Posted by Grant Headifen on March 17, 2009 under Bareboat Charter, Crew, Sail Trim, Skipper | 
When you’re getting ready to gybe, take the jib lazy sheet and wrap it around its winch and pull quite tight. This will pull the jib towards the windward side of the boat just a little.
Now when you gybe, you don’t have to be so busy about pulling the jib sheet across quickly because it will almost be already set for the other side. You just need to trim it.
This technique also prevents the jib from wrapping around the front of the forestay which is a real pain to pull back once you’re through the wind.
So tighten that lazy sheet just before you gybe.
Posted by Grant Headifen on March 15, 2009 under Sail Trim, Skipper |
What are they and what’s the difference? These two terms were established when vessels were fitted with tillers rather than wheels and so the term weather helm refers to having to pull the tiller (helm) “to weather” in order to sail in a straight line. Lee helm is when you need to push the tiller (helm) “to lee” in order to sail in a straight line.
Pulling the tiller to weather (or towards the windwind side of the boat) means that the boat left by it self would tend to turn into the wind. And conversely, lee helm would mean that the boat wants to turn down wind.
Now on a sailboat with a wheel, weather helm is turning the wheel away from the wind and lee helm is turning the wheel to helm in order to hold a straight course. This is because the wheel is opposite the rudder. Don’t get confused here – if you have to go back to fundamentals to work it out each time then just remember that sailing was invented thousand of years ago before the put wheels on boat. “Weather helm is rudder to weather”.
These phenomenons can be fixed quite simply by tilting (raking) the mast forward or aft. To reduce weather helm you’d want the center of pressure of the wind acting on the sail to move forward on the boat. See my last blog on how that works using the floating coke bottle. To reduce lee helm you’d rake the mast backwards.
There are also other things you can do to the sails which are quite detailed in the NauticEd SailTrim Clinic.
One might assume that you’d want a perfectly balanced boat with out any helm at all. Well that’s not quite true.
The first reason that is most often quoted is that weather helm is for safety. Let go the helm and the boat rounds up into the wind. That’s safer than having the boat bare away and speed away from you while you’re laying in the water.
However, the second reason is slightly more subtle yet makes a large difference to your performance. For the tiller to be pulled to weather (to the windward side of the boat) the rudder underneath is turned so that it also is pointing towards the wind. This angle creates a force from the water and the direction is to wards the windward side of the boat as well. This gives the boat “lift” to windward from underneath and guess what that does! It helps you win races.
Posted by Grant Headifen on March 10, 2009 under Bareboat Charter, Crew, Sail Trim, Skipper |
Yesterday I was out teaching on our new Beneteau 373. The conditions were extremely gusty. Lake Travis in Austin Texas is a great lake for sailing all year round and in the summer the water is so incredibly warm that you can swim while anchored in a cove still at 2am. There are lots of coves and cliffs which makes for a picturess setting. Yet these cliffs and coves can set up extremely gusty conditions with wind shifts of 20 degrees of more about every 200 meters or so.
Sailing in these conditions can be a little challenging. A gust will hit and the boat will round up. Sometimes it rounds the boat all the way up so that you end up in an auto tack situation (tacking when you didn’t mean to). If there is other traffic on the lake this can be dangerous.
Here are a few tips to battle being rounded up so much.
(1) Reef
The reason the boat gets rounded up is that the center of pressure of the wind acting on the sails is too far aft.
Representation of a sailboat in the water
The coke bottle in the water shows a force acting aft on the bottle. Which way would you expect the bottle to turn? This is the same as a sailboat. The front rounds up when the force is aft. Under normal conditions the rudder will balance the force, however in a gust condition the rudders ability to act back is not sufficient because the velocity of the rudder in the water is relatively lower than the gust. i.e. if the speed of the boat was higher the force out put by the rudder is higher. (Force is proportional to the square of the velocity). When a gust comes through the rudder is put at a disadvantage because the boat hasn’t gained the speed equivalent to handle the force aloft on the sails.
So the ABSOLUTE best way to handle these gusts is to reef the sails. This has a triple effect. Reefing obviously makes the forces aloft much smaller but also, not realized by many, is that when you reef the sails the center of effort of the wind on the boat must move forward. Additionally, the center of force aloft on the sails shifts downwards. This means the tipping moment is less. If the boat is healed over less then the rudder becomes more effective because the angle it presents to the water is more effective.
With the center of pressure on the sails moved forward, there is less turning moment on the boat. In the coke bottle example above if you moved the force arrow to the center of the bottle the bottle would not turn at all but merely be pushed through the water sideways. Reefing the sails then has the same effect and allows the rudder to overcome the turning moment.
(2) Tighten the outhaul. A tight outhaul flattens the mainsail. Flattening the main sail reduces the camber in the sail and thus reduces the efficiency of the sail and thus reduces the force that the sail can produce.
(3) Let out the traveler. Letting out the traveler spills excess wind out of the mainsail while keeping the mainsail flat. This reduces the force produced by the sail. The advantage of this method is that the sail can be instantly repowered after the gust passes. A prudent team on a boat can effectively use the traveler to ward off the gusts and maintain speed and heading of the boat.
(4) Let out the sails. Letting out the sails also moves the center of effort forward. Have you ever gybed the boat with the boom centered? In high winds you’ll round up like crazy and heel way way over. This is because the center of effort of the sail is way too aft for the wind once through the gybe. When gybing you have to let out the main sail quickly to avoid this. So when sailing check that your sails are out to their proper set position.
(5) (6) (7) (8) (9) Reef – did we mention reef?
(10) Hold your course. As the gust comes through the boat will initially heel over and then begin its round up. Hold course through the gust. Keep aiming at that tree, house, cloud that you were. This means you’ll have to turn the wheel to leeward to hold course. This will keep your boat powered up with speed . Don’t let the wind do what it wants to the boat – you tell the boat what you want it to do. If the gust maintains then you may find that you’ll be able to turn the boat upwind but ONLY because YOU want it to not because the wind wants you to. You’ll know you’re doing a good job here if when you look behind you the wake is in a straight line – not as though you have written your name all over the lake.
Posted by Grant Headifen on March 7, 2009 under Celestial Navigation |
Well here it is – a much requested clinic on Celestial Navigation. The Introductory clinic gives a good introduction to spherical geometry and the theory of a noon solar sight and takes the student through an actual sighting using real tables to calculate the Latitude and Longitude of a vessel at sea.
The clinic is quite simple to understand and most anyone with a slight yearning to understand how sailors of old were able to do it – will beable to get through the clinic.
Please enjoy the NauticEd Introductory Celestial Navigation Clinic – authored by Captain Ed Mapes
Posted by Grant Headifen on March 6, 2009 under Bareboat Charter, Skipper |
Learning to anchor a boat is an integral part of your learn to sail lessons. There are lots of considerations. Here we’ll cover one of those considerations – swing!
Care must be given to swing. As the wind changes during the night your boat will move with the wind and can put you into a precarious situation by being to close to the shore. Many times you’ll find an anchorage area with moorings. Remember that boats tied to moorings swing less than anchored boats. In this circumstance you may swing into other boats. Golden rule is “watch your swing”.
Swing path of a boat at anchor
In addition, consideration must be given to the tide. As the tide “ebbs” out, you not only get closer to the bottom but your swing circle grows and the shore becomes closer. This diagram shows your swing path with deep water and correct scope.
Swing of the boat with current and wind changes
This diagram shows that as the tide ebbed out your scope increased as well as your swing path bringing you dangerously close to the bottom and/or shore.
Swing of a boat after the tide goes out
This online sailing instruction comes from Module 9 in the Skipper course. Take the course – you’ll learn a lot about sailing and get the skipper sailing certification.
Skipper Course
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Posted by Grant Headifen on March 5, 2009 under Bareboat Charter, Maneuvering Under Power, Skipper |
Well that concludes the series on how to leave the slip or an end tie in every different wind condition in a sailboat. You learned how to use a spring line to get clear of other boats and you learned how to maneuver the boat with, against and sideways to the wind in the marina.
The really tricky part as with getting the plane safely on the ground when flying is getting your boat back into the slip with out any scratches on your boat or any one elses. We’re going to leave all the secrets of this up to the Maneuvering a sailboat under Power clinic and the Skipper course. Needless to say that there are tips in there that wil save the cost of the course over and over and make you look good in front of all the people in the marina when docking.
Please enjoy the Skipper Course or the Maneuvering a sailboat under power online sailing instruction courses.
Posted by Grant Headifen on March 3, 2009 under Bareboat Charter, Crew, Maneuvering Under Power, Skipper |
In the previous blog we dealt with end ties. Now we get onto the more common configurations of boats in a slip.
SLIPS
(5) Wind coming into the slip channel. Your boat is stern to.
Wind from behind
This is best handled by steering out of the slip and then immediately down wind. Back out of the slip channel and well into the main channel before engaging forward.
(6) Wind blowing into the slip channel. Your boat is bow to.
wind from behind
Simply back out of the slip into the slip channel and then into the main channel. You may need a bow line to the windward dock to prevent the bow blowing downwind as you engage reverse.
(7) Wind blowing out of the slip channel. Your boat is bow to.
wind from ahead
Back out into the wind and then engage forward. Watch for traffic as you enter the main channel.
(8) Wind blowing out of the slip channel and your boat is stern to.
wind from behind
Simply drive the boat out to the main channel.
(9) Wind blows across the docks and your boat is stern to.
wind from a beam
Again, simply drive the boat out to the main channel.
(10) Wind blows across the dock and your boat is bow to.
wind from abeam
Simply reverse the boat out of the slip, into the slip channel and then into the main channel. If the wind is light you may elect to turn the boat in the slip channel and come out in forward. However if the wind is strong, it’s safer to follow the above diagram.
Other wind/current configurations are solved using variations of the above techniques.
Other Considerations
Most wheels have a center marker such as decorative knot or tape that indicates the centered position.
Post a lookout to make certain there are no other boats either in front or to your sides that may pose a potential collision condition. Courtesy and patience are always signs of a skilled and thoughtful helms person.
Controlling departure speed is important, you must have enough speed to steer, but no more than necessary in case you need to stop and/or maneuver in order to negotiate a turn.
Once in an open area of water you can proceed to start, unfurling sails. See NauticEd’s Module 7 in the Skipper Course or Register for the Maneuvering a Sailboat Under Power Clinic.
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