Some Q's about today's sail.

[Perithead]

Well, I went sailing today on my 83' Mac 25. I was on a manmade lake in south Alabam, Lake Eufaula. The winds were prtty much 16mph all day long. It was really my first day sailing in winds like that, but I have sailed in maybe 5 mph winds before but it wasnt anyhting like this.

So, I ran into a few problems that I would like to ask about.

1) On my jib, there are two lines coming from the bottom corner of it(forgot the name of the corner) which lead into my cockpit. When I am on a starbord tack then my starbord line is cleated on the side of the cockpit and the port line is cleated but with plenty of slack to allow for the jib to do its job. When I jibe, how should I go about untieing the starbord line quickly and having the port line ready to be set? When I did this, it just wasnt fluid at all and took me a while to get my jib working after I tacked. How should I be preparing for the jibe? Jib line wise.

2) If anyone is familiar with the Mac 25 I was heeling what seemed to be a WHOLE LOT today and I wasnt sure if the boat was made to do that. I had my jib and main up and neither of them were reefed and I would sail at a direct right angle with the wind and it would heel quite a bit and was pretty scary for someone with as little experience as I have, but I was hoping that this is what the boat was meant to do. Was I pushing the limits of the boat to much?

3) Another problem I had is when I was sailing on a broad reach, I would let out enough line to allow my boom to be square with the wind. When I did this and I would try to jibe, my boom would swing around and into my forestay and not swing all the way to the other side of the boat. Can I not leave all the slack in my boom while jibing? Or should I have brought the boom to center of the boat before I attempted the jibe?

Thanks alot everyone for any replies!

[danjarch]

A few questions. If there was so much wind why where you jibing. You should have tacked. How is your boom getting any where near the fore stay, it's the one on the front of the boat. And your boat should be able to dip it's lee rail in the water with out to much worry.

[Faster]

I suspect there's a terminology issue at work here. Perit you need to get a good basic book on sailing and learn the proper names of rigging parts and maneuvers so that we are clear on what you are asking.

Maybe we need Giu to do a video for this too!

By the sounds of it this was your first sail in a decent breeze on a lightweight boat. It will just take practice and exposure to develop techniques that seem to flow better. As Dan says, dipping the rail is not a problem, but it's not the fastest way to get around and proper trim and sail selection will minimize excessive heeling.

Again, practice, practice.

[nolatom]

this was your first time in a brisk breeze, so much of what you did will seem new.

First, if you're changing tacks by jibing, the jib is the last thing you worry about, and the main (and boom) are the main thing. Trim your boom pretty close to close-hauled, then jibe, then let the boom out quickly, while keeping your bow headed close to downwind. Then, and only then, should you worry about bringing your jib over to the new tack. The jib is the last thing you should worry about in a jibe. The main, the boom, your course, and your crew, are the major things. Then tend to the jib.

Let's talk about heeling. If you were scared by how much you heeled, then you were probably carrying too much sail area. Reef the main, and carry some luff in it, in order to keep the boat "on it's feet". Ease the jib if you have to, and steer towards the wind to ease the heel, but then once you recover, bear off enough to keep your boat moving so you'll still have enough flow over the rudder to steer with.

I'm not familiar with the Mac 25. But as general advice, try tacking rather than jibing if it's blowing hard. And that corner of the jib you asked about it the "clew", where the jib sheets attach. Also, if you're on starboard tack, it's your port jib sheet that's tight (taut), while the starboard one is "lazy", or slack.

You're learning to sail by sailing. Hang in there, and read up on sailing theory in between. It will all become second-nature pretty soon.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Perithead

Well, I went sailing today on my 83' Mac 25. I was on a manmade lake in south Alabam, Lake Eufaula. The winds were prtty much 16mph all day long. It was really my first day sailing in winds like that, but I have sailed in maybe 5 mph winds before but it wasnt anyhting like this.

So, I ran into a few problems that I would like to ask about.

Welcome to sailnet.

1) On my jib, there are two lines coming from the bottom corner of it(forgot the name of the corner) which lead into my cockpit. When I am on a starbord tack then my starbord line is cleated on the side of the cockpit and the port line is cleated but with plenty of slack to allow for the jib to do its job. When I jibe, how should I go about untieing the starbord line quickly and having the port line ready to be set? When I did this, it just wasnt fluid at all and took me a while to get my jib working after I tacked. How should I be preparing for the jibe? Jib line wise.

These are called the Jib Sheets...and are used for controlling the jib. When you gybe or tack, you need to uncleat the leeward line and hold it in preparation for the turn. As you turn, you'll release the leeward line and start taking up the windward line... and as the boat turns and makes it the leeward line...you'll finish trimming it. The timing of all of this really depends on your boat...

2) If anyone is familiar with the Mac 25 I was heeling what seemed to be a WHOLE LOT today and I wasnt sure if the boat was made to do that. I had my jib and main up and neither of them were reefed and I would sail at a direct right angle with the wind and it would heel quite a bit and was pretty scary for someone with as little experience as I have, but I was hoping that this is what the boat was meant to do. Was I pushing the limits of the boat to much?

Sounds like the boat was overpowered... and you probably should have put a reef in the main. Generally, if a monohull is overcanvassed, it will heel a lot and you'll find that the boat feels much better and handles better once you throw in a reef. Often a boat will sail faster and much more comfortably if you've reefed, rather than being overpowered. Being overpowered leads to the boat heeling and a lot of weather helm, which causes a lot of drag, and often slows the boat down more than if it was reefed and heeling less, and is much more uncomfortable.

3) Another problem I had is when I was sailing on a broad reach, I would let out enough line to allow my boom to be square with the wind. When I did this and I would try to jibe, my boom would swing around and into my forestay and not swing all the way to the other side of the boat. Can I not leave all the slack in my boom while jibing? Or should I have brought the boom to center of the boat before I attempted the jibe?

Thanks alot everyone for any replies!

Not too familiar with the boat, but don't think you mean the forestay, which goes from the mast to the bow. BTW, the gooseneck usually doesn't articulate enough to allow the boom to swing forward past the shrouds. The backstay is probably the problem, and what you're hitting. I have to ask if you had the topping lift eased enough to leave some slack in it. If not, then there's a good chance that the topping lift was supporting the boom and causing the mainsail shape to be fuller than it ought to be—leading to increased heeling, and if the boom is tilted at the wrong angle, possibly lead to it hitting the backstay.

BTW, it is generally wise to bring the boom in and help ease it back out on a gybe, so that the boom doesn't kill anyone or cause any damage. An uncontrolled gybe can be very expensive or even deadly. Generally, this isn't needed on a tack, since the boom will come in by itself, as the boat goes head to wind.

[swadiver]

Ph,

Hmmm, first bit of advice I have for you is to sign up for a begining sailing class or at least invest in a learn to sail book. US Sailing offers a good beginers book that will address a lot of your questions.

As for your first question, the corner of the jib that the lines (jib sheets) are tied to is called the clew. You can remember this because if you let both jib sheets go that corner of the sail will flap around like it has no CLUE where to go. I'm a bit confused by the rest of your question about what tack you where on. Lets start with which side of the boat is port and which side of the boat is starboard. If you are looking towards the bow (pointed end of the boat), the left side is port and the right side is starboard. You can remember that by the fact that right/starboard has more letters in the name than left/port. So if you are sailing along and say your boom is on the left/port side, you are on a starboard tack, and if you are sailing along and the boom is on right/starboard side you are on a port tack. You can remember what tack you are on by what side of the boat the boom is NOT on. It is very important to know which tack you are on when you and other boats try to figure out who has the right of way. So back to your original question, if you where on a starboard tack your boom and jib would be the left/port side and your port jib sheet (line)would be cleated tightly. This would be called the working jib sheet. In this case the starboard jib sheet has no load and is just laying there and it is called the lazy jib sheet. You did not say if you had any winches for your jib sheets, but even if you did they would have to be self tailing to help you out with your line handling speed. I will just say that is very difficult to single hand with out some kind of jam cleat, this is the kind of cleat that you just tug upward on the line and it will come uncleated. If the cleat you have is a kind of horn cleat that you wrap the jib sheet around to tie it off, you will have a difficult time getting it unwapped in time to allow the jib to move over to the other side. I hope this helps you out, but I still would suggest a class or two as single handling a 25 foot boat is not that easy with no other experience.

Good Luck

Scott - Namaste - Catalina 30 Tall rig

[starboardyacht]

Originally Posted by Perithead

Well, I went sailing today on my 83' Mac 25. I was on a manmade lake in south Alabam, Lake Eufaula. The winds were prtty much 16mph all day long. It was really my first day sailing in winds like that, but I have sailed in maybe 5 mph winds before but it wasnt anyhting like this.

So, I ran into a few problems that I would like to ask about.

1) On my jib, there are two lines [B](Jib Sheets)[/B]coming from the bottom corner of it(forgot the name of the corner, clew) which lead into my cockpit.

When I am on a starbord tack then my starbord line is cleated on the side of the cockpit and the port line is cleated but with plenty of slack to allow for the jib to do its job[B].(sounds like you were on a port tack, if wind was coming over the starboard side and sheet cleated on port side heading into the wind, thats a starboard tack)[/b] When I jibe, how should I go about untieing the starbord line quickly and having the port line ready to be set? (first of all a jibe is off the wind sailing with wind on your stern, this is the most dangerous point of sail be careful that boom can knock you out of the boat,... a tack is when the wind is coming forward of the beam, master this first)
When I did this, it just wasnt fluid at all and took me a while to get my jib working after I tacked. How should I be preparing for the jibe? Jib line wise. (lots of ways to do this, here is how i do it... have the sheet not under load, its called lazy sheet, wrapped around the winch but not cleated, center the mainsail traveler, turn boat into wind slowly.... when almost "head to wind" quickly uncleat sheet.... keep turning boat slowly into the wind, jib & main should be flapping, when your directly into the wind quickly trim in sheet and steer down slowly, main and jib should start pulling right away, just do everything slow at first, have fun and please wear a PFD, i really kind of envy you, teaching myself to sail was the most fun i have ever had, you have alot to learn and tons of fun to look forward too.
2) If anyone is familiar with the Mac 25 I was heeling what seemed to be a WHOLE LOT today and I wasnt sure if the boat was made to do that. I had my jib and main up and neither of them were reefed and I would sail at a direct right angle with the wind and it would heel quite a bit and was pretty scary for someone with as little experience as I have, but I was hoping that this is what the boat was meant to do. Was I pushing the limits of the boat to much?

Put a reef in the main next time, it will make things easier and help your confidence.
3) Another problem I had is when I was sailing on a broad reach, I would let out enough line to allow my boom to be square with the wind. When I did this and I would try to jibe, my boom would swing around and into my forestay and not swing all the way to the other side of the boat. Can I not leave all the slack in my boom while jibing? Or should I have brought the boom to center of the boat before I attempted the jibe?

This will break your boat and possibly break your neck...... turn the boat slower and yes sheet in a little over half way........... let us know how it goes next time......Thanks alot everyone for any replies!

Congrats, on having the stones to take her out on a windy day, the learning curve is steep right now but it gets easier...

[tenuki]

Originally Posted by Perithead

So, I ran into a few problems that I would like to ask about.

1) When I did this, it just wasnt fluid at all and took me a while to get my jib working after I tacked. How should I be preparing for the jibe? Jib line wise.

2) If anyone is familiar with the Mac 25 I was heeling what seemed to be a WHOLE LOT today and I wasnt sure if the boat was made to do that.

3) should I have brought the boom to center of the boat before I attempted the jibe?

Thanks alot everyone for any replies!

1) welcome to beginning, just practice. btw, you probably shouldn't cleat the windward sheet.

2) did you have your water ballast filled? what angle were you at?

3) yes, always.

[CharlieCobra]

Originally Posted by Perithead

Well, I went sailing today on my 83' Mac 25. I was on a manmade lake in south Alabam, Lake Eufaula. The winds were prtty much 16mph all day long. It was really my first day sailing in winds like that, but I have sailed in maybe 5 mph winds before but it wasnt anyhting like this.

So, I ran into a few problems that I would like to ask about.

1) On my jib, there are two lines coming from the bottom corner of it(forgot the name of the corner) which lead into my cockpit. When I am on a starbord tack then my starbord line is cleated on the side of the cockpit and the port line is cleated but with plenty of slack to allow for the jib to do its job. When I jibe, how should I go about untieing the starbord line quickly and having the port line ready to be set? When I did this, it just wasnt fluid at all and took me a while to get my jib working after I tacked. How should I be preparing for the jibe? Jib line wise.

You should have jam or clam cleats that will grip the Jib sheet until you yank it out to tack. If ya don't have any, get one for each side. They're cheap.

2) If anyone is familiar with the Mac 25 I was heeling what seemed to be a WHOLE LOT today and I wasnt sure if the boat was made to do that. I had my jib and main up and neither of them were reefed and I would sail at a direct right angle with the wind and it would heel quite a bit and was pretty scary for someone with as little experience as I have, but I was hoping that this is what the boat was meant to do. Was I pushing the limits of the boat to much?

Did ya have the board/keel down? Heeling on a beam reach is going to cause the max amount of heeling as well as the best boat speed. Sheet out your main to get her up on her feet.

3) Another problem I had is when I was sailing on a broad reach, I would let out enough