Ottawa Sailing and Powerboating Schools

... leading to: BYC,OSS & DAM - A Successful Team Project

What brought a bus load of grade 6 students from D.A. Moodie Intermediate School to BYC on Tuesday, June 1 8th? They came to sail their first efforts at building model boats based on a Bruce Kirby design. To give some background on the project - Last fall a colleague, Kassem Cheatani, and I were discussing how it would be motivational if the students could do a "real life" project in design and technology class at school. From our brainstorming came the idea that a visit to BYC would enable the students to see boats of various sizes and designs. Ron Schute was contacted and a field trip was arranged. During this field trip Ron organized a demonstration of racing in dinghies in front of the club so the students could see application of the design plan.

The teacher and students were very impressed with their visit and Ron's demonstration. When they returned to school they began planning how they could build models based on the dinghy design. Bruce Kirby kindly permitted his design to be used by the classes for their projects. The winter months were spent in learning how to follow designs, cut wood to specification, finish hulls, construct tiny keels and masts as well as sails to complete their boats.

D.A. Moodie Students June 18 was a gloriously sunny day with a bit of breeze; perfect for putting the finished boats to the crucial test of actually being in the water. It was a very excited group of grade 6 students who came by school bus to BYC for the trial runs. Mr. Miller welcomed us to the club and then the students had a mini course on boating terminology and tactics from Kim Voege of Ottawa Sailing School . Armed with the quintessential roll of duct tape and an old paddle, the group proceeded down the harbour to the area of the dinghy shed. Two floating docks, about 15 ft. apart, a line strung between them and the harbour wall served as the test area. The students had made their craft (approximately 10 inches in length) in teams of two so one boat builder went to each dock to either launch or retrieve the vessel.

The first trial convincingly taught the importance of a good ratio between height of mast and weight of keel. To the surprise of the builders every model suffered a broach and had to drift to the retrieval dock. Plan "B": everyone searched for some ballast to offset the height of the masts. The new configuration had rocks duct taped to the hull or keel. The good news was, this lowered the centre of gravity and improved the broaching to some degree. The models "sailed" in rather interesting courses between the ends of the test tank. The bad news was, it provided a bit too much weight for some vessels, and, unfortunately, one overzealously modified craft sank before the rescue crew could retrieve it with the paddle.

After all the builders had attempted two modifications and observed the results everyone returned to the marquee tent for a summary discussion of what had been learned . Mr. Miller quizzed the students on their now, first-hand knowledge of design requirements and presented a BYC burgee to the students.

It was a terrific experience for the students who came away with a greater appreciation for the design of successful sailboats as well as many pleasant memories of their visit to BYC. As we climbed aboard the school bus both students and teachers were making plans for how they could improve upon their designs and try again next year. Who knows what sailors or naval architects may come from this co-operative effort? I know the BYC burgee hangs very proudly in D.A. Moodie school as a reminder of this project. Many thanks to BYC and Ottawa Sailing School for allowing us to make school curriculum come to life.

Part one...

	... leading to: BYC,OSS & DAM - A Successful Team Project What brought a bus load of grade 6 students from D.A. Moodie Intermediate School to BYC on Tuesday, June 1 8th? They came to sail their first efforts at building model boats based on a Bruce Kirby design. To give some background on the project - Last fall a colleague, Kassem Cheatani, and I were discussing how it would be motivational if the students could do a "real life" project in design and technology class at school. From our brainstorming came the idea that a visit to BYC would enable the students to see boats of various sizes and designs. Ron Schute was contacted and a field trip was arranged. During this field trip Ron organized a demonstration of racing in dinghies in front of the club so the students could see application of the design plan. The teacher and students were very impressed with their visit and Ron's demonstration. When they returned to school they began planning how they could build models based on the dinghy design. Bruce Kirby kindly permitted his design to be used by the classes for their projects. The winter months were spent in learning how to follow designs, cut wood to specification, finish hulls, construct tiny keels and masts as well as sails to complete their boats. June 18 was a gloriously sunny day with a bit of breeze; perfect for putting the finished boats to the crucial test of actually being in the water. It was a very excited group of grade 6 students who came by school bus to BYC for the trial runs. Mr. Miller welcomed us to the club and then the students had a mini course on boating terminology and tactics from Kim Voege of Ottawa Sailing School . Armed with the quintessential roll of duct tape and an old paddle, the group proceeded down the harbour to the area of the dinghy shed. Two floating docks, about 15 ft. apart, a line strung between them and the harbour wall served as the test area. The students had made their craft (approximately 10 inches in length) in teams of two so one boat builder went to each dock to either launch or retrieve the vessel. The first trial convincingly taught the importance of a good ratio between height of mast and weight of keel. To the surprise of the builders every model suffered a broach and had to drift to the retrieval dock. Plan "B": everyone searched for some ballast to offset the height of the masts. The new configuration had rocks duct taped to the hull or keel. The good news was, this lowered the centre of gravity and improved the broaching to some degree. The models "sailed" in rather interesting courses between the ends of the test tank. The bad news was, it provided a bit too much weight for some vessels, and, unfortunately, one overzealously modified craft sank before the rescue crew could retrieve it with the paddle. After all the builders had attempted two modifications and observed the results everyone returned to the marquee tent for a summary discussion of what had been learned . Mr. Miller quizzed the students on their now, first-hand knowledge of design requirements and presented a BYC burgee to the students. It was a terrific experience for the students who came away with a greater appreciation for the design of successful sailboats as well as many pleasant memories of their visit to BYC. As we climbed aboard the school bus both students and teachers were making plans for how they could improve upon their designs and try again next year. Who knows what sailors or naval architects may come from this co-operative effort? I know the BYC burgee hangs very proudly in D.A. Moodie school as a reminder of this project. Many thanks to BYC and Ottawa Sailing School for allowing us to make school curriculum come to life. Part one...




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