Point of sail

Darran1967

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Has anyone got any advice on getting the correct angle of sails to the wind. I am new to sailing and need all the help I can get.

A friend advised drawing a circle and using an imaginary boat with a constant wind direction to help me learn the correct sail positions, has anyone ever used this method?

Regards

Darran
 

graham

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To put it simply When sailing towards the wind (a boat wont sail closer than about 45°towards the wind ).pull the sails in tightly then slacken them an inch or two.

When sailing away from the wind let them out as near as possible to 90°to the boat.

Across the wind you guessed it about halfway between the two! Suggest you try this in sheltered waters on a day with light winds at first.

Also get into your local library sport section for books on the subject.Or better still think about doing a course.

A google search on RYA will throw up the Royal Yachting Association website which has a list of sailing schools.

Best of luck keep us informed of your progress.
 

Vara

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Very difficult to describe a hands on skill by way of a forum post,best way to do it is get out on the water and try it,instruction also helps.
But very basic rule of thumb for sail position <ul type="square"> [*]If sail is flapping pull it in until it stops flapping [*]If sail isn't flapping let it out until it does and then apply above [*]If neither of the above work change direction that boat is pointing by 45 degrees and repeat one and two [*]Sailing boats do not go directly into wind [*]when doing the above keep your head down [/list]
 

ashanta

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This is a basic principle to educate the different points of sailing e.g. Fine reach, close reach, beam reach, broad reach, running and goose winged. The problem is that it doesn't explain to you other aspects of the sail control, sheet angles, whether the sail should be flat or full, light airs , strong wind etc.
My advice would be to have a go at dinghy sailing in a club or spend time with an experienced sailor on larger boats to find this understanding. Or, go out and experiment, keep reading the manuals and you'll get there anyway. Hope you enjoy it.

Regards.

peter.
 

tsmyth

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As it hapens, for my sins, I am an academic. Not surprisingly, perhaps, when I started to learn to sail I immediatley sought information in books. I have now read quite a few. However, although I have been trying to teach myself or some few years, I am still not a good sailor. My problem is that for various reasons I do not get onto the water often enough.

The moral is you learn by doing!

Of course, perhaps I simply do not have an aptitude for sailing.

Ray
 

tcm

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Re: academic sailing

i wd have thought this an excellent route. Far too many saily types reckon it's down to salty veins, but as far as i'm concerned i reckon you could buy a couple of packets of aptitude at the chandlery. The main reason that loads of people sail in the solent and other popular areas is that - there's loads of other boats to copy exactly what they are doing with the sails. But lots of books will show yer too. It will be hard to sail without er actually doing it though...
 

William_H

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Re: academic sailing

Just do it. One of the joys of sailing is that usually it doesn't matter if you don't get it right and it is fun to learn by your mistakes rather than be told to do it by rote like in learning to fly a plane. Look at books do a course or just do it it is fun any way. Good luck ole will
 

Swagman

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Re: academic sailing

Around 15 / 20 years ago either North or Hood sails produced a super 45 minute video called I believe - The Shape of Speed. I only ever had a copy of a copy but it was shot in California USA - set on big boats - and devoted 15 minutes to headsails, main and spinnaker trim and usage.

I suggest you contact both companies to see if this may still be available despite its age. It will show you in minutes what a book may take hours get over - and was very very good.

Enjoy - lovely to hear another sensible decision to take up sailing.......

Regards
JOHN
 

Evadne

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If you're looking for a book, then dinghies are far more sensitive to the correct angles and are often saile by beginners, so a book along the lines of "dinghy sailing for beginners" from amazon or your local library might help. As other have said its difficult to explain in simple terms, but a picture paints a thousand words.
 

Lakesailor

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There are some bits and pieces on Basic Sailing here. If you sift through it there are some diagrams and things.
The advice from Graham and colmce should be as good as anything you glean from books. Trial and error are good teachers as long as you don't put yourself in peril.
 

dralex

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Definately try getting some tuition in sailing dinghies- they are more responsive to changes in sail trim and you get immediate feedback. Even if you live inland, there are always local sailing clubs with dinghy owners looking for crew, or even club boats which you can get some instruction in. The other option is to do an RYA dinghy course after getting hold of books. You can get a rough idea about sail trim from books, but the best way is to get out there and get wet. Go and enjoy it.

Regards

Alex
 

aitchw

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This might help.

Tie a bit of cassette tape to your shrouds as high as you can within reason and use this as a guide to the angle the wind is coming at you from. Look at that part of your sail immediately behind the luff (edge of sail connected to mast). Adjust your sail angle using the mainsheet so that the first part of the curve in the leading edge of your sail is in the same line as the tape teltale. This gives a smooth flow on to the sail. Go from there.
 

Darran1967

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Loads of great advice here, as most of you have said, just get out there and learn. I do have a lot of friends who are helping me to learn by crewing for me, but there is so much info to take in that I feel I am learning more by taking crew with me who have never sailed before.

Many thanks to you all.

Kindest regards

Darran
 

Vara

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When I was in the business of dinghy instructing I went to visit a French sailing school during the school holidays while they were running a course for 5/6 year olds.The technique was simple they gave each of the children a life jacket plonked them into an optimist and pushed them out into the water,no verbal,no theory ,nothing.After about an hour random motion and collision was replaced by some semblance of order as the children worked it out for themselves,the process was further refined by one of the safety boats moving away from the fleet calling them to him and dispensing sweets as they arrived at his boat.Within two days those children were pretty competent dinghy sailors.(albeit with the start of serious dental problems)

Moral of the story get out on the water,read the books later,and enjoy it!
 

Hardley

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Fit TelTales to sails. On jib, one third back from luff(front) sew one on each side of sail.
Main, sew 3 on leach (trailing edge). when they all fly straight astern, sheeting and angle is OK. Sheet in or out and observe effect on TelTales, you will soon learn.
Going to windward, if luff shakes you are too close to the wind, bear away a bit.
Off the wind, if leach shakes, tighten in, or bear away more.
But as been said, dinghy sailing is the quickest way to learn, get it wrong and you end up swimming, that will make you learn quickly.
 

colvic987

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read this book, start sailing by andy smith and tim davison.
www.fernhurstbooks.co.uk isbn 1-898660-55-7..

you might find it in the pbo books list, it is mainly for dinghy sailors level 1 and 2,
but will give you a good basic understanding of what you need to do, at each point of sail, and many other basic understandings of basic boat handling,
try and get to hire a dinghy for a couple of hourly lessons, or sail with a friend or crew for someone, good luck and happy sailing...
 

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