Boat Handling

[Don Guillette]

Dick of Sylvin made me think of something. Sailors that start with small boats generally become better big boat sailors because everything happens quicker on a small boat and if they develop a good understanding of all the elements of sail trim big boat handling becomes a snap.I used to like to sail into my slip. I didn't do it all the time but only when the urge came over me. Here's a couple of questions that anyone who sails into their slip should be able to answer in 10 seconds. If you have not sailed into your slip but would like to - listen up.Suppose your in the turning basin but are sailing (without the engine) to hot to enter the slip way or slip. What simple maneuver could you perform to slow the boat down?If you have a downwind slip, which sail do you use to sail into your slip?If you have a upwind slip, which sail do you use to sail into your slip?Sound like easy questions but I've seen a whole bunch of skippers sail into their slip with the wrong sail. Also, if you are one of the mates thinking of trying this for the first time be sure to keep the engine running just in case and until you get the hang of it. Sailing into your slip is a good thing to know as one day you may need it and that time may not be the best time to try it for the first time.

 

[Brian M H23]

My Answers

To slow down:Turn hard left, then hard right.(Don't actually let the boat turn much, just get good pressure on the rudder then switch)you could alsoSheet out while going upwind, or head up if on a reach. DDW, sheet in tight.For an upwind slip, main only. ease it until it is luffing gently, and power up intermittently to maintain a slow speed. Once in the slip, let it luff while you drop it. Downwind, you use just the jib. Roller furling is super nice here - furl it once you have enough speed to make it! Or just sheet in tight with some room, and wory about dropping it once you're tied up.

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Forbidden

When I was in my 20's I belonged to the Naval Sailing Club on North Island, San Diego. We had boats up to 60', none of which had motors. As an instructor I was expected to pass on those skills to beginning sailors. Saturday morning was training time. All boats were kept within the cove. About 20 at a time were making approaches on the slips and docks. It forced the students to learn the rules of the road and judge collision courses very quickly.The marina I use now has a strict rule forbidding sailing anywhere in the marina except in an emergency. Even then you are not allowed to enter a slip, but must tie to the transient docks just inside the marina entrance.I settle for dropping and weighing anchor under sail now.

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Without Horses

Don: Downwind I like to douse the main first and come on in on the jib which I can luff when needed. And where I dock, I have enough space to make a tight turn back to weather before it gets too serious. Upwind in a narrow channel it often requires both sails, and if wind dies completely, I'm prepared to use a dependable large canoe paddle. But even with my rather light C22 it amazes me how much momentum there is to carry us along quite aways without wind. RK

 

[Rick Macdonald]

For people who like short helpful phrases...

...use the sail "farthest from the wind"....RickM...

 

[biorapper]

My motor on my 26s broke and for a year and a half

I learned how to get it done. It was a very interesting year...One day it took us 14 hours to return from a 2 hour sail out. we cooked dinner, listened to music and stuff. Only a few times did I have to jump to the dock and lasso the tie down (I learned to let it pull then let it go a bit then pull again to minimize the bow slamming against the dock. A few time I also would beach (retractable centerboard) it and, if close enough, pull it over to the dock with ropes or wait for conditions to change (only when the wind had a strong downwind component respective to the dock). I still try to use my motor as little as possible...more times than not I never fire up the motor, but it is never as pure as it was when broke.*Disclaimer*: I only went salt water once without a motor...and probably should not have done that. Makes me RESPECT those SAILORS that went out there; esp. round the horn before motors came about. One story i was reading wrote of ships that would almost be past the horn, then get blown south...some towards a chilly death...some would take MONTHS to make it back north and west!

 

[CharlieCobra]

I went for over a year without power

for the same reason. I wouldn't go into the Sound like that though because of the currents around here. I didn't want to end up in Russia.

 

[Alan]

I've told this one before but....

...one Wed evening after a particularly great race we were headed back to the club for the "de-brief" at the bar. It was a run to the finish line and broad reach to the club. The crew was ready to douse the spinnaker and someone suggested, "hey, lets sail in under spinnaker!".After at least 2 seconds of thought I said "sure"The boat was made ready with dock lines and fenders, and we talked through the entire maneuver with an escape plan if it should fail. Everyone knew their job. The main was dropped leaving the spinnaker as our sole power source.We approached the dock on a very broad reach, with about 5 boat lengths to go the spinnaker came down and we coasted in for a perfect landing. Those on the dock that watched this gave us a round of applause for the landing. High fives and big smiles went around the boat.

 

[Tom Monroe]

what I do ...

I can really only sail in when the wind is off the nose, because the channel is very narrow. And you're right ... I learned all this stuff sailing dinghys as a boy and in collegeTo slow down, drag the rudder back and forth, and if going into the wind, you can push the main out on the leeward side to act as an air brake.Enter downwind on working jib (no overlap, so you can sheet in tight to slow down).Enter upwind on main, assuming the boat will sail that way. Mine doesn't, at least not very well.Tom

 

[Alan]

Joe,

Obviously you know that sailing out of a downwind slip is impossible. Having your sails down and walking the boat out of the slip or powering out is your only choice. A great deal will depend on the room available around the slip.Don's point was to try bring up the need for quality boat handling in close quarters. Racing skippers have plenty of practice maneuvering among other boats in close quarters but those who don't race rarely take the opportunity to practice this kind of boat handling.Sailing off a mooring either up or down wind is very easy due to the room available to reach off and tack away.

 

[Alan]

Joe,

Obviously you know that sailing out of a downwind slip is impossible. Having your sails down and walking the boat out of the slip or powering out is your only choice. A great deal will depend on the room available around the slip.Don's point was to try bring up the need for quality boat handling in close quarters. Racing skippers have plenty of practice maneuvering among other boats in close quarters but those who don't race rarely take the opportunity to practice this kind of boat handling.Sailing off a mooring either up or down wind is very easy due to the room available to reach off and tack away.

 

[Alan]

Joe,

Obviously you know that sailing out of a downwind slip is impossible. Having your sails down and walking the boat out of the slip or powering out is your only choice. A great deal will depend on the room available around the slip.Don's point was to try bring up the need for quality boat handling in close quarters. Racing skippers have plenty of practice maneuvering among other boats in close quarters but those who don't race rarely take the opportunity to practice this kind of boat handling.Sailing off a mooring either up or down wind is very easy due to the room available to reach off and tack away.

 

[Alan]

Joe,

Obviously you know that sailing out of a downwind slip is impossible. Having your sails down and walking the boat out of the slip or powering out is your only choice. A great deal will depend on the room available around the slip.Don's point was to try bring up the need for quality boat handling in close quarters. Racing skippers have plenty of practice maneuvering among other boats in close quarters but those who don't race rarely take the opportunity to practice this kind of boat handling.Sailing off a mooring either up or down wind is very easy due to the room available to reach off and tack away.

 

[Don Guillette]

Sailing Out Of Downwind Slip

Joe/Alan: Normally I can knock out these answers right off the top of my head but Joe, your question stumped me and I really had to think about it as to how I might pull it off in a boat over 30' and in excess of 12,000 lbs.First of all, I would never attempt it alone. Secondly, I sailed into the DW slip with the jib and that is the sail I would look to in order to get out. In Long Beach, Ca the wind always clocks around from the south to the west. By the time I'm coming back most PM's it is dead on my nose. It works nicely for me under power. It acts like a brake. The slip across from me is DDW. Let's say for some reason I had to get out of that slip under sail and I'm going to exit the slipway to the south. Here's is how I would attempt it with a driver, myself as the jib trimmer plus another mate to push us out and then jump on board. I'd roll out the jib and quickly position it with the jib sheets so it is pointing straight back along the centerline of the boat. I'd then have the boat pusher push like blazes and have the driver steer the stern to the north. As soon as I felt I could make the bow point south and clear the boats around me I'd set the jib to starboard tack and go for it - praying all the way that I am right as I have one shot at it.I was thinking about using the mainsail also. In other words, if I could have raised it and pointed the boom along the centerline and kept it there I could have used it to power forward but I think it is too risky to mess with the mainsail. The jib is the best choice.I don't think I would ever want to try this without practice. I've seen lots of guys sail out of upwind slips including myself but when I saw your question I tried to remember seeing a skipper sail out of the downwind slip so I would have some basis to work from but I've never seen it happen - don't mean to say it doesn't happen but just that I've never seen it.What do you guys think? There are a lot of good sailors on this list. How would you pull it off? Alan, suppose you just had to do it. What would you do?

 

[Don Guillette]

Sailing Out Of Downwind Slip

Joe/Alan: Normally I can knock out these answers right off the top of my head but Joe, your question stumped me and I really had to think about it as to how I might pull it off in a boat over 30' and in excess of 12,000 lbs.First of all, I would never attempt it alone. Secondly, I sailed into the DW slip with the jib and that is the sail I would look to in order to get out. In Long Beach, Ca the wind always clocks around from the south to the west. By the time I'm coming back most PM's it is dead on my nose. It works nicely for me under power. It acts like a brake. The slip across from me is DDW. Let's say for some reason I had to get out of that slip under sail and I'm going to exit the slipway to the south. Here's is how I would attempt it with a driver, myself as the jib trimmer plus another mate to push us out and then jump on board. I'd roll out the jib and quickly position it with the jib sheets so it is pointing straight back along the centerline of the boat. I'd then have the boat pusher push like blazes and have the driver steer the stern to the north. As soon as I felt I could make the bow point south and clear the boats around me I'd set the jib to starboard tack and go for it - praying all the way that I am right as I have one shot at it.I was thinking about using the mainsail also. In other words, if I could have raised it and pointed the boom along the centerline and kept it there I could have used it to power forward but I think it is too risky to mess with the mainsail. The jib is the best choice.I don't think I would ever want to try this without practice. I've seen lots of guys sail out of upwind slips including myself but when I saw your question I tried to remember seeing a skipper sail out of the downwind slip so I would have some basis to work from but I've never seen it happen - don't mean to say it doesn't happen but just that I've never seen it.What do you guys think? There are a lot of good sailors on this list. How would you pull it off? Alan, suppose you just had to do it. What would you do?

 

[Don Guillette]

Sailing Out Of Downwind Slip

Joe/Alan: Normally I can knock out these answers right off the top of my head but Joe, your question stumped me and I really had to think about it as to how I might pull it off in a boat over 30' and in excess of 12,000 lbs.First of all, I would never attempt it alone. Secondly, I sailed into the DW slip with the jib and that is the sail I would look to in order to get out. In Long Beach, Ca the wind always clocks around from the south to the west. By the time I'm coming back most PM's it is dead on my nose. It works nicely for me under power. It acts like a brake. The slip across from me is DDW. Let's say for some reason I had to get out of that slip under sail and I'm going to exit the slipway to the south. Here's is how I would attempt it with a driver, myself as the jib trimmer plus another mate to push us out and then jump on board. I'd roll out the jib and quickly position it with the jib sheets so it is pointing straight back along the centerline of the boat. I'd then have the boat pusher push like blazes and have the driver steer the stern to the north. As soon as I felt I could make the bow point south and clear the boats around me I'd set the jib to starboard tack and go for it - praying all the way that I am right as I have one shot at it.I was thinking about using the mainsail also. In other words, if I could have raised it and pointed the boom along the centerline and kept it there I could have used it to power forward but I think it is too risky to mess with the mainsail. The jib is the best choice.I don't think I would ever want to try this without practice. I've seen lots of guys sail out of upwind slips including myself but when I saw your question I tried to remember seeing a skipper sail out of the downwind slip so I would have some basis to work from but I've never seen it happen - don't mean to say it doesn't happen but just that I've never seen it.What do you guys think? There are a lot of good sailors on this list. How would you pull it off? Alan, suppose you just had to do it. What would you do?

 

[Don Guillette]

Sailing Out Of Downwind Slip

Joe/Alan: Normally I can knock out these answers right off the top of my head but Joe, your question stumped me and I really had to think about it as to how I might pull it off in a boat over 30' and in excess of 12,000 lbs.First of all, I would never attempt it alone. Secondly, I sailed into the DW slip with the jib and that is the sail I would look to in order to get out. In Long Beach, Ca the wind always clocks around from the south to the west. By the time I'm coming back most PM's it is dead on my nose. It works nicely for me under power. It acts like a brake. The slip across from me is DDW. Let's say for some reason I had to get out of that slip under sail and I'm going to exit the slipway to the south. Here's is how I would attempt it with a driver, myself as the jib trimmer plus another mate to push us out and then jump on board. I'd roll out the jib and quickly position it with the jib sheets so it is pointing straight back along the centerline of the boat. I'd then have the boat pusher push like blazes and have the driver steer the stern to the north. As soon as I felt I could make the bow point south and clear the boats around me I'd set the jib to starboard tack and go for it - praying all the way that I am right as I have one shot at it.I was thinking about using the mainsail also. In other words, if I could have raised it and pointed the boom along the centerline and kept it there I could have used it to power forward but I think it is too risky to mess with the mainsail. The jib is the best choice.I don't think I would ever want to try this without practice. I've seen lots of guys sail out of upwind slips including myself but when I saw your question I tried to remember seeing a skipper sail out of the downwind slip so I would have some basis to work from but I've never seen it happen - don't mean to say it doesn't happen but just that I've never seen it.What do you guys think? There are a lot of good sailors on this list. How would you pull it off? Alan, suppose you just had to do it. What would you do?

 

[Alan]

Don

Literally sailing out of a DDW slip is not possible. Having crew to move the boat out to the point where you can make headway under sail or powering out are your only options.Yes, with crew to move the boat slowly back out into the slipway and then roll out a jib to gather speed and gain steering is a doable alternative. I agree that I would not want to do this alone and preferably in light conditions. I would sure want an escape plan if things didn't work out. Fortunately moving slow means fending off would be easier should the need arise. Once the jib is drawing the boat becomes more maneuverable and if space is available should be sufficient to turn and exit.I'd rather be doing this off my mooring, no worries there!....although on your mooring you're always DDW but with escape room on all sides.

 

[Alan]

Don

Literally sailing out of a DDW slip is not possible. Having crew to move the boat out to the point where you can make headway under sail or powering out are your only options.Yes, with crew to move the boat slowly back out into the slipway and then roll out a jib to gather speed and gain steering is a doable alternative. I agree that I would not want to do this alone and preferably in light conditions. I would sure want an escape plan if things didn't work out. Fortunately moving slow means fending off would be easier should the need arise. Once the jib is drawing the boat becomes more maneuverable and if space is available should be sufficient to turn and exit.I'd rather be doing this off my mooring, no worries there!....although on your mooring you're always DDW but with escape room on all sides.

 

[Alan]

Don

Literally sailing out of a DDW slip is not possible. Having crew to move the boat out to the point where you can make headway under sail or powering out are your only options.Yes, with crew to move the boat slowly back out into the slipway and then roll out a jib to gather speed and gain steering is a doable alternative. I agree that I would not want to do this alone and preferably in light conditions. I would sure want an escape plan if things didn't work out. Fortunately moving slow means fending off would be easier should the need arise. Once the jib is drawing the boat becomes more maneuverable and if space is available should be sufficient to turn and exit.I'd rather be doing this off my mooring, no worries there!....although on your mooring you're always DDW but with escape room on all sides.