American Sailing video
Jenny Wight discusses her new book written for American Sailing, The Art of Teaching on the Water
May 11, 2026 · 10 min · 231 views
What this video covers
Jenny Wight, Director of Educational Development at American Sailing and American Boating, wrote *The Art of Teaching on the Water*, a textbook for sailing and boating instructors published by American Sailing.Watch The book replaces the older Fred King manual, which the late American Sailing CEO Jonathan Payne championed expanding into a full instructor textbook before his death.2:41 Wight draws on her background as a kindergarten teacher and sailing instructor to address the gap between being a competent sailor and being an effective instructor.7:21 Core techniques covered include choice theory — giving students constrained options such as choosing a marina approach — to engage adult learners; wait time, the deliberate pause that lets students process before an instructor supplies an answer; and guided discovery, where the instructor poses a problem and steps back rather than lecturing.1:26 The book also covers Bloom's taxonomy, deeper-order thinking, and professional development frameworks for sailing schools.9:00 Wight argues that instructors' most common failure is talking too much and not giving students enough time at the helm, and that student confidence builds only through repeated hands-on practice.6:01 The central lesson: model once, then get out of the way and let students dock the boat every time.7:07
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