Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

Chapter 25: The Mechanics of Sailing
Boat Bytes
How do you know where the wind is coming from? Keep an eye on the telltales,
those bits of yarn or other lightweight material that are attached to the shrouds.
They fly like flags, streaming away from the wind. Telltales are also sometimes
stitched through the luff of the jib to check for the best sail trim. When the sail is
trimmed at its most efficient angle for a given heading, the yarn on both sides of
the sail streams directly aft.
To try a close reach (at an angle between 45 and 90 degrees from the wind direction), turn
up into the wind slightly. The sails will begin to flutter but will tighten again as you draw
in the sheets slightly.
As you point up even farther, you sail “close-hauled” to the wind, as near as you dare
without going into the no-sail zone and losing power. As you do, the boat heels over. If
the boat leans enough to make you nervous, turn a few degrees back away from the wind
and the hull will straighten up.
For a broad reach, (at an angle of more than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees from
the wind direction) turn away from the wind slightly, and let out the sheets a bit.
Safe Downwind Turns
Turning across the wind on a run is known as a jibe, and it requires coordination between
skipper and crew.
As long as the wind comes from the side of the boat opposite the side that the boom is on,
even at a modest angle, the boom is under control. When you turn directly downwind
and then back to the other side, putting wind and boom on the same side of the boat, the
boom is going to swing.
On larger boats, the boom vang serves as an
added safety line on the boom when properly
rigged, preventing it from swinging uncontrolled
across the boat to whack unsuspecting
crew members during an unplanned jibe.
A controlled jibe requires you to warn the crew
that you’re about to turn across the wind, by saying
“Ready to jibe.” This tells them that the boom
is going to come across the cockpit, although
hopefully it will come slowly and under control of
the mainsheet, which you or an assigned crew
member will control.
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Look Out!
Don’t turn directly
downwind or anywhere close to
it at first, because a downwind
run can cause an unintentional
jibe, or crossing of the wind,
which makes the boom swing
across the cockpit at great speed
if winds are strong and the sheet
is loose. The boom can seriously
injure crewpersons as well as
knock them overboard.