Securing The Jib Sheet

[Don Guillette]

Sometimes very simple things get us in trouble. I talked to a sailor today from Apalachicolo (hope that is the correct spelling), FL. I love that town. Years ago, while traveling from Fort Myers to New Orleans looking for a retirement community, I remember sitting on an old hotel porch ( I forget the hotel name) in that town, just taking in the very peaceful scenery.

Anyway, here's the set up. He's sailing his C30 with a 155 and gets hit with a massive sustained gust. His first reaction is to drop the traveler, which he does. Unfortunately, he can't release the 155 and he is heeled way over. As the gust increases in intensity, the farther over he's going.

My first question was why didn't you cut the 155 loose? He said he couldn't uncleat it. I asked if he has self tailing winches (he didn't) and my next question was to ask how he secured the jib sheet (I already knew the answer) and he told me the same way he secured his dock line.

First of all, there is no need to do use the dock cleating method to secure your jib sheet. I had the "poor man's" version of self tailing winches (WHINCHERS), which worked pretty well for me, but they are not the most efficient sytem.

The way I secured my jib sheet is very simple. I hope I can explain this clearly. I take a wrap under one cleat horn and then go under the other horn but OVER the jib sheet so the sheet is jambed under the second horn. This system is very easy for me to release regardless of the pressure on the sheet.

What methods do you guys use to secure your jib sheet?

 

[DJN51]

Don,on my 23.5 Hunter I use Spinlocks.I don,t think they would work on a boat as big as yours.I,m 60 and solo Lake Michigan and the ease at adjusting and release works great especially during gust.Recomend them to everyone.

 

[Don Guillette]

DJN51: I'm 70 and singled handed 95% of the time and even though my wife was with me most of the time I needed all the self help I could get!! I had to be inventive and come up with solutions that worked for me and kept my wife sailing with me.

As I said, my wife sailed with me most of the time but all the time it went like this - "Arlene, please take the helm so I can get the boat back on it's feet". The answer was "I'll steer when the boat isn't tilting". How am I to adjust the sails, without a steering system, which I did not have, without leaving the helm? Here's my solution - I extended all lines back to the cockpit and had Garhauer build me a 2' winch handle!!

Later, I bought a self steering system and married sailing life was good.

 

[cwkemp]

Until recently I have secured jib sheets in cam cleats on swivel bases on the leeward cockpit coaming and not using the winches at all. This works fine until the wind is above 10 knots or so. I recently installed Winchers and they work well but they seem unhandy when I need to ease the sheet or to cast it off the winch especially single handing. I'm open to hints or suggestions from others experienced with this device.

 

[Joe]

I would never use a captive style cleat, such a the aforementioned Spinlocks. Most older, smaller vessels came equipped with a "jam" cleat... i.e. it looked like a small horn cleat with one of the horns tapered towards the shank so you could "jam" the sheet under it.

I would never use "winchers" on sheet winches either... I have used them on halyard winches, though. The reason is that you must fill the drum with wraps all the way up to the underside of the wincher, where the grippers are, to make it work. Then...... to unload the drum, you must uncoil the wraps from the drum, rather than simply pulling up on the sheet like you can with a standard winch. Totally slow and a pain in the ass. And all this for the sake of using the wincher as a cleat replacement.

No........ use an open cleat... no fairlead, no captive style cleats like spinlocks... nothing to restrict your ability to quickly disengage the sheet. And.... you want the cleat located to secure the "tail" of the sheet, not between the winch and the sail.

On my boat I use open "clam" or "vee" cleats, and "cam" cleats. If you look at the picture you'll see from front to back... 1. a cam cleat with fairlead, for EZ glide jib car control line. 2. Primary winch cleat, open cam on riser to prevent overrides (no fairlead) 3, small, open cam cleat on deck for jib downhaul. 4. Secondary winch, open "vee" cleat (again, no fairlead)

 

[kgw]

I use the smallest self-tailers that Andersen makes:

Defender was having a sale! BTW, the sheet is not kept there when actually sailing!

 

[OldCat]

A 155 in an area prone to thunderstorms almost has to be a request to be looking down at the mast. I have self tailers - but Joe's solution looks good to me & I think it is pretty typical. Self tailers don't strip as well as standard winches - but they don't seem to jam as long as you are practiced at stripping them.

We have had almost nothing but thunderstorms this year. Apparently the Pacific ocean temperatures are weird and the jet stream is unstable. Almost every time I go out I have to shorten sail. Stuff like Genoa sheets really have to be able to be released NOW. More important is to learn what kind of local conditions can cause the gust in the first place and have the Genoa rolled in some before it gets really bad.

That cleat really does have to be something that can always be released now.

Besides, how do you reef single handed unless you can heave too (w/o being engine dependent)? My boat won't do that safely unless I roll the head sail up to a small size, or better yet roll it up all the way and heave too under main alone. And, how do you drop the main without being engine dependent? The only way I know is to heave too under main alone. [on edit: I don't try sailing the boat on head sail alone when dropping the main, the winds shift too much here to trust the boat to stay on a reasonable course by itself while I am away from the tiller]

And - what about having a good knife at the ready? Cut the sheet. I'd rather lose a sail to flogging than be taking a swim in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Or pitching crew overboard.

Sailors in thunderstorm prone areas need a well practiced plan to deal with the winds that they can produce. And those winds often come up fast. Wasn't it Joe who recently gave sage advice about practicing stuff ahead of time? That one got me practicing anchoring on my lake even though there is no good place to anchor, and got me to figure out what it takes to do it anyway.

Slam away at me, but I think your mate may have a lot more to work on and think about than simply a line that must release.

OC

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Since I haven't traded my 2-speed winch for self-tailing, yet, we have jam cleats. It takes just a turn and half and the sheet is secured and ready to discharge in a hurry. The biggest problem is that when the bimini is installed, the poles interfer with the cleat and they are much harder to use.

I've been intriqued by the ads I'm seeing for Seldon's 2-way self-tailing winch ... easing by turning in reverse. Anybody have any comments on this technology?

 

[Alan]

...sorry, but I have to ask this. How do you 'heave to' under main alone??????? When hove to the jib and main are in opposition to eachother. With no jib up the only thing you can do is: a) sail under main or b) luff the main. In either case you're not hove to.
Please enlighten me???

 

[OldCat]

...sorry, but I have to ask this. How do you 'heave to' under main alone??????? When hove to the jib and main are in opposition to eachother. With no jib up the only thing you can do is: a) sail under main or b) luff the main. In either case you're not hove to.
Please enlighten me???

On my local lakes I will no longer heave too in heavy winds in the traditional manner with the head sail aback*. The wind shifts 45 degrees or more too often. Once, hove too as nicely as one could be, the wind shifted onto my beam. The boat heeled over and skidded downwind. With the rail just out of the water, I was plowing a 'beam wake' up over the rail. I got the impression that the boat could have tripped over her deck if the gust had been a little harder.

I guess in your terms, I mean luff the main, but the boat sits pretty still long enough for my needs. Up into the wind, with the sheet eased a bit and tiller to lee helping keep the boat as upwind as much as possible. I get the main down FAST to beat any wind shifts. I don't keep the head sail out because of the wind shifts. The boat will turn beam too once the main comes down, but the waves on a small lake are small enough that they don't matter.

If the winds were more stable here I would try setting the boat to sail upwind on headsail alone with a luffed main to get the main down. The windshifts make that too risky w/o me at the helm. If I want to keep sailing, I roll out some head sail when I do get back to the helm, or motor.

My 19' Catamaran will heave too under main alone for long periods of time in gale force winds. I found this out on a very light wind clear blue sky day when a 2 hour blast came up without any prediction in the weather report. Having gone out single-handed, I had not taken the jib with me. The Nacra will sail well without a jib with one person aboard. Easing the sheet, the clew of the fully battened main rises enough that the sail is blown into a sort of 'S' shape. The top of the sail is then on opposite tack to the lower and the heeling moments cancel out. The boat creeps upwind very slowly.

OC

*with a 135 Genoa, I have to roll it in to heave too with it aback. Part of balancing the boat is to get just the right amount of headsail so it does not overly dominate.

 

[Stu Jackson]

With just the main up, it's called fore reaching.

 

[Joe]

An alternative to "heaving to", using mainsail only.

The Rod-stop: An alternative to "heaving to", using mainsail only.

Here's an excerpt from a John Rousmaniere discussion on safety at sea. The article is linked afterward....... and it was essentially taken from his outstanding book "The Annapolis Book of Seamanship" Chapter 7: Personal Safety.

A newer way to heave-to (which I call the Rod-stop because it was developed by Rod Stephens) requires pushing the sails out. On a close reach, ease the mainsheet and pull the boom all the way forward to the leeward shrouds with a preventer (see sidebar). Cleat the preventer and luff or roll up the jib. Flatten the mainsail by tightening the outhaul and other sail controls or by reefing. The mainsail will flags with the wind, alternately filling on its two sides to push the boat along slowly with swoops to windward and leeward, usually without requiring a steerer.

The Rod-stop is good in light to fresh winds and keeps the boat level, which makes it an excellent way in normal conditions to quickly pause to in case you need to navigate, make lunch, take a photo, or change a diaper—whatever.

Complete article available at: (sorry about the source, Phil)
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/seamanship-articles/19084-how-slow-down-stop.html

 

[dkdoyle]

I always learn alot from these forums. I am 59 and singlehand a 26 footer. The self tailing winches look nice but out of my price point. A single turn around the winch and a cam cleat without a fairlead do the job for me.
I have rigged and practiced reefing. Got that down but needs to be smoother.
I have tried heaving too unsuccessfully.
In reading the article i may try again by reefing in my 150 to a smaller size. Seems that my current fin keel wiil turn on dime unlike a full keel. Anyway i will keep learning and trying new tecniques.
PS: It may sound stupid but i also practiced anchoring recently. Wanted to make sure i could pull it back aboard by myself.
Have fun out there

 

[thinwater]

I would never use a captive style cleat, such a the aforementioned Spinlocks.

No........ use an open cleat... no fairlead, no captive style cleats like spinlocks... nothing to restrict your ability to quickly disengage the sheet. And.... you want the cleat located to secure the "tail" of the sheet, not between the winch and the sail.

Argreed. A simple cam cleat is perfect. It should not have more than hand tension on it, if there are enough wraps on the drum. I do the same on main and spinnaker sheet when the breeze gets up (I have all self-tailers, for better or worse).

The problem with the Spinlocks is that you cannot lift the tail to clear an over-ride, and one of the actions that risks an over-ride is a rapid sheet release. A horn cleat simply strikes me as obsolete in this application.

Also jammers are a risk in a breeze. Critical sheets should each be on a drum, for controled release under load. Occationally I see someone economize on winches; though I feel their pain, it's a bad risk.

 

[OldCat]

I always learn alot from these forums. I am 59 and singlehand a 26 footer. The self tailing winches look nice but out of my price point. A single turn around the winch and a cam cleat without a fairlead do the job for me.
I have rigged and practiced reefing. Got that down but needs to be smoother.
I have tried heaving too unsuccessfully.
In reading the article i may try again by reefing in my 150 to a smaller size. Seems that my current fin keel wiil turn on dime unlike a full keel. Anyway i will keep learning and trying new tecniques.
PS: It may sound stupid but i also practiced anchoring recently. Wanted to make sure i could pull it back aboard by myself.
Have fun out there

Thanks for the tip of the hat. Anchoring is not at all stupid - it is a needed skill. If you have the skills, anchoring becomes another way to get out of trouble if the (#@p hits the fan.

BTW: I'd take more than one turn (3) on the winch. It will reduce the load on the cleat because of the extra friction between the line and winch. If you do get hit hard by the wind it will be a lot easier to release since it won't have as much load on it. Cleats are not made for the full load of a winched line, which is why the cleat must be on the exit side of the winch and why the extra wraps are needed.

OC

 

[Stu Jackson]

In reading the article i may try again by reefing in my 150 to a smaller size. Seems that my current fin keel wiil turn on dime unlike a full keel.

Experience indicates that heaving to with a large jib is difficult. Usually the boat needs to "balance", meaning a 110 jib size.

 

[OldCat]

Experience indicates that heaving to with a large jib is difficult. Usually the boat needs to "balance", meaning a 110 jib size.

That is why I roll my 135 up part way (roller furling). 'Tis no Tribble at all.

dkdoyle: play with the amount of headsail that is rolled out, and the mainsheet, vang and rudder angle and it should work & you can control your angle into the wind.

OC

 

[dkdoyle]

Thanks guys. I will most certainly give it a shot.

 

[RichBone]

I use a horn cleat to secure my jib sheet. I make three quick turns around the cleat and then give the sheet a little tug. This locks in the sheet good enough under most conditions and also makes it easy to quickly get it off.

Rich

 

[RobertLangdirect]

I use the horn cleets. I bring the sheet down to the far aft side and wrap it under the lower horn. I cross over the center and travellin to the upper horn, I dive under it to the port side, I then travel aft and across the center forming an "X" before diving under the aft horn, but then, keeping low to the horn, drive two "Os" around the horn and the x to secure the line. always secured and never a problem to take off.