sail faster steer high pull on kicker sail safer€¦ · make sure your cockpit is ready at ......

When sailing short-handed or on longer passages with a cross swell, you could consider using a preventer to keep the boom up in the air should you roll excessively. This could give you vital seconds to depower the spinnaker before the boom comes crashing down. But the preventer should be led forward then back to the cockpit, in a place easy to reach, so should the situation deteriorate, you can let it down quickly.

3 Steering When the boat starts to roll, it is

easy to make it worse with excessive use of the helm. Try to keep the boat steady and make gradual changes – the rudder requires water to be fl owing over

it to steer so going full lock will simply stall the boat.

Initially, try to steer the boat out of the roll – remember it is not necessarily because the boat has altered course that you are in danger of gybing, but because the boat is rolling to windward and the boom is up in the air.

Gently steer the boat to a higher wind angle and try to sail fl at or with slight leeward heel. A sudden rounding up could send you straight into a broach.

4 Be ready for a drop Chinese gybes can be caused by

diffi cult sea conditions, perhaps an old residual cross swell, but often they are an indication that the boat is starting to

become overpowered. Recovery should be followed by an assessment of the conditions. Perhaps it is time to change to a smaller spinnaker or go with a poled-out headsail. Make sure your cockpit is ready at all times for a drop.

Pilot guide When short-handed sailing in marginal conditions, it can often be the autopilot that will Chinese gybe the boat. Most pilots have controls now which can be adjusted to help the unit react well to these conditions, by balancing response and counter rudder settings. However, simply programming the pilot to steer 5 -10° high of the course while you are off the deck will keep the boat safe.

SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER with

YACHTING WORLD FEBRUARY 2012 83

STARTING TO HEEL EASE POLE FORWARD

Pip Hare is a professional skipper and sailing coach with a diverse experience of racing and ocean sailing. Her passion is solo and short- handed offshore racing

TOP TIPWhen conditions start to become windier, watch the windward leading edge of the spinnaker; if the head of the spinnaker is often rolling out to level with or to windward of the end of the pole, then pull on the sheet a little to bring it back on board the boat.

STEER HIGH PULL ON KICKER

Dos and don’ts■ Do act early, as the wind increases start to change your spinnaker trim to keep the sail depowered and under control

■ Do keep your cockpit clear so sheets and guys are always ready to go

■ Don’t over-react – rapid counter actions can cause you to go straight into a broach

YWFeb 12 Techniques.indd 83 16/12/2011 11:30

A YAchting World publicAtion

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Sometimes sailing can get a little bit too exciting. We’ve all been there: raised voices, heated tempers and a day on the water slightly soured by things that got in a bit of a tangle. The answer is to plan each manoeuvre carefully beforehand and brief all your crew so that they have a very clear understanding

of what they are to do and what will happen at each stage. To show us the best ways of doing exactly that we asked Pip Hare, aided and abetted by British solo sailor and record breaker Brian Thompson, to guide us through a series of advanced sailing techniques. As professional coaches and single-handed racers, Pip and Brian are masters at being methodical. The articles in this booklet and our iPhone and iPad app and video series that go with it show you how to go about painless, trouble-free spinnaker hoists and drops, how to gybe fully crewed and short-handed, sail downwind under poled-out genoa, deal with a broach and avoid the dreaded Chinese gybe, and they illustrate top tips on coaxing your boat through light airs and show you how to helm like a pro upwind and downwind. You can get the whole series of articles, photos and videos on the Yachting World Sail Safe Sail Fast iPhone or iPad app – download the first two chapters free and buy the rest for the bargain price of just £1.49 on Apple iTunes store. If you’d like to watch the videos, just go to www.yachtingworld.com and click on the Sail Safer Sail Faster icon. We hope you enjoy the articles and they help make sailing faster even more enjoyable.

Elaine Bunting

3

Sail Faster Sail Safer

Chinese gybes on windy days are a good spectator sport, but with the right prompt

response they can be averted. This type of accidental gybe is caused by the boat heeling excessively to windward. The centre of effort of the spinnaker also moves to windward, accentuating the angle of heel.

As this happens, the boat starts to turn on her longer windward waterline edge and bear away on her own. As the boat heels, the surface area of the rudder receives less water so steering is less effi cient and you lose control, with the boat usually ending up fl at on her windward side with the spinnaker pole in the water and the boom in the air.

Inevitably, the point arrives when the force of the wind on the mainsail is no longer able to support the weight of the boom, now up in the air, and it comes crashing down.

ADVANCED SAILING TECHNIQUES

82 YACHTING WORLD FEBRUARY 2012

1 SpinnakerYour spinnaker is the biggest and

most powerful sail on the boat; so you need to be the boss, depower it early and stop it from wandering around and excessively heeling the boat.

Having the centre of effort of the spinnaker outside the footprint of the boat, giving windward heel, is not always a bad thing; but when the breeze gets up and the boat starts to roll, then it’s time to depower.

Start by gently easing the pole forward and at the same time sheeting on. This will move the centre of effort of the sail back over the boat. It is important to do this simultaneously. Easing the pole forward rapidly and not taking in on the sheet, will simply cause the kite to swing round to leeward and could put you into a broach.

Pull on your leeward tweaker or barber-hauler and oversheet the spinnaker slightly. This will have the

effect of bringing the sail down towards the deck, fl attening it a little and giving it less scope to wander around.

Moving the pole down both on the mast and on the outboard end will also have the effect of ‘strapping’ the spinnaker down, so lowering the centre of effort and making it more stable.

With an asymmetric, pull on the tack line. This will tighten the luff of the sail, stopping it from wandering and taking away some of the power.

2 MainsailThe mainsail’s job in this situation

is to try to balance out the power in the spinnaker and remove windward heel.

Pull on the kicker to keep the head of the main powered up; this maintains a counter force in the mainsail, pushing the boat back over to leeward and also stops wind spilling over the head of the mainsail and into the top of the spinnaker, making the situation worse.

In the fi rst of our new 12-part series on Advanced Sailing Techniques, professional sailor and coach Pip Hare guides you through how to deal with a Chinese gybe. To get the best out of the series, combine this feature with the exclusive video on our home page at yachtingworld.com

1 AVOIDING A CHINESE GYBE

VIDEO EXTRAAdvanced

sailing techniques

Scan this code on your smartphone to

go straight to our exclusive video of

part 1

See page 18 for QR code instructions

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO yachtingworld.com

Photos and video: Richard Langdon and Alistair Hyde-Tetley/Ocean Images


When sailing short-handed or on longer passages with a cross swell, you could consider using a preventer to keep the boom up in the air should you roll excessively. This could give you vital seconds to depower the spinnaker before the boom comes crashing down. But the preventer should be led forward then back to the cockpit, in a place easy to reach, so should the situation deteriorate, you can let it down quickly.

3 Steering When the boat starts to roll, it is

easy to make it worse with excessive use of the helm. Try to keep the boat steady and make gradual changes – the rudder requires water to be fl owing over

it to steer so going full lock will simply stall the boat.

Initially, try to steer the boat out of the roll – remember it is not necessarily because the boat has altered course that you are in danger of gybing, but because the boat is rolling to windward and the boom is up in the air.

Gently steer the boat to a higher wind angle and try to sail fl at or with slight leeward heel. A sudden rounding up could send you straight into a broach.

4 Be ready for a drop Chinese gybes can be caused by

diffi cult sea conditions, perhaps an old residual cross swell, but often they are an indication that the boat is starting to

become overpowered. Recovery should be followed by an assessment of the conditions. Perhaps it is time to change to a smaller spinnaker or go with a poled-out headsail. Make sure your cockpit is ready at all times for a drop.

Pilot guide When short-handed sailing in marginal conditions, it can often be the autopilot that will Chinese gybe the boat. Most pilots have controls now which can be adjusted to help the unit react well to these conditions, by balancing response and counter rudder settings. However, simply programming the pilot to steer 5 -10° high of the course while you are off the deck will keep the boat safe.


YACHTING WORLD FEBRUARY 2012 83

STARTING TO HEEL EASE POLE FORWARD

Pip Hare is a professional skipper and sailing coach with a diverse experience of racing and ocean sailing. Her passion is solo and short- handed offshore racing

TOP TIPWhen conditions start to become windier, watch the windward leading edge of the spinnaker; if the head of the spinnaker is often rolling out to level with or to windward of the end of the pole, then pull on the sheet a little to bring it back on board the boat.

STEER HIGH PULL ON KICKER

Dos and don’ts■ Do act early, as the wind increases start to change your spinnaker trim to keep the sail depowered and under control

■ Do keep your cockpit clear so sheets and guys are always ready to go

■ Don’t over-react – rapid counter actions can cause you to go straight into a broach


4 5

SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER

YACHTING WORLD DECEMBER 201282

11 DROPPING A SPINNAKER EXCLUSIVE VIDEO yachtingworld.com


ADVANCED TECHNIQUES SERIES

It’s a manoeuvre that makes even professional sailors get the jitters, admits Pip Hare. But Part 11 of our series on advanced sailing techniques reveals that the spinnaker drop can be simple. Don’t forget to look on our website yachtingworld.com for the accompanying video

ne manoeuvre that really makes my heart race when sailing single-handed is a spinnaker

drop. It can seem like a recipe for disaster as I will often be dropping because the wind has increased. One problem and the wind or sea could rip the sail from my hands – game over. Good preparation and a mental rehearsal of the process is my key to success; take it step by step and don’t let anything go until you are sure you are ready.

In Part 11 of this series I outline my tips for dropping a spinnaker short-handed or with a novice crew and on the accompanying video you can see me and Hannah Jenner, a former Clipper Race skipper who also won a podium place in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2011, perform a double-handed drop.

windward clew will fall around behind the jib and the sail will collapse.

At this point, start to gather in the foot of the sail, letting off the rest of the guy, and ease the halyard. Aim to let off around the top one-fi fth of the halyard very quickly – this allows the head of the sail to blow away from the boat and depower just long enough for you to be able to pull the rest of the spinnaker down away from the masthead and into shelter behind the mainsail.

Then let the rest of the halyard out in time with the crew retrieving the sail to keep it out of the water.

If alone or short-handed the fast initial release does not work, so I either leave a wrap of halyard around the winch, using the extra friction to control the speed of the drop, or I throw the halyard out behind the boat, then the drag of the line trailing through the water will have the same effect.

Solo or short-handed, gather the foot all the way into a sausage before releasing the halyard, that way you can pull the whole sail down under control.

Scan this code on your smartphone to go straight to

our exclusive video at

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VIDEO EXTRA

Sail FasterSail Safer

O

PreparationFlake all lines involved in the drop:

the halyard, guy, tackline and also the lazy sheets if you are using them. The latter are often forgotten, but have the potential to create an unseen knot and a whole heap of problems. Make sure they will run free and are not under anyone’s feet in the cockpit.

It is essential to steer the boat onto a deep downwind course to reduce the apparent wind and therefore the pressure in the spinnaker.

If conditions are very rolly when I am sailing single-handed, I even rig a preventer, which allows me to set the pilot close to dead downwind without the worry of the boom gybing mid-manoeuvre.

Hoisting or unfurling the jib before the drop, provides a natural windbreak to help depower the spinnaker.

Symmetric dropWhen you have prepared the boat

and your crew are ready, ease the guy fairly quickly until the pole is at the forestay. The

YWDec 12 Sail Faster.indd 82 23/10/2012 16:39

Above: Keep an

eye on your crew’s

progress when

easing the halyard

Don’t simply let go of the halyard: watch the crew too and if the sail is not coming in fast enough, slow down the rate of release.

When short-handed, take an extra minute to ensure all lines will run snag-free; one knot could ruin your day.

Think ahead: always be ready for a drop should conditions change, mentally run through the manoeuvre.

Your autopilot can help out in a drop too. If your pilot has been steering to the wind, reset it to steer in compass mode. Increase the sensitivity by one or two levels to make sure the computer reacts to the sudden change in velocity and will not allow a wave to round you into the wind at the critical moment.

YACHTING WORLD DECEMBER 2012 83


Pip Hare is a professional

skipper, sailing coach,

Yachtmaster Instructor

and Examiner with 80,000

miles’ experience. She has

raced solo in the OSTAR

and the Mini Transat

The letterboxIf you have a loose-footed main, a

letterbox drop is a safe and easy method, especially if short-handed. Before the drop, pull your lazy guy over the guardrails and pass it between the foot of the mainsail and the boom. Carry out the drop exactly as before, but use the lazy guy to pull the sail down between the boom and the mainsail.

This method has two advantages; fi rst, the spinnaker is pulled in from directly behind the mainsail, meaning it is completely shielded from the wind; and second, the boom gives you an element of purchase, should the sail fi ll with wind or even water.

I have used the letterbox method when single-handing, including to drop my 108m2 spinnaker alone in some tough conditions.

Asymmetrics and cruising chutes

The same principles apply as for symmetric drops, but the manoeuvre starts with a quick ease of the tackline to allow the tack of the sail to blow off downwind like a fl ag and depower the sail. Your crew can then pull on the lazy sheet to bring the chute behind the mainsail once the tack is inside the footprint of the boat; the halyard can be released as already described.

Asymmetric sails which fl y from a bowsprit are more diffi cult to depower before the drop because they are further away from the boat in clean air. The initial release of the tackline must be rapid; a slow ease or a snagged line will cause the spinnaker to stay full as it fl ies away from the boat making it uncontrollable.

NEXT MONTH In Part 12 Pip Hare has some suggestions as to what to do when it all goes wrong and the kite is in the water

TOP TIPS

Flake lines in preparation Gather foot of sail

Pull snuffer smoothly

SnuffersUnless it is very windy it is often easier

not to hoist the jib when using a snuffer, so you can see clearly the top of the sail.

The basics of the manoeuvre are the same; steer a deep downwind course and prepare the cockpit beforehand. To depower the sail, ease the sheet a little then the guy or tackline as with a normal drop. Once the sail collapses, start pulling the sock down.

In more diffi cult conditions run the snuffer line through a snatch-block on the foredeck and pull up on it. This will give you a little purchase on the line and make it less likely that you are taken off your feet if a gust fi lls the sail and forces the snuffer up again. In these sorts of conditions, gloves and a safety harness are also a good idea.

You may also fi nd by pulling the snuffer down from the leeward side and close to the mast you encourage the sail to fall in behind the main and collapse in its shadow.

Once the sock is down, drop the halyard, gathering the sock on the foredeck.

YWDec 12 Sail Faster.indd 83 23/10/2012 16:39

6 7

Most of us will be familiar with that fi nal pull on the helm that cannot be overcome as

the boat rounds up to windward in a massive broach. The ensuing chaos can be hard to recover from, and damaging both for the boat and for crew morale.

Well-trimmed sails and keeping a close eye on conditions can help to avoid a lot of broaching situations. However, in this article and the accompanying video online I have drawn on my own experiences, both during solo ocean racing and when coaching mixed ability crews inshore, to highlight some key points on how to recognise the early warning signs of a broach.

I look here at how to trim the sails to avoid losing control, as well as steering, crew interaction, what to do at night and when you are sailing short-handed.

SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER ADVANCED TECHNIQUES SERIES

70 YACHTING WORLD MARCH 2012

1 MainsailPrompt action with mainsail trim

can often be the simple answer to stop a tug on the helm from becoming a full wipe-out. On the fi rst signs of a broach a quick ease of the kicker will twist off the top of the sail and so reduce the heeling moment.

When reaching in gusty conditions, the mainsail should always be well eased, traveller down, with a backwind ‘bubble’ at the mast as the default trim.

Make sure the kicker is in easy reach and if you are struggling to steer, place a crewmember next to it. If you often sail short-handed, think about leading the kicker to a position in the cockpit where it is more accessible. Double-ended systems are ideal.

If releasing the kicker does not reduce suffi cient pressure on the helm, release the mainsheet until the boat comes back upright. All these actions will need to be done in quick succession,

and as always it is good practice to make sure your mainsheet is kept fl aked and ready to run out.

If you continually need to ease the main, then it is maybe time to reef; shortening the mainsail can make the boat easier to manage with less heel and often an insignifi cant loss of speed.

2 SpinnakerBroaching can occur under any sail

plan; it is not a spinnaker-specifi c occurrence, though having the spinnaker up can make it a more intimidating experience.

If the mainsail cannot be depowered enough to prevent a broach, the spinnaker sheet is the only remaining ‘get out of jail’ line.

Immediately ease out a large amount of spinnaker sheet until you feel the boat start to come upright or the helmsman tells you they have feeling back in the rudder. If you are

In the second part of our new 12-part series on Advanced Sailing Techniques, professional sailor and coach Pip Hare guides you through what to do when you start to broach. To get the best out of the series, combine this feature with the exclusive video on our home page at yachtingworld.com

2 BROACHING

VIDEO EXTRASail FasterSail Safer

Scan this code on your smartphone to

go straight to our exclusive video of

part 2

See page 16 for QR code instructions

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO yachtingworld.com


YWMar 12 Techniques.indd 70 25/01/2012 11:54

using a lazy guy, ensure this will not catch on anything or prevent an ease.

Keep the spinnaker sheet eased until the boat is upright and starting to get back on course – an insuffi cient dump of the spinnaker sheet or bringing it back on too early will cause the boat to roll straight back into a broach every time it tries to recover.

When reaching under spinnaker be very sure not to let out the guy. This will make the situation worse as the pole will crash onto the forestay and the spinnaker will slew to leeward, heeling the boat even more.

A constant need to ease the spinnaker is probably an indication that it is time to take it down. As always, have the halyard fl aked, ready to run and be ready to drop.

3 Steering A broach can be averted by good

communication between helmsman and crew. A fi rst indication of a broach will be a marked increase in weather helm which it is diffi cult to steer against; at this point the helmsman must involve the crew.

The crew will not always know exactly how much kicker or sheet to let off and when, so to avoid all sails being dumped every time the boat heels over, the helmsman must keep the crew informed.

If, despite easing sheets, the boat continues to broach, pump the helm by bearing away hard, steering straight, then bearing away hard again. However, if you do not regain control you will get to a point where that is no longer effective. At this point, try putting the helm back to centre. With eased sheets and a little patience the boat should come upright and start to move forward,

water will start fl owing over the rudder and you will be able to steer downwind to avoid another broach.

If you are continually having to ease the sheet to avoid a broach, try steering a little lower or changing your sail plan.

4 Under autopilot Autopilots are particularly

sensitive to gusts and waves when reaching and so a change in conditions can cause the pilot to broach quite easily.

Keep an eye on how hard your pilot is working. As conditions worsen, increase response level to help it cope.Trim the sails to the pilot and not the other way around. Think about taking in a reef earlier when using the pilot in potential broaching conditions – remember, it is not able to tell you to release the kicker.

SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER with YACHTING WORLD MARCH 2012 71

DEPOWER THE MAIN

Pip Hare is a professional skipper, sailing coach, Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner with 80,000 miles’ experience. She has raced solo in the OSTAR and the Mini Transat

Top tips for short-handing

■ Make sure all the crucial lines – kicker, mainsheet and spinnaker sheet – are within easy reach of the helm. Cross-winch across the cockpit if necessary.■ Put some luminous tape on the wheel so at night you can tell at a glance how much helm the autopilot is using.

EASE THE SHEET

STEER DOWNWIND

TRIM SAILS TO PILOT

Dos and don’ts■ Do stay calm and keep talking

■ Do ensure sheets are fl aked and ready to run out

■ Do practise reaching in gusty conditions to learn how quickly your boat responds

■ Don’t shout■ Don’t ease the guy ■ Be ready to reduce sail before you stop enjoying sailing

YWMar 12 Techniques.indd 71 25/01/2012 11:54

8 9


YACHTING WORLD JANUARY 201394

12 SPINNAKER PROBLEMS EXCLUSIVE VIDEO yachtingworld.com



What can you do when it all goes horribly wrong with the spinnaker? In Part 12 of our series on advanced sailing techniques Pip Hare says that there’s no need to panic and offers advice on sorting the problems. Don’t forget to look on yachtingworld.com for the accompanying video

have encountered more than my fair share of problems with the spinnaker when single-handed

and it can be a total nightmare. The size and power of the sail that drags you through the water at such great speed work against you when you have a problem. This can make a solution seem almost impossible.

Getting the sail back under control or into the boat is a job for the head before the hands and here are a few of the techniques I use to sort things out when it all goes wrong.

Spinnaker in waterThe two crucial initial actions are to slow the boat down and to stop the spinnaker from taking a net shape and fi lling with water, but

have halyards long enough to allow the head of the spinnaker to lie fl at on the water momentarily should you have a mishap. Obviously this technique would not work on larger boats; however, if you regularly sail short-handed I would recommend a long halyard with a knot in the very end.

Once you have the sail fl at on the water, it is time to pull it in. Start from a corner, bunch the sail into a sausage and pull it in small sections. If you are struggling, use ropes and winches; tie a rolling hitch around a section of sail, lead the tail of the rope under the guardrails and into the cockpit, then wind the sail in, lock it off and tie another one further down the sail. Time and doggedness will get the job done.

Spinnaker wrapThis normally occurs when the

spinnaker has been packed incorrectly or the two bottom corners are too close together during the hoist.

Prevention fi rst: take your time to pack



yachtingworld.com

VIDEO EXTRA


I

to get it to stream out as one long piece.To slow the boat down, turn towards

the wind just enough to make the mainsail depower, leaving the spinnaker on the leeward side of the boat. Hold the boat on this angle if you can.

Try to get the spinnaker to stream out; I normally let go one of the clews immediately by releasing the sheets from the sail, fi rst making sure the other is secure.

Next try to get the head of the spinnaker to lie fl at on the water – as long as it is up in the air it will be powered up and the sail will be close to impossible to pull in.

There are a couple of ways to do this, but you need to think on your feet. Often there will be a moment when the head of the sail is within reach; there would be no point in pulling it in as there is too much pressure in the sail, but if you can act quickly and release the halyard from the head of the sail this could be a major step as the sail will stream out on top of the water and with a bit of perseverance you can pull it in.

On smaller boats it is a good idea to

YWJan 13 Sail Faster.indd 94 27/11/2012 17:02

Above: How

to deal with a

spinnaker that has

fallen in the water

YACHTING WORLD JANUARY 2013 95









the spinnaker away properly each time and, as mentioned in the hoisting feature in Part 10 (November issue), make sure your tackline or guy is pulled on before you hoist, even if you are using a snuffer.

If the sail ‘wine glasses’ during a hoist, don’t drop the jib immediately as this will be acting as a good windbreak for you to work behind. Bring the guy back about halfway to expose the leading edge of the spinnaker to the wind while sailing deep, but not dead downwind.

If the twist is high up close to the head of the sail, try sheeting on, easing the spinnaker halyard about a metre.

These actions together should open the foot of the sail, encouraging wind to funnel in, while allowing the head to fl y slightly away from the mast, giving the halyard shackle a chance to swivel.

With luck the wind in the foot of the sail will force the twist upwards and it will spin out at the head.

If the wine glass is larger or further down the sail, this method may not work, so ease the guy forward and allow the body of the spinnaker to rotate behind the jib. Then grab the leech of the sail and pull down on it (make sure you let go if it starts fi lling), slowly work your way up the leech as far as you can go, pulling the twist out.

If all else fails, drop the spinnaker, sort it out and rehoist. If you end up with a mega-twist inside a snuffer, this will mean you will have to drop the sail, then lift the bucket and sort it out.

Allow spinnaker to stream Tie rolling hitch and winch in

Pull in steadily

Wine glass in the asymmetric

With an asymmetric spinnaker and inside gybing this usually happens because the clew of the sail has not been pulled through the forestay quickly enough and the body of the sail has been allowed to rotate well forward of the luff and twist up.

A light wrap close to the head of the sail can sometimes be forced out by pulling on the new sheet and heading up into the wind to force air into the foot and the twist up and out – again a small ease on the halyard can help the head rotate.

With larger wraps keep the boat further downwind to reduce the force in the sail and pull like crazy on the new sheet to try to stretch the leech out and force the sail to unwrap itself.

If this fails, trying gybing back again, this

will often untwist the spinnaker, reversing the action it has just made.

Wrap around the forestay

When making longer passages and at night the spinnaker can fl oat into the boat if momentarily defl ated and wrap itself around the forestay. This generally happens on downwind courses and in lighter breeze.

A couple of tricks I use to guard against this are to hoist my smallest headsail and sheet it into the middle of the boat while sailing downwind. If the jib is sheeted in hard it has minimum effect on the spinnaker and it becomes impossible for the sail to wrap.

The other method is to make a Belgian jib. This works very well if you have a babystay. Take the jib halyard and wrap it from the forestay around the babystay and back a couple of times, making a net so the spinnaker cannot pass through.

If you do not have a babystay, but do have a second jib or spinnaker halyard, then try taking this down to the toerail on the leeward side and do the same thing.

YWJan 13 Sail Faster.indd 95 27/11/2012 17:03

10 11


YACHTING WORLD NOVEMBER 201292

10 HOISTING A SPINNAKER EXCLUSIVE VIDEO yachtingworld.com



It’s the cause of many a club-bar yarn and fi lls many yachtsmen with dread. Yet in Part 10 of our series on advanced sailing techniques Pip Hare says the spinnaker hoist can be simple. Don’t forget to look on our website yachtingworld.com for the accompanying video

he basic principles of hoisting a spinnaker are easy to grasp. More importantly, they are the same

whether you are sailing fully crewed, short- or single-handed and use an asymmetric or a symmetric spinnaker – get it to the top of the mast in one go and without twists.

The secret to a successful hoist is to break the manoeuvre down – that way you can understand the constituent parts and the order in which each should happen. Through this technique I have taught total novices to hoist successfully and also manage large spinnakers single-handed.

PreparationTake your time to prepare for the

hoist: clear winches, set your pole height,

wraps by keeping the two clews apart. But be aware that if you pull it too far around, the spinnaker will be exposed to the wind and could fi ll before you get the head to the top.

Hoist from the mast, with someone tailing in the cockpit. If you do a lot of short-handed sailing it’s a good idea to put a small cleat on the mast to take the load of the halyard once hoisted while you tail it through to the jammer aft.

If you have enough crew, start to bring on the guy during the hoist, so that the sail comes out from behind the jib and at the correct angle of trim.

Once the spinnaker is hoisted, sheet on. If racing you can consider sheeting on mid-hoist, but make sure someone is willing to wind up the last few feet of halyard – it’s much tougher! Easing the tweakers will help to spill wind from the sail if needed.

Hoist an asymmetricThe same rules as for the symmetric

spinnaker apply; take your time to set up the hoist and ensure your tackline is completely



yachtingworld.com

VIDEO EXTRA


T

make sure your sheet will be free to run and the tweakers are off. Double-check that the halyards, sheets and guys are not twisted.

A good briefi ng to your crew or a mental run-through if alone is essential to success; plan each part of the hoist in sequence and make sure there is only one person conducting the orchestra.

Hoist a symmetricThis is usually best done behind the

jib, which will act as a windbreak, prevent a forestay wrap and give you more of a chance to get the spinnaker up before it fi lls. Oversheet the jib to give the spinnaker a more direct route to the top of the mast.

Steer a safe downwind course, reducing the apparent wind. If you are using the pilot, set it up in compass mode, with the response levels high enough to cope with any waves. Be prepared to wait for a minute after engaging it just to make sure that any swell is not knocking you off course.

Pull on the guy, until the pole is about a metre off the forestay; this helps to prevent

YWNov 12 Sail Faster.indd 92 25/09/2012 17:19

Above: solo sailor

Brian Thompson

offers his tips on our

video (see far left)

If fl ying a spinnaker short-handed it is a good idea to ‘wool’ the spinnaker before each hoist in order to be sure that it does not fi ll too early.

If you do not want to wool the whole spinnaker then just do the fi rst couple of metres of the leading corner. Keeping the tack or the windward clew bound will allow you to pull the leading edge of the sail out and as a result be confi dent that it will not start fi lling. This tip also works well with snuffers.

If the spinnaker does twist as it is hoisted, don’t panic! Try spreading the clews by pulling the pole back and sheeting on. If the twist is high up in the sail, ease the halyard about a metre. This moves the head of the sail away from the mast and gives it room to rotate. The twist sometimes works its own way out.

YACHTING WORLD NOVEMBER 2012 93









free when you pull out a retractable bowsprit, so it does not take the spinnaker out with it. When ready for the hoist, pull on the tack line, then the halyard then the sheet.

Tidy upFinally once the spinnaker is set, put

away your jib and tidy the cockpit. Always make sure your halyard and windward sheets and guys are fl aked and ready for a quick drop.

SnuffersSnuffers make the job of hoisting a

spinnaker easier. The compromise is they mean you lose a little sail area from the head of the sail and have more weight at the top of the rig. Snuffers are easiest to operate from a clear foredeck, so to avoid a tangle put away the jib and give yourself some space.

Again, take time to prepare: get your pole set up or your tack clipped on if you are fl ying a cruising chute from a fi xed point on the bow. Snuffer lines have a habit of tangling while they are in the bag, so lay out the line on deck and ensure that the snuffer line will end up on same side as you when you attach the sheets, guys or tacklines.

Hoist the snuffer fi rst, then pull on the tack line or the guy. Be careful in breezier conditions as this could allow wind to funnel up the snuffer and start your hoist early.

Before raising the sock it is sometimes a good idea to reach all the way inside the snuffer and pull down on the spinnaker to make sure it is not bunched up in the fi rst third of the sock – this is where most of the spinnaker lies. With this done, once the tack or guy are pulled out, pull on the sheet a

NEXT MONTH In Part 11 Pip Hare examines the delicate art of dropping the spinnaker

TOP TIPS

The jib as windbreak Sheet on once hoisted

Hoist the bucket to expose the head of the spinnaker

Hoist at the mast for speed

little, so the spinnaker will fi ll gently as the snuffer goes up rather than just fl ap.

Ensure you pull the bucket right up to expose the head of the spinnaker – it is easy to miss this last little bit – then tie it off to an easily accessible place on the deck so that you are ready to drop quickly.

How the experts do itHere’s a neat trick used by

professional solo sailors – mark everything to make hoisting easier. By marking the guys and sheets at the perfect position for the hoist, you can pre-set them and be sure you get it right every time. This is also true of halyards because it lets you focus on the rope while you are hoisting and not stop until the sail has reached the mast head; it is easy to miss the last metre of the hoist, especially at night, thereby sacrifi cing speed and making the sail less stable. Hoisting to a mark will mean you get it right every time.

YWNov 12 Sail Faster.indd 93 25/09/2012 17:19

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