Do you - Accidental Gybe?

Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
If you sail down wind, it is a fact of life... You are going to do an accidental gybe. If you are not prepared it can do damage to boat and crew.

Have you experienced an accidental gybe? What happened? How have you modified your sailing procedures to address this risk? Do you have or use a preventer?

Here are some videos that have happened to other sailors.
https://www.yachtingworld.com/video/video-5-scariest-accidental-gybes-76048

I have experienced this maneuver in small and large boats. It is not fun. It can sweep a crew member off the boat or outright kill them as the boom does its thing. This sailing issue deserves your consideration so that you can be prepared if it happens or perhaps prevent it from happening.

What are your thoughts?
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Of course I've had accidental jibes. Some rather easy and some harder. None that were extremely violent, thankfully.
Now with a furling boom that is much heavier that the stock boom, I have a boom brake made by Dutchman. It works great. I have done a couple tests in increasing winds, and found the settings that let the boom ease over on a jibe. I should have rigged the boom brake years ago with the OEM boom. Don't leave home without it.
 
Mar 26, 2011
3,399
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Sure.
(comments related to my cruising cat, not the try, for the most part)
* If sailing wing-and-wing I'll rig a preventer. Keeping the jib right requires sail DDW or ever so slightly by the lee.
* Otherwise, I just lock the full-width traveler down and limit the amount of sheet out; this prevents hard jibes.
* I've never liked boom brakes; with a wide traveler it's not needed and they require too much adjustment. I've tested a few. But used as a semi-preventer, I can see the point, particularly for monohulls. I would add one to my tri, for that use only, if it were not precluded by the roller boom. Just yank it tight and light wind jibes are prevented and heavy wind jibes are moderated.
 
Nov 26, 2012
1,653
Hunter 34 Berkeley
Most definitely. I have a scar on my forehead and my nose. My nose was broken so badly that I had to have stitches inside my nostrils. Good times. Why did this happen? I went forward to help pull down the spin and the helmsman got caught up in what we were doing and was not paying attention to his job. Nowadays I make it a point to tell the helmsman that he/she has the most important responsibility of all which is to keep the boat on course downwind and to do nothing else.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
Usually...

The boat i sail has little ballast, the boom is overhead (if seated), and the sheeting is mid-boom.

The most interesting gybe involved me singlehanding on a deep downwind reach at the cusp of wing-and-wing. I know I'm on the knife edge and would like to gybe and dominate the situation.

The jib is unfurled, but blanketed, and the jib sheet is in shambles on the cockpit floor on the side I am not. To prep the jib i reach over the centerline, get down low like im a super hero on a three-point high fall landing, and reach foward to grab the jib sheets.

Next thing I know the boat is heeled over to the side i am crawling on and the boom swings. The boom is 3 feet above me but the mainsheet is now clothesline'n me across my neck and back. It was as if my beloved vessel was stepping on my neck, telling me to, "stay down punk".

The boat is now almost at a reach, heeled over well over 45 degrees, and no one is at the helm.

I quickly backed out and around from the mainsheet, got to the other side and quickly regained control. Glad I didnt fall over or flip the hull.

Lessons learned...never get in the way of the mainsheet or the boom. Jib sheets are long..keep them by my side at all times when singlehanding.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I find when sailing it is about what point of sail I am on and how long I will be on that tack.

More often now I rig a preventer to help control the boom. Solo sailing even with a AP holding my course, if I have to go to the bow I do not want the boom to swing. It swings even if the wind is steady when the seas are up, and it can really swing or become a "pain" if the following sea grabs the boom and has its way as I rock down the wave.

I used a rather light weight (attachment to the base of a stanchion) preventer, until I started to really examine the forces at play. Now I run a 5/8ths line from the boom end to the bow on the lee side, through a block attached to a strong point (a cleat or a paddy with strong backing plate) and back to a cockpit cleat. I fix the boom position by counter pulling the mainsheet against the preventer. The boom stays fixed in position until I adjust the trim.

it takes a little bit longer to rig (I use a block with a soft shackle to attach it to the cleat. This has really improved the speed of attachment), I find it significantly more stable and safer while sailing "off" the wind.
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
That video list is kinda funny and not super relevant to this forum. Most are high-tech race boats that round DOWN under spinnaker and Chinese gybe. Most here have or never will do that. Most will 'accidentally' gybe while sailing DDW under a headsail and main. Normal due to inattentive helm and perhaps a wind shift.

Wave action can present a problem as well, that can be mitigated with fused preventers or brakes. There is no ideal solution. Once a boat NEEDS to gybe, is it better to hold it back or let it go? Depends on the boat.
 
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Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
The accidental gybes I've had in my various boats over the years have luckily never resulted in injury or damage.

On my Hobie I intentionally gybe all of the time, I find my hobie difficult to bring across the wind on a tack so unless I have great speed, I gybe. Like @thinwater I use the traveler on my Hobie to limit the gybe. On my Hunter 26, I tend to tack down wind so that I can better predict the sail behavior (and it is more fun). I don't have a traveler on the Hunter (something I want to change) so I bring the main sheet in and "lock" the boom center-line before I gybe.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I don't always gybe accidentally, but when I do I yell "duck!"

But seriously. I keep one hand on the mainsheet and if there's any indication of crossing the wind I sheet in quickly. And our boom is high, on the top side of the huge bimini. It's damn near impossible to get hit by it.

 

ToddS

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Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
I've accidentally gybed in small boats (dinghies, sunfish, etc.) but not on big (25+ feet) boats (knock on wood) except for maybe when there wasn't even enough wind to keep the sails filled as I crossed a powerboat wake or similar.. My boom is above a bimini, so the cockpit is pretty safe... and I have roller furling sails (jib and main) with all lines back to the cockpit... so I don't often need to go forward... and I'm exceptionally paranoid when I do go forward on broad reaches or on a run. I pretty much never use my spinnaker... all things that HELP (but not 100% ensure) my safety. Obviously there are occasional needs to go forward. I've been thinking I'll start rigging a preventer on my Beneteau 373 (mid-boom-sheeting). I like the method of running a line from boom up the lee side, to something very strong at the bow, and then back to a cockpit cleat on the windward side. I'm torn between the improved leverage of attaching at the aft end of the boom (farthest from fulcrum/gooseneck) vs attaching at/near the mainsheet attachment point mid-boom, where it has a bit less leverage, but maybe less likely to foul/chafe/interfere with other lines/sails/etc. Also mid-boom is more easily rigged/reached after-the-fact when the boom is already sheeted way out. Any quick votes for mid-boom vs. aft-end-of boom? And if mid-boom, I can't picture whether that would run outside or inside of my shrouds... I THINK outside, and I THINK that's not critical, but probably preferable, right? My swept-back spreaders mean my shrouds are farther aft, meaning the boom isn't as perpendicular on a run as it might be on some other boats. On the windward side, I'd run the preventer line inboard from the shrouds... as directly as possible from bow to cockpit cleat.
 

Jim26m

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Apr 3, 2019
579
Macgregor 26M Mobile AL
Many times on a sunfish when I was young and learning to sail. Only once on my current boat, and in light air thankfully. No damage or injury, but learned a valuable lesson. When you ask someone to take the helm so you can go forward to check something, make sure that they know you want them to maintain a straight course - not steer in a circle... Ah the joys of taking new crew sailing.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
When I was young and knew everything, I was on a downwind run on my O'Day 23 with my parents on board. It came time to gybe, and my dad suggested a 270 degree turn, since the breeze was pretty stiff. I decided to gybe instead, and the boom came across very quickly and we ended up heeled way over. I can still see my poor Mom hanging onto the overhead hand hold, with her feet in the air. I learned a lot about what not to do on that little sailboat.
 
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Feb 14, 2014
7,399
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
And our boom is high, on the top side of the huge bimini. It's damn near impossible to get hit by it.
:plus::plus:
With my Hunter B&R rigging, the boom is over the bimini. Our boom traveler is on top of that and restricts the boom swing to 60°. We use the traveler to set that swing to less than 60°. That avoids the main slamming into the speaders.

It is theoretically possible if a 6'6 person is walking forward at gybe time, to get a head bonk, or if someone was deck lounging to get pushed a bit, if they stood up.

I am going sailing this weekend, finally no squalls, and I will double check the boom swing. 10 knot winds forecasted.:clap:

Jim...
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Some of these posts tell of the big disadvantage of mid-boom or high/hidden travelers. It’s is IMPOSSIBLE to throw the mainsheet over, or manually control a gybe. On an end boom setup, in breeze under 18 we gather the mainsheet in hand and throw the boom over when DDW. With any other setup, you have to pull it all in and then rapidly ease, or let it snap over from a wild deep angle.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
I've had one memorable accidental gybe, and a bunch that were pretty low key, i.e., light winds, calm seas.

The memorable one came on my Tanzer 22. We had been sailing on a port tack broad reach and needed to gybe to enter the harbor. As we settled in to the trough of a wave I looked up and saw the mainsail leach form a perfect S. The next thing I knew I was on the low side, we were broad reaching and headed for the harbor entrance. Once inside the harbor, I let the mainsail (we didn't have a jib up) luff and we were reaching at 6 knots.

When we gybed the winds were north of 30 knots and the seas were running at 8-12 feet. The crew (now ex-wife) was hanging her head over the side with Mal-de-Mar and the dog was locked below in the cabin. Not an experience I wish to repeat.
 
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Jan 22, 2008
1,654
Hunter 34 Alameda CA
I have experienced accidental gybes. Luckily no serious injuries or equipment failures. My friend broke his boom on a Hunter 466 sailing from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz. He was trying to sail DDW and figured the autopilot would be fine. First wave that kicked the stern over and that was that.

In my case and in most others with the B&R rigging or swept back spreaders we always reach downwind anyway because I don't want to wrap the main into the spreader tips. That stays more in the boundaries of the cabintop traveler. We try and stay as far away from a gybe position as possible. And I have had a Dutchman Boom Brake for a long time. It saved us on a number of occasions when we started surfing while sailing the same route with our friend who broke his boom. Once we started to surf, we lost control and even from a broad reach we got kicked around into a gybe. The boom brake did its job. From the picture you can see how I rigged it. There is a fixed length line with an eye splice at each end that is shackled to the chainplate (replacing the clevis pin). I repurposed my vang as a cunningham with a hook through the flattening reef cringle. A separate control line is attached to the shackle on the boom brake that runs up and under the boom, forward, then down the mast, through the seahood to a sheet stopper on the starboard cabin top next to the winch. I can elevate it easily applying the required brake tension. It self centers under the boom. After a controlled gybe, I ease the control line and it follows the fixed line over and below the boom again, then I re-tighten. It also serves well as a replacement vang when I can keep the boom down. That even works upwind in really light air when every little wave bounces the boom up and down destroying sail shape. If I can keep that from happening, we can keep moving albiet slowly.
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