it's doing and adjust to it.

There's a humbling aspect - That's really life.

You know?

There's many things that you can control but there's way more things that you cannot.

(laughter) I feel like we're cruising right now.

- Excellent.

This cross.

- Holy crap.

Whoa!

Whoa!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Let's go!

I've been sailing some of the most exhilarating surprising parts of it was when the wind would just pick up and it would feel like the boat is just gonna tip over.

It's inspired, kind of like a survival feeling.

My heart would beat high, my adrenaline would rush.

Very cool that in our city of Minneapolis, we have programs that allow anybody to come out and give it a try.

There's a community that's really in love with what they do.

What a great day.

I feel accomplished, confident in my learning skills.

Captain Chance signing off.

(bubbles)