Jib (Gyb) or Tack-what is the difference ?

[Paul]

Can't believe this thread is so long

Hey Will: For the unexperienced; a jibe is accompanied by crashing, banging,and broken stuff. That is because the wind is forward of the beam. I like the "Chicken Jibe" myself; Like making three right turns to equal one left.

 

[Eric]

novice

Will,What boat do you own?You can learn alot by sailing, but be easy on yourself. You can get a basic sailing book. learn some of the sailing terms, and look at some pictures related to points of sail.When you come about (also known as tacking), you are heading into the wind. When you gybe, you are heading down wind. The gybe can be dangerous because the wind will catch the boom from behind and whip it across your cockpit. It is not dangerous if you perform the gybe correctly.I hope that you have not been put off by some of the posts written on your topic. Sarcasm has no business here.Remember that safety is first. Knowledge is safety.Eric

 

[rick]

?

Paul, wind forward of beam???? Because the wind is forward of beam??? please 'splain.

 

[Joe]

this thread is embarrassing...

there is absolutely NO CONTROVERSY is defining these terms, it's elementary sailing 1A. The inability to answer a very simple, basic sailing question by some of you damages the credibility of this forum.

 

[davidf]

Tack and Jib?

Tack = the lower forward part of the sail.Jib = A fore-sail that is sized such that the leech stays inside the fore-triangle of the mast and forestay.How's that?

 

[Paul]

Rick, I knew I was going to catch hell!

I figure if the wind is forward of the beam you are reaching so must jibe moving the bow throught he eye of the wind. Now I don't see what all thehullabaloo is about. This is elementary sailing right?

 

[Ross]

Some of this doesn't gybe with

what the book says. I think that we should take a different tack. Perhaps we should just heave-to and splice the main brace.

 

[Kris]

Slice the main brace

Aye

 

[Alan]

Paul?

...you're kidding!..right? ...with some of these answers, it's hard to know who's joking and who REALLY doesn't know.For any of you newbies out there, my sincere regrets to you.....this thread has made a simple question into a nightmare.

 

[waclancy]

Question answered

Brian, Your feedback answered my question AND I read a piece from SAIL magazine's site - by Brad Dellenbaugh, "Sail's Best Little Learn to Sail Book Ever". It explains the difference in the two - "Tacking: .... the process of turning the boat's bow through the wind from an angle at which the sails are full on one tack to one in which they are full on the other tack." "Gybing: ... the process of turning the boat's stern through the wind from a reach or run on one tack to a reach or run on the other.Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer this "wide open" question - what a great forum. Will

 

[waclancy]

Reply

Eric, I just bought a 1984 Catalina 27. I've sailed for 6 yrs on friends boats but only see how much there is to learn, but what a great forum for support. Thanks, Will

 

[waclancy]

Reply 2

Thanks Sandy -- as you can see from my other repies my question was answered. I live in Baton Rouge but dock in Mandeville. Take care.

 

[Dick Westwood]

How careful you need to be!

In both cases: you're changing direction in a way that 'moves the wind' from one side of the boat to the other. The sails start on one side of the boat and end up on the other side.Tacking is when the wind's ahead of you - when you're sailing upwind. The change in boat direction is close to 90 degrees (because you can't sail with the wind coming straight at you). The wind 'passes over' the front of the boat.Jibing is when the wind's behind you - when you're sailing downwind. The change in boat direction can be very slight - could be as little as 10 degrees, dependant on where you start and where you end. The wind 'passes over' the back of the boat.When you're sailing upwind, all the sails are in tight to the centerline of the boat. But when you're sailing downwind, they're let way out. In particular, the boom is right out over the side of the boat - close to 90 degrees out from the centerline. When you jibe, therefore, the boom has to go through close to 180 degrees - all the way out on one side to all the way out on the other. It picks up speed as it comes across. Anything in its way - like your head - gets whacked hard! So jibing can be hazardous. (An uncontrolled jibe can be hard on your rig too.) That's why Ross and jeffs talk about sheeting in the boom before conducting a jibe: to give it very little distance to travel.Also. Since the change in direction can be very slight in a jibe, it can happen accidentally. I've never heard of an accidental tack, but accidental jibes happen all the time. For example, due to wind shifts (or, at least, that's the usual excuse). So, when you're sailing downwind you need to be very alert to this possibility. The jib is your warning. When the jib travels from one side of your boat to the other, you're jibing and the boom will soon do the same thing. Push the tiller towards the boom - fast! The jib will go back where it began, and you'll avoid an incident. "Tiller to boom prevents your doom."Many sailors use a "preventer" to avoid accidental jibes. Essentially, this amounts to tying the boom to the 'correct' side of the boat so that it can't come across. If you search the archives for 'preventer', you'll find plenty of ways to rig one: it's pretty easy to do.

 

[newsailor06]

We are new too!

Will,My wife(the admiral) and I just bought a 1985 Catalina C25 in March of this year. In preparation, we took the ASA Keelboat Course in October of last year. I would also recommend a book that I think is one of the best I have found. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship.... The title is close and I am going from memory. If you take the ASA course, you will use a different book as a resource. If you put it together with the Annapolis book you will have a very good set of sailing basics. There are many others, but we like these two.

 

[Ross]

Dick Westwood, When my wife was first learning to

steer she would sometimes get dead on to the wind. The jib would back-wind and we would be hoove-to! Then she would get excited and try to figure how to get out of that mess. Of course you just shift the jib sheets and sail a new tack.

 

[Sandy Stone]

Accidental tack

For Dick Westwood - typical scenario: Sailing upwind with too much sail in a breeze, usually but not always on a boat with an outboard rudder, like a trailer sailer. Boat heels way over, building a lot of weather helm when the rudder suddenly ventilates and stalls. Without rudder control boat now heads up violently, sometimes to the point of going head-to-wind, backwinding the jib and forcing a tack. Don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Dick Westwood]

Have to admit…

… it's happened to me too. Yes, there is indeed an accidental tack!Thanks, Ross and Sandy Stone, for reminding me of things I prefer to forget!BTW, Ross: your wife learned to heave to for free! Very important maneuver. And, surprisingly, I've found that a lot of pretty good sailors don't know how to do it.

 

[Dan Plank]

The Wind Direction

The difference is the wind direction. To make things simple, a tack is when the wind is basically in your face and a jibe is when the wind is basically at your back. A tack is relatively safe. However, since the main will be "out" so far when going downwind, the force of the sail crossing the boat to the other side can be significant and very dangerous. This is why it is very important to control a jibe by doing it intentionally and very slowly while controlling the mainsheet. I'm no expert, but this is the basics.