Mates: I met an interesting young couple yesterday at the Lake Havasu, AZ marina. What caught my attention was they were sailing a MacGregor22 and that is the first boat I bought a number of years ago when I decided to get back into sailing. Lake Havasu is hardly the sail boat capital - power boats are the thing out here so I have to search out the "sticks" I see at the marina and go by to see if there is someone I can talk to about sailing. Anyway, this couple is new to sailing and experiencing one of my pet peeves - half ass instructions from their sailing instructor!! Their instructor told them to raise the main and jib but did not tell them how much tension to apply to either halyard. When I came upon them they had the main up and were cranking the halyard to such an extent that they had vertical wrinkles. If you have not seen vertical wrinkles, here's what they look like. Take a handkerchief and hold the opposite corners with both hand and then pull on it. As you pull you'll see the wrinkles. You do not want permanent vertical wrinkles. So what kind of wrinkles do you want? Determining the correct jib and main halyard tension is pretty easy and just a matter of reading the wrinkles. If you are a sailor that likes to crank on his halyard then the ability to read the wrinkles is very important. Personally, I don't mess with the halyards. I prefer a cunningham for the main and jib. It gives a more precise adjustment. The correct halyard tension can depend on a number of things such as the type of boat and condition of your sails plus the wind, sea conditions and point of sail. In general, this is what you do to determine the correct halyard tension. Just raise the main and jib to where you think it is about right and clear the dock. Once you get clear, crank on the main halyard until vertical wrinkles just start to appear and cleat the line. Do the same with the jib halyard. Now to determine if that position is correct, fall off and see what happens. Hopefully, the sails will fill and the vertical lines along the luff will disappear. Suppose they don't disappear? Ease the halyard about 1" and try again. If you go too far, horizontal wrinkles will appear so you have to tighten the halyard. You have to find a happy medium. When you do find that point mark the mast and halyard with a Sharpie for future reference. You are now in the ball park for most conditions and points of sail. Here is what made my day yesterday. When I left them I went to the main dock to have a "tinney" - it was 105 degrees and I needed one!! I could see the young couple but they did not see me. I watched them raise their main and physically push the boom so the sail filled and I could see them happily jabbering to each other as they did it again and I saw them mark the spot just as I told them to do. Sailing has been good to me and I enjoy passing on the little tidbit I have. To me it is giving something back to the sport that has given me a lot of enjoyment.