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Short Handed Gybes

7K views 39 replies 14 participants last post by  bobmcgov 
#1 ·
How do others handle short handed gybes, where you have at most 2 people on board? I've generally heard that one should gybe the mainsail first, then worry about the jib when you have time. But I've found on my Bene 31 that it's hard to complete the turn with the jib backed.

I can head dead down wind, pull the gib across to go wing-on-wing, then gybe, but this takes more time than I like to execute. Maybe we just need to practice it.
 
#3 · (Edited)
You can do what is called Wearing the ship. That is for a square rigger they took their stern through the wind to shift from close hauled on one side to the other.

For a vessel with Fore & Aft sails with the wind on one quarter; you would take your bow through the wind (tacking) to the point where the wind is on the other quarter. Thus eliminating a possible wild swinging of the boom. Or tacking to go from one broad reach to the other.

This method is easier on your rigging and your nerves... But as with all maneuvers with a vessel, plan your moves ahead of time and let your crew know what that plan is...
Note: Letting your crew know your plans, is very very important when working a vessel.
 
#4 ·
This is the procedure I just typed up the other day for a friend:

1) Head down until the jib "winks" and then head back up so that the
jib stays filled
2) Note where the bow is pointing on the horizon
3) Sheet in on the lazy jib sheet to "pre set" the jib for the jibe.
The jib should be set so that when it jibes, the jib is sheeted out to
about the same amount on the new side
4) release the working sheet on the jib
5) sheet in the main to center the boom
6) Turn the boat to jibe the main sail
7) ** IMPORTANT** When the boom jibes, let the main sail out QUICKLY
to prevent the boat from broaching (turning uncontrollably up through
the wind

so we "pre-set" the jib so that it is ready to go after the main sail jibes. Some adjustment may be necessary after the jibe if the pre-set wasn't quite right, but otherwise, you're most of the way there already. I follow the same procedure when single handing except I'm doing all the work :)
 
#7 ·
Presetting the "new" jib sheet as described, may be the way to go. Personally, I haven't had trouble on most boats treating the jib as an "orphan" to be tended to after the main has come over and been eased. But if you do, then do whatever you need to get comfortable.

What Boasun is describing is also known as the "chicken jibe" (meaning not jibing at all, typically when it's blowing stink and you want the rig to remain standing, and the boat to remain underneath it ;-). I describe it to students as akin to having a psychotic sniper next door, and your best friend, whom you want to visit, next door to sniper. You wisely go all the way around the block, even though a longer walk, in the interest of having it bullet (and death)-free. Consider this technique when it's blowing 20 or more.

And most important when jibing in a breeze, keep the bow headed no higher than a broad reach right after the boom comes over. If you don't arrest your swing in time, she'll keep on rounding up, and you'll end up broached broadside, with the tip of your boom in the water so you can't ease it. Not fun, though definitely an adventure.
 
#8 ·
I use sort of a combination of all of the above:

Main traveller to the middle, sheet the main in hard, harden up the lazy jib sheet, turn the boat, release the main right out then take the jib across. Once on the new course, reset the traveller and the sails as required by the new course.

This is niether complicated nor dangerous in any wind assuming that you are carrying the appropriate amount of sail for the wind strength in the frist place.
 
#9 ·
For all those that mention the importance of easing the mainsheet quickly after the gybe--how are you doing that? Are you throwing it off the winch, or easing it around the winch? The latter is pretty hard to do fast. (Obviously this is meaningless if you don't have a mainsheet winch).

It also occurs to me that, on most monohulls, when you're at a broad reach or deeper, the boom is way past the end of your traveler. That is, it doesn't seem like having the traveller all the way down vs centered will make much difference in sail shape. All your downforce is probably coming from the vang.

So is there any reason not to just keep the traveler centered once the boom is well past the end, to remove a step (or 2) when gybing?
 
#10 ·
When the breeze is up and I'm gybing single or short handed, I shorten the mainsheet, harden up the lazy sheet, throw all but enough wraps to keep the working sheet in place on the winch and gybe. As she's coming through and the jib backs, I throw off the wraps and let her run. Just after she comes through the wind I trim as much of the jib by hand as I can. Once on the new course, I sheet out a bit on the main and trim the jib. My traveller is 24" long and has no adjustments. It free slides to the stops. If it had adjustments, I'd move it from out to center and then out on the new side after the gybe. Oh Joy is a tiller boat so doing this dance requires a bit of dexterity, especially in anything over 30 knots.
 
#13 ·
Jibing in 30 knots or above is a religious experience. Charlie, you and OH JOY, with long keel, large rudder and good displacement (and courage, skill and experience) can do this and live to tell about it, but a lot of us in smaller, lighter, narrow-keel (and rig) profile, quick-pivot boats, won't track well enough to do it without overpowering the helm after the boom comes across, and getting involuntarily rounded up into a broach that's hard to recover from in a stinking breeze.

So for those in the latter category, and especially those with thin enough experience to be writing to the "Learn to Sail" topic, take Charlie's good advice as to how to do it, but then sail 30 years before trying it in 30+ knots. For the rest of us, above 20-25 knots, consider the "chicken jibe", or a storm trysail, or just a jib, that can be "worn" across without jibing a long heavy boom.

And letting the mainsheet out real quick on the lighter boats is imperative to get the main out to perpendicular with the wind, *fast*. This reduces the twisting force you get (in a lightweight boat) if you keep it sheeted in too long, and makes it easier to hold her to a broad reach or broader right after the jibe, since the rudder is resisting less force trying to round the boat up.
 
#11 ·
First of all you put the tiller between your knees, bring the main sheet in and the traveller up near centre, take up the slack in the lazy sheet.

You now have one sheet in each hand so you wear ship with your knees releasing the old sheet and pulling in the new sheet. The main will come across and you ease the main sheet then adjust the traveller.

The hard part on my boat as I do not have a tiller pilot is getting a cold beer from down below once on the new course. :)
 
#14 ·
Hilarious thread! From 'how to gybe my Bene 31 short handed' to the perils of heavy air gybing in 30+ kts of breeze, or, gybing on "11".

To the OP, you're boat isn't all too big, so there really isn't too much to worry about. The order (main first, jib second or visa versa) isn't all that important for normal conditions. We'll leave the heavy stuff for another thread as it depends hugely on the boat, crew, and very importantly, sea state.

In your case, it shouldn't be hard or slow to go wing on wing for a bit, then gybe the main. Or as others said, strap your jib a bit, take up on the lazy sheet, gybe the boat and the main, and deal with the jib when your done and trim to course. In really light air, you can just grab a bite of the mainsheet and toss it across the boat as the stern crosses the wind. Be sure it's a controlled ease on the new gybe. It saves a lot of wear and tear. In more wind, use the main sheet to bring the boom to centerline... when the main is effectively stalled just before it's ready to fill on the new gybe, uncleat the main sheet for a quick and controlled ease. On larger boats with main sheet winches, use the winch drum to control the speed of the ease. 'Quick' is your friend, but 'control' is your god. If you have and use your vang, be aware of how much vang tension you might have. If it's heavily tensioned and you let the boom slam across the boat, you can break the boom even when you start sailing in the 18-20kt wind range.

In the end, gybing single handed is a pretty simple sequence. Just practice.
 
#15 ·
Several people have mentioned winching in the mainsheet, then quickly letting it out on the other tack as the stern comes through the wind.

Why is it okay to winch in the mainsheet at your leisure before the gybe, if it's so important to let it out quickly on the other? Do you not risk a pre-gybe broach if you spend too much time with the main close to center prior to the turn?
 
#16 ·
Several people have mentioned winching in the mainsheet, then quickly letting it out on the other tack as the stern comes through the wind.

Why is it okay to winch in the mainsheet at your leisure before the gybe, if it's so important to let it out quickly on the other? Do you not risk a pre-gybe broach if you spend too much time with the main close to center prior to the turn?
Not so much, since you are bearing off while you are trimming in the main, which tends to keep the CE and the CLR more or less in line, and neither the main nor the rudder are being shock-loaded. It's different after the boom slams over, it quickly goes from pushing you one way to pushing you the other way. No matter what the theory, the dicey part of the jibe is just after you do it, not just before.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Why must you let out boom quickly after jibing?

Perhaps I'm a little dense, and I'll admit that I haven't jibed in 30kts. It seems to me that if you can bring the boom into the centerline with mainsheet before the jib and have full control of the boat, you can then ease the wheel or tiller just a little to get wind on the opposite site of mainsail. The sail goes over just a little and the situation is exactly the same as it was just before you jibed. Then ease the boom out and get the jib sheeted in on the new course. Or don't ease the boom out for a while...you'll still be under control, no great stress is applied to the rig. It's the same as it was just before you jibed, except the wind is on the opposite side of the sail. What am I missing? If you let the boom out quickly (meaning fast) do you impose lots of force on it when you bring that fast movement of the boom to a stop?
 
#22 ·
NCC -

Those of us who sail in the San Francisco Bay often see 20-30kts every summer day. It's been my experience that if you don't ease the main immediately after jibing, the boat will round-up (broach). If one thinks about the boom as a giant lever arm connected to the boat's z-axis (parallel to the mast) and the wind is the force at the center of effort (the sail), then keeping the main in enables the strong wind to spin the boat quickly.

By the time the boom is nearing the shrouds, the pressure on the sail and the turning moment are reduced significantly so that the load on the main sheet and the boom are much less than if it were left sheeted in.

Forgive this explanation from an electrical engineer.. I'm sure someone more mechanical can explain it better.
 
#24 ·
NCC -

Those of us who sail in the San Francisco Bay often see 20-30kts every summer day. It's been my experience that if you don't ease the main immediately after jibing, the boat will round-up (broach). If one thinks about the boom as a giant lever arm connected to the boat's z-axis (parallel to the mast) and the wind is the force at the center of effort (the sail), then keeping the main in enables the strong wind to spin the boat quickly.
I think the question that both NCC and I had was why the moment arm is any different right _before_ the gybe, when the boom is still on the old side. You've got the exact same forces trying to make you round up in the _other_ direction, right?

From the responses so far, I gather the difference is that right after the gybe, you've got some instability from shock loading on the boom and rudder. I suspect it may also be because you were already steering into the gybe, which works against a pre-gybe round-up, but in favor of a post-gybe round-up.
 
#25 ·
Right it's a combination of the transient shock load combined with heeling which lifts the rudder up and changes its angle of attack that all combine to start the broach. The rudder becomes less effective as the boat heels, etc..

Sorry I missed that part of his question.
 
#27 ·
I agree with SD's earlier comment on controlling the main as you turn through the wind. I was taught, and still practice it, to turn through the wind and pull the main to center just as the jib collapses. Waiting for that moment you can easily control the main by hand and be ready to let it out quickly on the opposite tack. I release the jib as I go through and have it somewhat pre set for the opposite tack. When I have the main under control I trim the jib and then the main. Never gybed above 30 knots, but never had a problem up to that wind speed. I have a wheel and auto pilot...and SD's post about auto pilots brings me to my question to add to this post.

My auto pilot will auto tack, but not auto gybe. I have tried to find a way to override the brain, but unlike my own, which I over ride to my detriment often, I can't seem to find a way.

I have a Raymarine ST4000 Autopilot on a Catalina 34 Tall Rig with Raymarine ST60 instruments all talking to each other. The autopilot recognizes the wind speed and direction and will not let you tack if it reads a gybe. My question: Has anyone found a way around this issue? I can't call it a problem as I understand the reason, but I would like to be able to over ride it as I often sail alone and auto is your friend...especially above 20 kts of wind speed.
 
#31 ·
The only difference between an autotack and an autogybe is which way the boat is facing... :D It shouldn't care that you're going downwind... what version of the firmware do you have for the ST4000???
 
#32 ·
I don't know what firmware I have but will try to check when getting the boat ready for launch in the next few weeks.

I would not think that it should care if I am gybing or tacking, but it certainly does. It reads the gybe and I have not been able to override it. Anyone else had the problem and been able to override?

Tom
 
#33 ·
My Raymarine wheelpilot ST-1 with has a gybe inhibit feature that defaults to on. It's controlled by a parameter called GYBESTOP in the user calibration settings.

The gybe inhibit feature prevents the autotack from turning your stern across the wind. It only works if you've got a wind-instrument feed to the autopilot.
 
#34 ·
Thanks. I have gone through that book a bunch of times, but will look again to turn off the gybe preventer. It's not like it will accidentally gybe, you do have to push two buttons to auto tack. No different than turning the wheel, except you know roughly how far it will turn.

Thanks!
 
#35 ·
I looked through the manual but didn't see anything about a GYBESTOP.
 
#36 ·
That was from the "SmartPilot Series: S1 Wheelpilot, S1 TillerPilot Operating guide, Document Reference 81283-1", as downloaded from the Raymarine web site.

It's section 2.5, User Calibration options, under User Calibration Pages. It's 2nd entry, right after AutoTack Angle and before Wind Selection (app vs true). Page 31 in this version of the guide.

This is most likely specific to the model and firmware version. My actual menus do not quite match the manual. I haven't confirmed the entry on the actual device. I will check at my first opportunity.
 
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