Old School Curriculum Rocks!

1960's - 1970's

If you grew up in the era of Royce's Sailing Illustrated, a kid sized version of Chapman Piloting & Seamanship you'll probably remember how this little book was a treasure of knowledge, full of detailed drawings perfect for a young imagination. The pages jumped from Points of Sail to weather systems to historic Tall Ships. I always wondered why Royce mixed up the topics, maybe to inspire Adventure.

1957 - How to Sail by Samuel Carter III

Another timeless, but out of print pocket book.

"It is hard to explain how your touch upon the tiller is like the stroke of a sculptor's chisel, carving from the raw materials of wind and water something that is graceful, powerful and self-expressive.... a live medium, brighter than paint, broader than any canvas, musical with the sound of wind and water."

"Half the lure of sailing is adventure. Divide the rest between two other universal, human qualities - the desire for freedom and the urge to create - and you have that unshakable architecture that is sometimes puzzling to laymen : a sailor's love of sailing."

"... the element of discovery still hovers very really about boats... because there are no footprints on the sea . . . because there are ahead of you always the unknown quantities of wind and water, solitude and the thrill of harbours tucked away on familiar shores. You become again an adventurer into an unsubdued, sometimes incalculable world . . . a world to conquer, to have always as your own."

What happens when these historic works go out of print?

In 1974 old books were still popular. A reference to Carter's epic "How to Sail" appears in the PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION IN AQUATICS EDUCATION -- CURRICULUM GUIDELINES published by the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. (AAHPER - now known as SHAPE America).

On page 63 you will find this gem of a curriculum:

Instructor of Small Craft and Open Water Activity

INSTRUCTOR OF SAILING

by ROBERT F. BURNSIDE

"Methods and materials for teaching skills, theory and techniques of handling small sail craft as required for the American National Red Cross Sailing Instructor's Certificate"

Huge list of lesson topics, check it out. Also curriculum for Power Boating and Canoeing Instructors

You may download a pdf copy of Burnside's INSTRUCTOR OF SAILING curriculum for teaching purposes, here:

Instructor of Sailing Curriculum 1974.pd

Download PD • 477KB

Old school is the New school.