Mates: We are almost finished with the subject of telltales. I'm spending a lot of time on this subject because telltales are absolutely the most important sail trim and steering indicators on the boat. If you can read them correctly you are miles ahead of the average sailor. Additionally, there is not much point in discussing the sail trim controls for the main and jib unless you know which way to push or pull them. The telltales give you this input. Telltales are most effective in light to medium wind. In heavy wind, the strenght of the wind overpowers them (they stream) and it gives false indicators. What does a telltale look like when it is about to stall? Assume your sailing too high. The windward telltale will tell you that the jib is about to stall by either sticking straight up or it will point forward or flip around restlessly. So you have to do somthing and the easiest thing to do is sail a bit lower. Assume your sailing too low. The leeward telltale, which should ALWAYS stream, will tell you that you have made a steering error by hanging limp. The first person to see this will probably be the jib trimmer - if he is paying attention!! He immediately needs feed back from the driver. If the driver does not wake up or has decided to change course and has not told the crew, then the jib trimmer has to react and so does the mainsail trimmer. The top telltale on the mainsail is an ADJUSTMENT INDICATOR and is essential for adjusting twist. When it curls around the back of the sail, it is telling you that the sail does not have enough twist and you have to dial in some twist. Every one who has been following this Forum know what the mainsail twist controls are - right? They are the boom vang and the mainsheet. There are middle and lower telltales also? Why did God put them there? He put them there to tell you about the overall shape of the sail. Say the top telltale is streaming but the next one down is stalling. What that is telling you is the main is too full or too flat at the top. Probably it is too full. What sail trim controls do you use to take the fullness out of the middle of the sail? The answer is mast bend and outhaul. This is probably more information about telltales than most sailors want to know and I hope I'm not boring folks but if you want to become a high intermediate and eventually move to expert sail trimmer you have to know how to read them. Many years ago, when I decided to take sail trim serously, I realized that without the ability to read the telltales I was lost from a sail trim standpoint.