OK, maybe someone can help me on this... I'll set up the situation first. I was out on a 27' Hunter yesterday with 2 members of my sailing club (I'd never met them before) who had each had about 4 yrs. sailing experience. We also had along an older couple probably in their early 70's; I should also mention their first time on a sailboat and the man a self-professed unadventerous type with a recent cervical fusion. Nice conditions, 10-12kt winds with a 2ft. swell. The first long leg of our sail was a downwind tack with lots of jibing. Now I've only been sailing for a couple of months but I was taught in my 101 class (on a 22' boat) to sheet in the mainsail as you're starting the jibe and release after or during completion of it (the book actually says to do that as you're doing the jibe. Either way the purpose is, of course, to minimize the wide swing of the boom and the excessive force on the mast (and what could subsequently follow with enough force). These guys never sheeted in or trimmed the mainsail at all when jibing and you can imagine the end result, not to mention how disconcerting it was for the couple on the boat who had no preparation for it. (In fact, no preparation for anything - I eventually took that on.) I tactfully suggested that perhaps we could "try sheeting in some at the beginning of each jibe" but that was ignored. The older man was instead eventually given the task to hang onto the lines to slow down the swing of the boom. (And I guess the couple must have thought that running into a piling and smashing the bow light along with one edge of the anchor, then later losing a winch handle left in the winch was standard fare with sailing as well.) So could someone tell me what should have happened? Is that really the way you're supposed to jibe, letting the boom run so far like that? I certainly need to know for future reference for myself. Thanks in advance.
Meg
Meg, you obviously know the answer and of course your sailing course was correct. Allowing an uncontrolled jibe, even in light winds, is just plain dumb. The rapidly moving boom is dangerous and the crash puts an extreme and unnecessary strain on the rigging and boat. There are some methods of rapidly jibing that are suitable for the right boat and crew in the right racing conditions, but that was defintiely not your case. The idea of having someone "hang onto the lines" shows a lack of skill that suggests that the "captain" needs remedial sailing 101. I would guess that the "four years of sailing experience" would turn out to be a gross exaggeration -- they were probably on somoene else's boat following orders a couple of times in those four years.
Trimming the main to centerline and then releasing the sheet on the new tack makes for a controlled gybe, but in lighter air there is no downside to just grabbing the mainsheet tackle and pulling the sail from one side to the other. Gets the job done quickly without a lot un-necessary sweating or time.
As a general guide, if you can easily bring the main into the centerline with one hand on the mainsheet tackle, there is no need to trim the sheet to perform the manouver. It's a question of judgement...
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SF
CS 36T Yes..snow's falling...
We always use the sail handling equipment on our boat, unless the winds are so light that the sails won't move without a push. Sailboats can be pretty complicated and I want to reinforce correct sail handling habits in my crew for the days when they are really needed. I have seen crew injured and too many close calls to count when a crew member reaches out and grabs an uncleated line and has it ripped from their hands and worse, endangers others on the boat.
In 10-12kts winds the correct way to jibe is to trim the main to center then release on the new tack. If done correcty you can use this method to get a little bump in speed just before a mark or obstacle. Having somebody in their seventies, fresh out of surgery hold onto the sheets as a boom preventer is probably not the best method.
I'm with SF on this one. In appropriately light conditions gybing the main without sheeting is fine.. saves a lot of grunt.
As the wind builds, however, it's a different story of course. Sheeting in to the centerline, and easing as the main flips across is the correct procedure. This can get tricky, though. Since you're sheeting in you are most likely "in the cleat" while doing so. When the main flips over, it's easy to still be in the cleat, and the sudden arrest of the main can cause or exaggerate a round up. It takes practice to pop the sheet out of the cleat at the appropriate moment to avoid that sudden load.
Then, in a breeze, controlling the ease can be problematic, especially if your mainsheet is a bit underpowered and it may easily get away from the handler. Rope burn and/or a full release can result, with equally disconcerting results. An engaged ratchet block in the mainsheet system can make a world of difference here.
Practice, practice is what it takes. Your "experienced" crewmates were at least inconsiderate to the elderly, apprehensive persons on board, at worst potentially dangerous.
__________________ Boating in BC waters since the '60s, sailing since 1981. Currently on our 5th boat, a 1984 Fast/Nicholson 345.
All of you -thanks so much for the feedback, all of which helps toward building my confidence out on the water. Haven't quite figured out referencing quotes in my reply so I'll do it like this:
TW- I swear, according to them monthly sailing plus advancement to and a fair bit of experience with bareboat sailing.
Faster - I'll be out on the water again today, this time with friends I know in a 22 Capri. Will have lots of opportunities to gybe and will practice your tips.
Honestly, in retrospect the more I think about their behavior (in reference to the older folks primarily), the more pissed I am. Never any explanations, no setting of expectations, never asked them if they would be comfortable doing whatever was asked of them - everything just done on the fly with no coordination or divvying up roles or responsibilities for anyone on board. The couple was quite good natured about it all at the time but maybe they're having second thoughts now. Anyway, I've vented now and learned from the
whole experience. And it was a really good sailing day!
MSTERNS1 with an inexperienced crew it is safer to come about to the other tack. it takes longer, but you wont have the problems you had with a jibe. captbillc
In ye olden dayes of sailing square-riggers, falling off the wind and coming up on the other tack to spare the rigging was called wearing. What do you call it in a marconi-rigged sailboat when you come up and tack, and then fall off rather than jibing? Is that the chicken jibe or is that something else entirely?
In ye olden dayes of sailing square-riggers, falling off the wind and coming up on the other tack to spare the rigging was called wearing. What do you call it in a marconi-rigged sailboat when you come up and tack, and then fall off rather than jibing? Is that the chicken jibe or is that something else entirely?
"Chicken Jibe" is the term we've always used for that maneouver, and it is the opposite of "wearing".
For 23 years we sailed in a predominately heavy wind region, and often resorted to the 'chicken' rather than risk a conventional jibe. Depending on the boat, though, you need to execute that move properly or you can end up in irons. On a nimble boat you can simply spin her around "the long way" and fall off on the other jibe, on others you'll need to trim the main throughout to 'drive' the boat through the long tack.
__________________ Boating in BC waters since the '60s, sailing since 1981. Currently on our 5th boat, a 1984 Fast/Nicholson 345.
You were with the most common sort of sailors, I think: those who never bothered to learn the proper, prudent, safe and equipment-preserving way of running a boat.
I was out Monday night in strongly variable winds, and I had a lot of main spilling and gybing to do, as we were just playing with the wind to test out a recut main, not going anywhere except "five miles that way, and then back the way we came". I take a sort of pride in gybing the main smoothly in concert with the helmsman's actions, and if you have a lot of crew (like we did), there is no difference from a tack.
By contrast, in lighter air a couple of days previously, I was using the old, crumbling main in lighter air going nearly dead downwind. I used the opportunity to demonstrate to my six-year-old son a "crash gybe" by saying "look at the windex, look at what I'm doing with the tiller, and listen to the mainsail". I showed him the boom gybing out of control (I could basically give it a slap to slow it down), and showed him it at the edge of control, and showed him how to sheet it in to the centerline as I gybed. This was in about eight knots of wind.
Then he tried it and screwed it up, and did it again and did it pretty well.
He's six and hasn't even started Optimist yet, but I'm pretty sure I know who the better sailor is...and will be...when I hear about your crewmates.
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