Sails are an engine you can make smaller. The skipper's job is to set them without drama, shrink them before the wind arrives, and turn the boat only when the crew is ready.
Why do I have to point into the wind to hoist the mainsail?
Because head to wind the sail cannot fill: it flaps along the centreline and slides up the mast. Motor slowly ahead with the mainsheet eased, and if the halyard suddenly goes hard, stop and look up.
Hoist the mainsail outside the harbour, head to wind, motoring slowly ahead with the mainsheet eased. Pointing into the wind the sail cannot fill: it flaps along the centreline and slides up the mast.
If the halyard suddenly goes hard halfway up, stop and look up. A batten has caught under a lazy jack, or a reef line is still made fast. Winching harder only tears the sail.
Then the genoa. Pull the sheet and ease the furling line under control, with a turn round a winch: let it run free and it tangles on the drum. For the night, roll the sail tight until the sheets wrap twice round it, and make the furling line fast. A gust cannot unroll it then.
When should I reef the sails on a charter yacht?
When you first think of it, and before you turn upwind: a run hides the wind, so 16 knots true at 6 knots feels like 10, and over 20 once you turn. If Force 5 is forecast, leave with the reef in.
Reef when you first think of it. In the calm of the bay it takes five minutes; out in the blow it is hard, wet work. If the forecast gives Force 5 for the afternoon, leave the lunch stop with the reef already in.
A run hides the wind, because your own speed is taken off it. In 16 knots of true wind, running at 6 knots, you feel 10. Turn upwind and you feel over 20. So reef before you turn for a harbour to windward.
The two rings on the reef line become the new tack and the new clew.
With in-mast furling you work two lines against each other: wind the sail into the mast while you ease the outhaul under control. A little tension on the outhaul rolls the sail tight; a loose roll jams in the mast.
What do I do when my yacht keeps rounding up in the gusts?
Spill wind from the mainsail: let the traveller down to leeward or ease the mainsheet. If the wheel pulls hard all the time you carry too much mainsail, so reef it and the helm goes light.
The telltales on the genoa's luff show the airflow. All streaming aft: the sail is working. The windward ones lifting and fluttering: the luff is starved of wind, so sheet in a little or bear away.
In a gust the boat heels and tries to turn into the wind by herself: she rounds up. The quick cure is in the mainsail. Let the traveller down to leeward, or ease the mainsheet, and the main spills wind. If the wheel pulls hard all the time, you carry too much mainsail: it sits aft of the mast and pushes the stern away from the wind. Reef it and the helm goes light.
| What you see | What you do |
|---|---|
| Windward telltales fluttering | Sheet in a little, or bear away |
| Hard heel in the gusts | Traveller down, or ease the mainsheet |
| Heavy wheel, rounding up | Reef the mainsail |
| Part-rolled genoa: top flaps, foot tight | Sheet car forward |
A part-rolled genoa has a shorter foot, so its sheet pulls along the foot and not down the leech. Moving the sheet car forward closes the leech and stops the top of the sail flapping.
How do I sail to a harbour that lies directly upwind?
You tack, close-hauled on one tack and then the other, because a cruising yacht sails no closer than about 45° to the wind. That costs about 1.4 miles for every mile upwind: 5 miles to windward is 7 sailed.
No yacht sails straight into the wind. A cruising boat makes about 45° either side of it; the sector between is the no-go zone. Compare the bearing of your destination with the wind: with the wind from 270°, a harbour bearing 250° is only 20° off it. You cannot point there. You must tack, close-hauled on one tack and then on the other.
Tacking adds distance. At 45° to the wind you sail about 1.4 miles for every mile gained upwind: a harbour 5 miles dead to windward is 7 miles of sailing. Allow the time for it.
How do I gybe without the boom crashing across the cockpit?
Make it a controlled gybe: heads down, sheet the main in to the centre, turn slowly and ease the sheet as the boom comes over. In a strong wind or with a new crew, don't gybe at all: luff up and tack round.
You call, the crew answer, and only then do you turn. Silence is not an answer: if one person has not said "Ready", wait.
A gybe takes the stern through the wind and the boom across the cockpit. Keep it under control: heads down, sheet the main in to the centre, turn slowly, and ease the sheet out again as the boom comes over. In a strong wind or with a new crew, do not gybe at all: luff up and tack round through the wind.
On a run in a swell the boom lifts and threatens to gybe by itself. Rig a preventer: a line from the boom end forward to the bow.
To stop at sea, heave-to: tack without releasing the genoa sheet, then lash the wheel turned towards the wind. The backed genoa pushes the bow off, the rudder brings it back, and the boat lies quietly.
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
You are about to hoist the mainsail outside the harbour. How do you point the boat?
A. Head to wind, motoring slowly
Head to wind the sail cannot fill, so it slides up without snagging.
When do you put in a reef?
B. Now, before you leave the bay
Reef when you first think of it — it is easy in calm water and hard in a blow.
What do you adjust?
D. Move the sheet car forward
A reefed genoa needs its sheet lead further forward to close the leech and ease the foot.
Tacking about 45° either side of the wind, roughly how far do you sail?
A. About 14 miles
Each leg runs 45° off the direct line, so the distance is about 10 × 1.4 = 14 miles.
The boom keeps lifting and threatening to gybe. What do you rig?
D. A preventer from the boom end to the bow
A preventer led from the boom end forward to the bow holds the boom against an accidental gybe.
Your crew pull the sheet to unfurl the genoa. What do you do with the furling line?
C. Let it out under control, a turn on a winch
Ease the furling line under control so the sail unrolls evenly and the line does not tangle.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.