Steering with the main.

[r.oril]

I was out on the lake the other day, learning to hold my course with rudder locked down and only using the main sheet. Good practice for loss of steering or dealing with wind gusts. Pull the main in to turn into the wind and ease off to fall off. This also works for having a newbe driving the boat.

 

[Anchor Down]

Remember the Basic Principles

Anything that makes one more conscious of the interaction between hull, sail and rudder, is good training. Taking one element out of the equation (the rudder, by which we can easily conceal a multitude of sins) lets one focus on the effect of sail trim on balance and point-of-sail.

There's science in sailing, and there's art, as well.

Very instructive, and enjoyable to tinker with. Good on you.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Another way to learn good sail trim (in addition to Don Gillette's book) is to rig self steering lines or an autopilot. If they get overwhelmed, you either have too much sail up in windy conditions or your sail trim needs to be improved. It's a great learning tool in addition to what you've done.

 

[chp]

Sounds like good practice. I'll have to try that. That must really help to understand sail trim and how your boat handles.

 

[rgranger]

Another way to learn good sail trim (in addition to Don Gillette's book) is to rig self steering lines or an autopilot. If they get overwhelmed, you either have too much sail up in windy conditions or your sail trim needs to be improved. It's a great learning tool in addition to what you've done.

This past March I sailed across the Pamlico Sound and during that passage I set up a simple sheet to tiller system. I was surprised at how well it worked. I also learned a lot about the placement of human ballast and how that can be used to steer your boat. Once I had the self steering system working, we could make slight course adjustments simply by changing our positions in the boat.

 

[cephius (Dave)]

I was doing the same exact thing yesterday. We were on a very long reach. I locked the rudder in the neutral position and used the main sheet to adjust my course. There was a good number of boats out, so course adjustments were necessary.

Our lake has some interesting local winds. There are a couple of dog legs in its shape but if the wind allows a course down the center, the wind direction shifts with the course changes so the angle of attack never changes. I was on the reach for about 4 hours.

 

[Anonymous 121765]

I don't do that much hand sailing as I did years past. However, just let another sailboat on the same course, & let the games begin.

Otto, my autopilot does most of the grunt work for me. This frees me up to do slight sail sets for the heading/conditions/speed etc., chase a wench, or troll.

A good practice I use for dialing in sail trim is to set a course, turn on Otto, and tweak your points of sail. First try close hauled, close reach, beam, broad, running and watch how Otto reacts. The more balanced your boat becomes, the less you will hear Otto work. This can be fun as I let friends do this and they become more confident.

You know your getting good when you can tame a broad reach or a wing-n-wing run & stay the course for a length of time.

CR