In recent posts I've seen the statement "If you can sail a catamaran, you can sail anything!" Prior to purchasing the Charlotte Ann, a 30' pilot schooner, I'd sailed cat, sloop, cutter, ketch, and yawl rigs. I'd even sailed catamarans rigged both as cats and sloops. I do have to agree that the small catamarans were hardest to tack. Other then that all these rigs required the same skills. Not so the schooner. Because of the large main, the Center of Effort is well behind the Pivot Point. This creates a condition where the forces acting on the sails can not be overcome by the rudder. If you don't set your main correctly, you don't make your course. The rudder is for fine tuning. To tack, you trim the main sheet in as you put the helm over, and then back wind the head sails early. As the bow goes through the wind, you ease the main sheet to allow the bow to fall off. If you miss, your in-irons and have to wait for the rudder to bite as the boat drifts aft. To heave-to, just trim the main in tight and let fly the fore and head sails. The boat acts like a large wind vane. This is how the Grand Banks schooners would spend the day fishing. Trying to apply my sloop skills to my new schooner was very frustrating. When things starting working, I realized that I was using the same techniques I had developed to sail a RC model of the Ema C Berry I had build. When I further applied those techniques I started making all my tacks and holding the course I desired. I hope this is of interest to some.
