Chicken Jibe

[Don Guillette]

Mates: You know there is an easier and safer way to jibe the boat and it is called a chicken jibe (wearing). On any boat I'm on where I'm the least bit suspect of the crew to pull off a convential jibe, I recommend the skipper try the chicken jibe. Many times I use it myself. It is just how I feel about the jibing situation at the time as to the one I pick. If I have the least bit of thought that the conventional jibe might be messy for whatever reason, I chicken jibe.Here's how you perform a chicken jibe. Assume your wing on wing and on port tack and at the 4:00 position. The first thing you do is start turning to port and at about 3:00 you jibe over the jib. Keep turning slowly and trim in the main as you go and at 1:00 you will gradually start to sheet the jib in. At about 12:00 the main should be about over the side of the boat. Keep turning slowly through 11:00. At about 8:00 the jib is going to backwind and the main will nicely and gently come over. Let the jib continue to backwind (pushing the bow over) and at about 7:00 cut the jib. Keep turning slowly and at the 6:00 position start easing out the main and jib sheets. At this point your almost back on your origianl course. Keep turning slowly until you get on your original course and then jibe the jib and set your preventer.This proceedure sounds a lot more complicated than it is. The first time you practice it you'll see how easy and safe it is. I hope I have clearly explained the proceedure. If not, maybe others can chime in and fill in the blanks.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Controlled gybe

One simply pulls in the mainsheet while gybing, to avoid the big whack from whipping across like a bad sailing movie. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about gybing the jib, since it's much easier to do once the main is secure.

 

[OldCat]

Where is the Wind?

Where is the wind on your clock? I guess that I didn't get it - I'm confused.I thought a chicken jibe was head up, tack, and bear off - but maybe not?

 

[Paul Akers]

Boy!

That explanation put me in another time zone!

 

[Jared]

Tack

Isn't a chicken gybe just tacking through a little less than 360 degrees depending on your starting point of sail. Just do a long tack instead of gybing right?

 

[Rick Macdonald]

I think Don started...

...with the bow pointing to 4:00 and the wind directly behind coming from 10:00. Then the boom and sail behaviour he describes makes sense. Either that, or he started with 6 or 8 beers (or I did!).I'm not sure but in my light boat and no waves on my lake, I think I can spin 360 degrees through the tack (chicken gybe) without sheeting in the main and jib to keep the sails powered up to make it around (I assume that's what and why Don is doing). At least in a strong wind I maybe can. In light winds I just grab all 4 strands of the mainsheet tackle and swing the boom to the other side. Gybe done! ;-)...RickM...

 

[Don Guillette]

You guys have to be pulling my chain!! I said we were sailing wing and wing so where would you imagine the wind would be generally coming from? Picture your sailing on a clock under your boat with the boat starting at the 4:00 position. The wind is coming from your 6:00 position. Perhaps I've over simplified the explanation but I could not think of any other way to explain it so a beginner could visualize what is happening. I could have said head up and do a 360 to your original course. That would not have helped a beginner much. They need to know what to do with the sails and sheets.Rick: I don't believe you could spin the boat in a 360 without sheeting the main and jib but the real question is why would you want to do that in the first place? Remember what we are trying to do here and that is to safely get through the gibe in a controlled, smooth fashion. Additionally, what a mate can do with a light boat is one thing but lister have a wide range of boat sizes so we have to generalize. The average size listers boat is probably 30'. Grabbing 4 strands of a mainsheet on a 35' or 40' and swinging over the boom will probably rip your arm out of the socket. If you held on tight enough the force of the boom would take you with it.I hope this post does not generate into the other post on conventional jibing, which I got tired of. If it does, I'm taking a sabbatical!!

 

[OldCat]

Cheer Up . . .

Cheer up Don & hoist a tinny: No one is as dumb as a sailing student!Well, maybe a PWC operator - but we will forget I said that. *xI'd have thought the Jibe thread was nothing compared to the Docking Under Spinnaker thread! *pop

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Don, that helps but...

...now you've added a second clock! Saying you're pointed at 4:00 with the wind at your 6:00 might as well be stated using the one clock under the boat. Then, the wind is coming from 10:00 as I said! ;-)I thought the beginner might not realize _why_ you were sheeting in the main and jib so I mentioned keeping power up through the tack. I agree that my mention of small boat tactics then muddied the issue again since it is not generally useful. Sorry, Bro! For my own curiosity, I'll try spinning a 360 chicken gybe this weekend without doing anything other than gybing the jib one time at some point. I'm sure I've done it but I don't recall what I do with the jib. The main takes care of itself as in any tack. I do realize that this wouldn't work in a larger boat with 10 times the mass.I'm glad you brought this up this topic. Just like heaving-to, there are probably a surprising number of sailors out there that don't know of this simple maneuver. Both are invaluable just when you need them most: strong winds, no crew, etc.Just now I'm trying to think of similar maneuvers and skills outside of sail trim itself, that are often overlooked but add a great deal to safe operation. I thought of getting out of irons, but you covered that recently. There are hardware solutions such as roller furlers, jib and main downhauls and lazyjacks (all to keep you in the cockpit instead of going forward when you least want to), and preventers.Any other actual skills and maneuvers?Oh, crew overboard maneuvers come to mind, but surely there aren't sailors who don't have a learned and practiced routine for this?!?...RickM...

 

[Rick D]

Chicken Jibes A Lot..

..Don, thanks for bringing this up. I sail often short handed or with inexperienced crew and find this is the safest and least exciting way to execute in moderate to plus wind. Rick D.

 

[Dave D 94 H26]

I give!

OK... I'm a beginner and you guys have lost me about 6 times already. I think I'll have a beer and start practicing docking under spinnaker.

 

[Don Guillette]

That helps but

Rick M: The wind is not blowing from the 10:00 position. It is blowing from 6:00. I'm sitting parallel to the 4:00 position with the bow sort of pointing parallel to 12:00. In other words, I'm sailing DDW and wing and wing.For beginners trying to figure this out, I probably should not have introduced the clock. I thought it would make it simplier to understand. Forget about the clock for now. Instead, just visualize your sailing DDW and it is blowing like stink. You decide it too dangerous to jibe the boat and you decide on a chicken jibe. So, start to head up and proceed to start a slow turn turn to port. As soon as possable, jibe over the jib. Keep turning and trim in the main and jib as much as you can as you go. Keep turning and sheeting in. About 3/4 through the 360 the jib will back and you should cut it when it has lost its ability to push the bow over. Keep turning the boat and as soon as you start to come back onto your original course, ease the sheets. Once you get back on the original course, attach your preventer and jibe the jib to get back on wing and wing. You have now completed a chicken jibe and I think I'll go get a root canal!!Now that you know what I'm trying to explain, relate it to the clock position and it will give you a better idea of when and what you should do regarding the main and jib sheets.

 

[OldCat]

Chicken Jibe - in Pictures

Maybe this will help, please see the picture attached (if I have it correct).

 

[Alan]

Don

Guess I'm just a newbee. Never heard of this maneuver. But what's more important, I can't understand why you can't teach a jibe the way it's normally done? If the wind is blowing stink, flatten the main, sheet in hard, center the traveler, and go deep. When the leech flips, ease the traveler down and put in your vang and ease mainsheet. Jibe the jib. Why do you need the 360?

 

[OldCat]

You need the 360 because

You need the 360 because the jibe can be majorly scary if it is blowing too hard for your (or my) confidence level.It is a good skill to have - if you get caught in bigger wind than planned. I practice regular jibes in single reef winds - but I haven't been caught out on the J22 in a double-reefer (& hope I don't) - the chicken jibe is another tool to control the boat if need be.

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Don - I get the clock now

I recognized the maneuver and all the sail handling from the original post but I just couldn't make sense of the clock. I thought the clock was to describe where the boat was pointing. I see now that you're using it to describe where the boat is _located_ on the face of a clock dial as you sail in a counter-clockwise circle. I wasn't expecting that! The funny thing is that both describe exactly the same thing. Different folks need different pictures and it's hard to hit on the one explanation that works for everyone. I would suggest the easier description and visualization is to use the clock to mark the points in terms of where the wind is coming from as you sail around a circle. Why? Because when they go out to actually try this on the water, the windex at the top of the mast is exactly that clock pointer. The sequence of positions described then becomes: 6:00, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, and 6:00. (Not exactly matching you numbers since you started at 4 instead of 3.)Another reference could be in terms of points of sail. Wind coming from 6:00 is DDW. From 9:00 is beam reach (still port tack); from 12:00 is head-to-wind and 3:00 is beam reach again but starboard tack. I'd guess this is even easier to relate to for the beginner since they should recognize what to do with the sails for these point of sail. "As you turn from a deep broad reach to beam reach to close-hauled, keep trimming in the main and jib to allow the sails to power you through the tack", etc.I've used the chicken gybe even when not in heavy winds. I suppose my most common example is when I'm single-handing with the cockpit crowded and full of wives and kids with sandwiches on their laps and drinks in their hands (or if _I_ do). I just quietly do the 360 (more like 330 since I don't often sail DDW) and they hardly even notice since there is no critical timing or quick movements as is the case with an actual gybe....RickM...

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Burning donuts

Hi Don -Well, lousy weather and very light winds this weekend only allowed me an hour or so of sailing. Not that it is useful information for many people, but since I brought it up the other day and there was some doubt I did a chicken jibe without touching the sheets. I was DDW going only 2 knots in light air. Helm's alee and it turned around a full 360. I ended up DDW again going about 1/2 knot, maybe less. I didn't get a chance to try in stronger winds.Anyway, as you say this likely wouldn't work in a proper keelboat but it does in my 23.5 foot water ballast swing-keel......RickM...

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Don't through out the clock with the...

Don - it seems to me that everyone here is used to using the clock for describing maneuvers or precisely, things external to the boat such as wind direction. We just got confused when you used it to describe the boat's position on a circle rather then describing where the wind was coming from. If the description started with DDW with the wind at 6:00 I don't think there would have been an issue.This is only my 4th (4-month) sailing season, but if you say I don't think like a beginner any more then I'll graciously take that as a complement and credit that fact to reading your book about 37 times, and that was only last winter! ;-)...RickM...

 

[Don Guillette]

Beginner?

Rick: I've read your stuff and a beginner you ain't!! Actually, sometimes when I see your name in a heading or some of your other brothers here like Stu, Alan, Joe from San Diego and others, my first thought before I even read the message is "oh crap, I could be in for it". Most times it works out.Living up there with your shortened sailing season, you have probably sailed more miles in your head than I have on the ocean!!

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Clock face.

Now, what is this new stupid daylight savings time going to do to the clock reference. And, is Rick in Canada going to get an even shorter sailing season? ;D ;D ;D ;D