Dinghy sailing question - tacking single handed

[Chae_73]

I've sailed dinghies before but it was more than 30 years ago.

This morning it was light airs on the Deben, so I got brave and hoisted the jib, boat is a Hartley 12.

After a pleasant downwind sail as far as The Rocks, it was time to beat back to Bawdsey Quay. This going about lark is a bit more tricky than I remember, and I got in a bit of a pickle on occasion. I tried various methods of dealing with the jib:
1. Let fly the jib first, let it flog until such time as I am sufficiently composed on the new tack to deal with it;
2. Pause the boat into the wind, sheet jib onto the the side, try to get going again;
3. Let the jib back and proceed as 1.

By the time I was most of the way back to the Quay, things were going a bit more smoothly but it was still far from pretty.

I've now watched a few instructional videos and have noted some of the errors I was making, but all show either two up with a jib or single handed with main only e.g. sailing a Laser.

What should I be doing?! Or just leave the jib off for single handing?

 

[chrishscorp]

Ok about 5 years since i sailed a dinghy, but my first guess is single handed you need to keep some speed on in order to put her through a tack or she will stall.
Tack with the main and once through the tack free off the jib then deal with the main, then sort the jib, If you have come out of a cruiser you will be use to everything happening much slower.

You could try single handing with just the main but i dont think she will be very balanced.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Starting point: Sitting in the normal position, on the windward side, centre mainsheet* (not a transom mainsheet), single handed.

1. Mainsheet in forward hand, tiller in aft hand.
2. Push the tiller away to start the tack.
3. Put aft leg out in front of you but more forward of the current position
4. As the boat turns, pivot by facing forward. You may be more comfortable on your knees
5. Bring the current mainsheet hand behind you, still holding the main sheet and swap tiller mainsheet hands as follows: with old mainsheet hand, grab tiller, behind you, with old tiler hand grab mainsheet.
6. Start to centre tiller to slow and stop the turn
7. On new tiller hand, pinch mainsheet in the new tiller hand to hold mainsheet, freeing up new mainsheet hand.
8. Flick off old windward jib sheet
9. Pick up new, leeward jib sheet and pull in as boat comes through the wind

The key part is when you do the turn by facing forward, you end up with both the mainsheet and tiller in the new tiller hand. As you pivot facing forward, you now have the new main sheet hand free to work the jib sheets.

Normally it is a good idea to hold the miansheet but in predictable winds, you can lock off the mainsheet and only transfer tiller hands.

Practise at home with two chairs facing each other, a stick for a tiller and bit of rope for the mainstream sheet. It's an easy motion and flows well after practising.

*I believe the H12 is a centre mainsheet, if a transom mainsheet let me know as it means facing aft instead of facing forward.

 

[Chae_73]

if you have come out of a cruiser you will be use to everything happening much slower.

Exactly this! Plenty of time to sort things out when tacking the "big" boat, whereas 5 seconds is an eternity in a lightweight dinghy.

She sails ok without the jib as the mast is quite forward and the jib is small.

 

[Chae_73]

Thanks; it was this bit (mainly - among other bits!) that i was getting wrong:

Bring the current mainsheet hand behind you, still holding the main sheet and swap tiller mainsheet hands as follows: with old mainsheet hand, grab tiller, behind you, with old tiler hand grab mainsheet.

I did end up crossing over on my knees most of the time. Not sure if it was more comfortable but it did keep the boat stable.

There's nowhere to lock off the mainsheet on the Hartley. A few times I managed to let go of it which made the whole manoeuvre a bit of a mess.

 

[Chae_73]

Yes, it's centre main sheet. It seems to me that transom mounted mainsheet is a bit easier to hold in your tiller hand, but I guess it also makes it more likely that you get the sheet across yourself - I did that a couple of times, too! And then decided to sit a bit further aft.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I taught dinghy sailing a long time ago, and the chair practise exercise was what we used to get the manoeuvre ingrained. We also used to use a Wayfarer on a trailer, tacking the Wayfarer on land, but that was a bit of a hassle.

The hand swapping manoeuvre is the bit that needs to be mastered as that can free up the new forward hand to manage your jib sheets when single handing.

Good luck!

 

[dunedin]

Yes, it's centre main sheet. It seems to me that transom mounted mainsheet is a bit easier to hold in your tiller hand, but I guess it also makes it more likely that you get the sheet across yourself - I did that a couple of times, too! And then decided to sit a bit further aft.

Perhaps fit a set of cam cleats for the mainsheet on either side, like an original Laser used to have. Advantage over the cleat on the pulley, is that you need to positively place the sheet in the cleats, done when useful, and doesn’t jam accidentally when need to release the sheet.

Also singlehanders often tie the ends of the two jib sheets together - or better use a single continuous sheet, like a spinnaker. Means don’t need to go finding the other sheet when tacking.

 

[Alfie168]

Exactly this! Plenty of time to sort things out when tacking the "big" boat, whereas 5 seconds is an eternity in a lightweight dinghy.

She sails ok without the jib as the mast is quite forward and the jib is small.

Leave the jib sheeted in through the tack as once it backs it will bring the nose round quicker. Then release it and sheet in on new tack when you are sorted out at the back. No rush, but as promptly as other stuff allows.

 

[johnalison]

It is an awful long time since I sailed my Firefly but maybe its aft mainsheet made things a bit easier. From my memory, I think that I held both jib and main sheets in one hand, freeing the jib from its cleat as I initiated the tack, transferring the mainsheet to the tiller hand on the new tack, leaving the free hand to cope with the new jib sheet. It would be very entertaining if Olympic singlehanders included boats with jibs, as they did in the 1948 games with the Firefly.

 

[dunedin]

It would be very entertaining if Olympic singlehanders included boats with jibs, as they did in the 1948 games with the Firefly.

The Olympic sailors would not be phased for a millisecond. Seem them single handing a 470 from the trapeze, with only a bit of string to the tiller, when helm was busy on the support RIB.
And two up gybing a foiling cat with spinnakermuch more challenging. Of course most fast dinghies have self tacking jibs these days.

 

[DownWest]

If single handing mine, I have a little clip on board that fits the c/board case/thwart with fairleads and cam cleats. Mainsheet is just behind that.
So, easy to let go the jib entering the tack and haul it in after.

 

[scottie]

Be aware that life a jacket makes a wonderful catcher for the boom if you don’t duck enough followed by immersion
Don’t ask how I discovered this

 

[jwilson]

I have singlehanded lots of moderately fast planing dinghies with main and jib, occasionally also setting a spinnaker too, though that does get tricky and has led to capsizes, though very entertaining until you do. Both with forward and aft mainsheets. And I'm a very long way from a teenager. They hadn't even invented teenagers when I was that age. Just practice....

A dinghy tack should take a couple of seconds if moving fast, slower in very light airs. Jerk jib out of jammer as you put the helm down, move across and sheet in as you are fully about. One trick is to tie both jib sheet ends together..

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I'd suggest that what works on one dinghy won't on another - there's no generic layout, and we all have different agility and fitness! If I were to suggest a method, it'd work on a Heron dinghy, because that's what I learnt on. But a Heron is a fairly sedate, rather old-fashioned design these days! I probably wouldn't have the agility to manage some of the things I did when I was a teenager, so I'd have to work it out again if I tried it.

What I'd suggest would be to take your dinghy out on a day with a gentle breeze in a nice open space with plenty of sea-room, and take her GENTLY through a few tacks while trying out different techniques. You'll soon find out what works and what doesn't!

 

[Chae_73]

What I'd suggest would be to take your dinghy out on a day with a gentle breeze in a nice open space with plenty of sea-room, and take her GENTLY through a few tacks while trying out different techniques. You'll soon find out what works and what doesn't!

That's pretty much what I did yesterday, although the Deben is a bit congested with large objects attached to moorings in places, and as I found out, if you venture too far towards the banks, you hit something sticky.

I did find out what doesn't work:

sitting forward of the mainsheet track
letting go of the tiller
letting go of the mainsheet
ending up facing backwards

among other things.

By the end of our two hour jaunt, over half the tacks were semi respectable, The advice I've received here, together with a bit of YouTube viewing, has given me some good pointers as to what to try next time.