Captain John's Skipper Tips...

WestWittering

WestWittering

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Does anyone else get these?

At the moment, I am on the free service and I get a weekly email with a bite-size piece of information. It is all written in Americanese, but I have to say I really enjoy them.

This is this weeks :

Multi-time circumnavigator and sailor-supreme Hal Roth once stated "An engine does not substitute for seamanship under sail..."

After all, just how were those unwieldy sailing ships from long ago able to thread their way through deadly shoals, approach an anchorage, or maneuver in battle--under sail alone?

Our modern sailing craft are much more maneuverable than those old square riggers. Practice these three maneuvers under sail alone to master the art of "putting the brakes" on your sailboat smooth and easy!

1. Use the "Gears" of Close Reaching

No point of sail offers more control than the close reach in tight quarters maneuvering to approach a mooring buoy in a crowded harbor, sail over to a pier smooth and easy, pick up a fender that fell over the side, or sail up to that perfect anchoring spot you've picked out for the night.

Get onto a close reach with the bow pointed at the objective. Use just the mainsheet and mainsail. Follow these three easy "throttle control" tips...
Speed Up (increase throttle): Pull in on the mainsheet.
Slow Down (decrease throttle): Ease the mainsheet.
Stop (also see 3. below): Slack the mainsheet all the way.
2. When in Doubt, Let It Out

We've all experienced those out-of-the-blue situations where we run out of ideas. Now what, skipper? Steal a secret from the dinghy sailing crowd. In an emergency, let it fly!

Ease the mainsheet out all the way. Take the jib or Genoa sheets off the winches and let them go. This spills all of the sailing wind from your sails and your boat will pivot her bow into the wind faster than you can blink an eye.

3. Push the Boom against the Wind

Have you ever watched small sailing dinghies approach a dock. Maybe the dinghy skipper needs to slow down right away. So he or she grabs the sailing boom and pushes it out against the wind. This technique--called "back-winding"--will stop a boat on a dime.

Back-wind your mainsail if you approach a dock with a bit too much speed. Grab the boom and push it out hard against the wind. It will stop your boat just like stomping on the brakes!


==

Now I feel certain as night follows day, those forumites who could start a fist-fight in an empty phone box will be all over the techniques like a rash. What I am actually wondering is whether or not to subscribe. It is not much money, I have enjoyed the tips so far and also and I love the way the e-mails pop up in the middle of the mundane and remind me its time to go sailing…


Di
 
WestWittering said:
Does anyone else get these?

At the moment, I am on the free service and I get a weekly email with a bite-size piece of information. It is all written in Americanese, but I have to say I really enjoy them.

This is this weeks :

Multi-time circumnavigator and sailor-supreme Hal Roth once stated "An engine does not substitute for seamanship under sail..."

After all, just how were those unwieldy sailing ships from long ago able to thread their way through deadly shoals, approach an anchorage, or maneuver in battle--under sail alone?

Our modern sailing craft are much more maneuverable than those old square riggers. Practice these three maneuvers under sail alone to master the art of "putting the brakes" on your sailboat smooth and easy!

1. Use the "Gears" of Close Reaching

No point of sail offers more control than the close reach in tight quarters maneuvering to approach a mooring buoy in a crowded harbor, sail over to a pier smooth and easy, pick up a fender that fell over the side, or sail up to that perfect anchoring spot you've picked out for the night.

Get onto a close reach with the bow pointed at the objective. Use just the mainsheet and mainsail. Follow these three easy "throttle control" tips...
Speed Up (increase throttle): Pull in on the mainsheet.
Slow Down (decrease throttle): Ease the mainsheet.
Stop (also see 3. below): Slack the mainsheet all the way.
2. When in Doubt, Let It Out

We've all experienced those out-of-the-blue situations where we run out of ideas. Now what, skipper? Steal a secret from the dinghy sailing crowd. In an emergency, let it fly!

Ease the mainsheet out all the way. Take the jib or Genoa sheets off the winches and let them go. This spills all of the sailing wind from your sails and your boat will pivot her bow into the wind faster than you can blink an eye.

3. Push the Boom against the Wind

Have you ever watched small sailing dinghies approach a dock. Maybe the dinghy skipper needs to slow down right away. So he or she grabs the sailing boom and pushes it out against the wind. This technique--called "back-winding"--will stop a boat on a dime.

Back-wind your mainsail if you approach a dock with a bit too much speed. Grab the boom and push it out hard against the wind. It will stop your boat just like stomping on the brakes!


==

Now I feel certain as night follows day, those forumites who could start a fist-fight in an empty phone box will be all over the techniques like a rash. What I am actually wondering is whether or not to subscribe. It is not much money, I have enjoyed the tips so far and also and I love the way the e-mails pop up in the middle of the mundane and remind me its time to go sailing…


Di
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with those techniques per se, but the effectiveness may differ with different boats & different situations. You may struggle to push the boom to backwind the main on a big boat in a situation where it will stop you quickly from speed. What's easy in a dinghy can be damned hard work in a big, heavy boat, which is why they have keels with ballast rather than centreboards & trapeze swinging monkeys.
 
I agree with the techniques described, and as Searush says as long as one allows a little common sense in how things do or don't work on particular boats, it sounds worth subscribing, go for it.
 
The first 'rash':

"Ease the mainsheet out all the way. Take the jib or Genoa sheets off the winches and let them go. This spills all of the sailing wind from your sails and your boat will pivot her bow into the wind faster than you can blink an eye."

Given that most yachts' bows will pivot DOWN wind with no canvas aloft (windage alone), surely letting everything fly would send your good ship scurrying downwind - NOT upwind - faster than you could say 'Why, bu88er me sideways!'?
 
WestWittering said:
Multi-time circumnavigator and sailor-supreme Hal Roth once stated "An engine does not substitute for seamanship under sail..."

After all, just how were those unwieldy sailing ships from long ago able to thread their way through deadly shoals, approach an anchorage, or maneuver in battle--under sail alonei
Click to expand...


Three good tips, although holding out boom may not be suited to larger sails.

But Hal Roth's basic premise is wrong - there are many thousands of wrecks all-round the world showing that unwieldy sailing ships with out engines often didn't make it past reefs, into anchorages etc. I am sure the skippers of those unfortunate craft would have switched the engine on in an instant, if they had had one.
 
On saying that, when we were dinghy sailing we often used to have "backward" races, holding the boom out against the wind.

It taught us a lot about steering going astern, that much smaller tiller movements are needed, and to get ready for having the tiller snatched out of your hand at any sort of speed astern.
 
When it comes to boat handling, I've never found anything better than John Goode's booklet "Let's do it under sail ", perfectly illustrated by Dick Everitt . I think it's out of print now but well worth trying to find a copy.
 
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parsifal said:
When it comes to boat handling, I've never found anything better than John Goode's booklet "Let's do it under sail ", perfectly illustrated by Dick Everitt . I think it's out of print now but well worth trying to find a copy.
Click to expand...

Agree , very easy for novices to understand , well not only novices . I think you can still buy it .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com
 
OceanSprint said:
But Hal Roth's basic premise is wrong - there are many thousands of wrecks all-round the world showing that unwieldy sailing ships with out engines often didn't make it past reefs, into anchorages etc. I am sure the skippers of those unfortunate craft would have switched the engine on in an instant, if they had had one.
Click to expand...

I remember reading in YM about ten years ago of a short cruise on a very famous engineless boat, with a very famous owner, from the Solent to one of the Thames marinas. It read like a total cock-up from start to finish. They asked help from several boats with engines to get them out of trouble on the way and finished up smashing into the lock gates at their destination. All very well out at sea but in close quarters pretty much impractical in today's yachting.

Edit: it was Don Street in Iolaire. I see he has admitted defeat and installed an engine, before selling her.
 
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A week sailing an engineless yacht on the Broads should be a requirement for the Yachtmaster test. I did it many times and although my memory may be selective, I don't remember ever having a problem.
 
vyv_cox said:
I remember reading in YM about ten years ago of a short cruise on a very famous engineless boat, with a very famous owner, from the Solent to one of the Thames marinas. It read like a total cock-up from start to finish. They asked help from several boats with engines to get them out of trouble on the way and finished up smashing into the lock gates at their destination. All very well out at sea but in close quarters pretty much impractical in today's yachting.

Edit: it was Don Street in Iolaire. I see he has admitted defeat and installed an engine, before selling her.
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Many years ago they showed one of his videos at my then yacht club. It was wonderful to watch him warping out of a West Indian dock in the traditional way. I agree that a big boat with no engine can be stressful & even a hazard, but the old techniques - such as drudging down tide in an estuary, using sails to steer, slow down or go backwards are still really useful even when you have an engine.
 
I don't like the sound of just letting sheets fly. On some boats someone could very easily be taken out by a flogging sheet and it does nothing to calm what would already be a stressful situation.
 
Woodlouse said:
I don't like the sound of just letting sheets fly. On some boats someone could very easily be taken out by a flogging sheet and it does nothing to calm what would already be a stressful situation.
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That's the problem with "pat" answers, the situation will always be a little different or more complicated.

Don't forget you don't actually have to let them fly, just freeing all the tension off them will cut the power & drive in the sails & heaving to may well be a better option in some situations. You need to apply judgement as to which of the many options may suit your particular case, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded just how many options you may actually have.
 
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