Close hauled or close reached?

Mirror Painter

Mirror Painter

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Please don't shoot me I'm new to sailing. In this video:



The man says he is close hauled. I am sure he's correct because he know's what he is doing and I don't. However, purely based on the sight that the sail is slightly outside the profile of the boat, I thought it was close reach. Please aid my understanding.

Thanks.
 
Moxon said:
The man says he is close hauled. I am sure he's correct because he know's what he is doing and I don't. However, purely based on the sight that the sail is slightly outside the profile of the boat, I thought it was close reach. Please aid my understanding.
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I cannot see the video but, I would say its case of is the glass half full or half empty...

Do not read to much into the technical stuff the basics are easy, the finer points of the wordings... Well you can argue all day (as these forums often prove).

Remember also particularly if the boat is older/ heavier variety she may sail to windward better with sheets cracked and make less leeway...
 
Well, I don't think there are wind angles set in stone to differentiate because every boat will be different.

However, I would say that closed hauled is pointing as close to the wind as you can and still sail properly.

Close reaching is sailing up wind, but you could still come up say 10 or even 15 degrees without luffing.
 
Moxon,

I love the 60's music !

I'd say the boat is on a fine reach and that pretty much means ' close hauled ' as far as colregs, though my personal interpretaion of those is ' keep out of the way and don't take chances with anything bigger than my boat ' !
 
Seajet said:
Moxon,

I love the 60's music !

I'd say the boat is on a fine reach and that pretty much means ' close hauled ' as far as colregs, though my personal interpretaion of those is ' keep out of the way and don't take chances with anything bigger than my boat ' !
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ARGH - 'fine reach' - another term to remember! Only joking, makes sense - thanks.
 
Moxon said:
The man says he is close hauled. I am sure he's correct because he know's what he is doing and I don't. However, purely based on the sight that the sail is slightly outside the profile of the boat, I thought it was close reach. Please aid my understanding.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That might be as tightly in as he can get that sail for all we know. I wouldn't worry about the sail being 'outside the boat' There are lots of boats with shrouds come down to the chainplates on the hull and they all have the same problem. It tends to be the racing boats (or racier boats?) that have the chainplates inboard to allow for narrower sheeting angles of the headsails. Lots of big fat cruising boats have wide sheeting angles for the foresails.

They are boats that people describe as 'not very close winded'. Island Packet are boats designed and built like that. Not singling them out as bad - just not very close winded. Close hauled to them is sheets eased on an X-boat or a modern J or even an old Sigma 33 or 38...
 
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Moxon said:
Please don't shoot me I'm new to sailing. In this video:



The man says he is close hauled. I am sure he's correct because he know's what he is doing and I don't. However, purely based on the sight that the sail is slightly outside the profile of the boat, I thought it was close reach. Please aid my understanding.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Close hauled +1
 
Seajet said:
I'd say the boat is on a fine reach and that pretty much means ' close hauled ' as far as colregs, though my personal interpretaion of those is ' keep out of the way and don't take chances with anything bigger than my boat ' !
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So if you're the stand on vessel to me, I'm to assume you may do something entirely unpredictable. Smashing.
 
I would say that for this particular boat it's close hauled.As said before a racier design would be able to sail closer to the wind.The music is great and perfectly synchronised with the bow wave.
 
Simondjuk said:
So if you're the stand on vessel to me, I'm to assume you may do something entirely unpredictable. Smashing.
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Nah done correctly you just would not notice the situation develop, once the situation develops the rules should apply.

If you are still assessing the risk of collision and hence have not altered yet, then find whilst assessing risk of collision is gone? Whats the issue?

Or had you ascertained risk of collision existed and just standing on anyway? Leaving the guy in the small boat wondering what the hell you where going to do? Smashing...
 
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michaelchapman said:
It seems that the term "close hauled" is no longer used by RYA sailing schools but has been replaced by a "fine reach".
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Sorry Michael, I can't go along with that, or are you taking the mickey ?!

A fine reach is when sailing to windward but still freed off a touch, steering a course with the sails trimmed to suit.

Close Hauled means just that, sails in tight as they'll trim and the boat steered to suit them, as close to windward as she'll go to make progress into the wind.

The term is derived from square rigger times, when the yards were hauled in as close as they'd go fore and aft.
 
onesea said:
Nah done correctly you just would not notice the situation develop, once the situation develops the rules should apply.

If you are still assessing the risk of collision and hence have not altered yet, then find whilst assessing risk of collision is gone? Whats the issue?

Or had you ascertained risk of collision existed and just standing on anyway? Leaving the guy in the small boat wondering what the hell you where going to do? Smashing...
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It seems you don't understand the purpose of the regs.
 
Simon so tell me where in the regs it says that you as give way vessel should take late action?

If you see risk of collision exists exists, as give way vessel you should make it readily apparent to the other vessel you are taking avoiding action.

You should not leave the stand on vessel thinking what the hell is this berk up to? Has he seen me? is he below giving his mistress what for?

If the stand on vessels decides you are a berk and takes readily apparent action keeping well clear and lets you carry on doing what ever your doing BEFORE you have altered what is your problem?

I sail for pleasure not to cause problems...
 
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Did I say that the Colregs say any of these things? No.

All I've said, and what I expect, is for the stand on vessel to hold its course and speed so that any alteration I make in accordance with the regs is not negated by the stand on vessel taking some whimsical and unpredictable action. It happens all the time in the Solent and makes perfectly simple situations more difficult than they need to be.
onesea said:
Simon so tell me where in the regs it says that you as give way vessel should take late action?

If you see risk of collision exists exists, as give way vessel you should make it readily apparent to the other vessel you are taking avoiding action.

You should not leave the stand on vessel thinking what the hell is this berk up to? Has he seen me? is he below giving his mistress what for?

If the stand on vessels decides you are a berk and takes readily apparent action keeping well clear and lets you carry on doing what ever your doing BEFORE you have altered what is your problem?

I sail for pleasure not to cause problems...
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Moxon said:
ARGH - 'fine reach' - another term to remember! Only joking, makes sense - thanks.
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That boat is sailing full and by. This is slightly different to close-hauled, being defined as close-hauled with sails full. Then there's close and by which involves sailing close-hauled, erring towards luffing. Never heard of fine reaching myself, must be a new expression, possibly between close hauled and close reaching. Which is sailing full and by.
Complicated business this sailing.
 
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