Probably a stupid question but I was just looking at some of the newer boats online and noticed some of them talk about a self tacking jib. What exactly is that?
Hugh: We had a self tending jib on our Hunter 31 for many years. Our configuration was a "Camber Spar" which Hunter put on some of their boats as well as the Freedom Marine boats. Generally they consist of a boom. They can be inside the jib in a pocket or they may be a external boom. These booms can be attached to the forestay or the can be attached to the deck. It allows you to tack without having to adjust the jib sheets each time you turn the boat. There is a single line that allows you to control how tight the sheets are adjusted. This setup is very common when sailing in rivers and narrow estuaries. The down side is that you have very little control over the size of the jib. They need to be less than 100% of the triangle that is available.
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