Safe Boating Checklist Hull Design Full Keel Fin Keel Hydrodynamic Lift Spring Lines Power Outboards Power Outboards - Steering with Getting Underway Local Knowledge Fairlead Positioning Steering to Weather Jib Telltales Boat Balance Center of Effort Center of Lateral Resistance Relative Trim Weather Helm Balanced Helm Lee Helm Man Overboard Drill Running Lights Horn Signals Sailing in Fog Sailing near Shipping Lanes Grounding

Getting Underway...

Now that you are nearing the point in your sailing education where you will become responsible for the boat and its operation, it's time to review the operations of raising and lowering sail so you can be sure to do it correctly your own. Missing steps can result in loss of control or damage to the sails.

1. Make sure dock lines and fenders are stowed.
2. Maneuver into a position where you can motor into the wind long enough for your crew to complete raising the main. Reduce speed maintaining steerage.
3. Make sure pig tail is removed from boom.
4. Make sure halyard is secured, cleared and led properly.
5. Make sure downhaul, reefing downhauls, reefing outhauls, cunningham, boom vang, and mainsheet are eased.
6. Remove gaskets.
7. Hoist main sail. This should be done quickly to avoid excessive flogging of sail.
8. If halyard winch is used to achieve luff tension, tension sail luff with halyard winch. If boat has a downhaul to achieve luff tension, pull sail up high enough to raise gooseneck eight inches or so. Then secure halyard and tighten downhaul to appropriate luff tension.
9. Check topping lift to assure it is not holding up the boom.
10. Trim main and/or bear away.
11. Coil and stow halyard. (Stow halyard so it can be released easily if necessary.)
12. Shut down and secure engine. (Steps 13-16 are for raising the jib.)
13. Make sure sheets and haiyard are led correctly and stopper knots are on ends of jib sheets.
14. Free jib if it is tied down and ease sheets. (Jib should be able to luff.)
15. Hoist jib and tension luff with jib halyard winch.
16. Trim active jib sheet - coil and stow halyard.

You will generally reverse the whole procedure to get the sails down. Just be sure the motor is running before you take the last Sail down and give yourself enough space and time to get everything secured before entering the harbor.

Local Knowledge -Most sailors get used to sailing in the Bay area quickly and don't have to refer to the chart very much. But, it is important to at least have it onboard and to use it frequently in the beginning so that you can become familiar with the area and its hazards. Here are some of the most important things to look out for:

1. All areas represented by green on the chart deserve special caution. Green indicates area that is so shallow it shows bottom at low tide. Most of the time it will be covered with water but not enough for safe navigation.

2. Beware of lee shores. The lee shore is the shore down-wind from the boat. The closer you navigate to a lee shore, the less time you will have to take corrective measures should difficulties arise. Also, if you go aground on a lee shore, it can be more difficult to get back to deep water since you will have to move upwind.

There are several areas in particular where lee shore conditions can be ex- pected and the water is shallower than it would appear to the casual observer. One area is between markers 15 and 13 on the east side of the channel. Another is at the same side of the channel from marker number 11, all the way out to the entrance. The western side of the bay, north of the channel is shallow quite far into the bay and it should be transited with caution.

Reefing Underway - The technique of reefing underway is not much more complicated than reefing at the dock or under power. The way to reef easily is to set the boat on a close reach position and ease the main so that there is no longer pressure on the luff. The helmsman must resist the temptation to bear away in order to stop the main from luffing but otherwise the operation is done the same as when the boat is at the dock.

Sail Change - Although reefable jibs do exist, most boats are set up to change jib area by changing sails. Unless you're racing and trying to get the sails changed in the absolute minimum time, you can change jibs by simply taking down the first jib, removing it, and then attaching the new jib. The fairlead positions will probably have to be moved and the sheets may have to be re- lead when changing jibs. The idea is to anticipate and have the leads taken care of before the new jib goes up.

Fairlead Position

Most boats have either a fairlead track or a perforated toe rail so that the jib fairlead can be adjusted to the correct position for each jib. If the lead is tOo far aft, the sheet will pull too much on the foot of the sail and not enough on the leech. As a result the leech will twist away from the wind at the top and the jib will not drive properly. If the lead is too far forward, the leech will be too tight and the jib still won't drive properly. In the correct position, both the foot and leech will have approximately equal tension and the sail will be able to give maximum drive. The way to find the correct position is to use an imaginary line from the middle of the luff, through the clew to the fairlead. The fairlead, clew and middle of the luff should be approximately on a straight line.

Checking Fairlead Position While Underway

1. Put the boat into a close reach with the sheets in tight
2. Head up until the jib starts to luff slightly.
3. If the top part of the sail flutters - move the fairlead forward.
4. If the foot looks bagged out - move the fairlead aft.
5. When the fairlead is just right, the entire luff of the jib should break (begin luffing) at once when you start to head up into the wind.

Steering to Weather

Serious racers spend a lot of time practicing and refining upwind skills. Many races are won or lost depending on the crew's ability to steer the boat to weather as efficiently as possible. The ability to steer to weather well is also important to the cruising sailor. Sometimes it can make the difference be- tween making progress up a channel or just tacking back and forth without really getting anywhere.

Good tacking is important of course. Ideally, tack changes will be done without over-steering and the jib will be changed from one side to the other quickly but without putting back pressure on it. The only way to get good at this is to practice.

When not tacking, you will need to steer at the right wind angle and have the sheets trimmed properly. When going up wind, it is best to trim the sails so that they are fairly tight but not so tight that they tend to flatten out too much. Once the sheets are set properly it is up the the helmsman to steer so that the sails draw as efficiently as possible. Each time the wind shifts the helmsman has to adjust course. When sailing off the wind, the crew should trim while the helmsman holds the desired course.

Jib Telltales

Jib telltales are the means of fine tuning the course when going upwind. They function by showing the airflow on both sides of the jib near the luff. Ideally the air will be flowing horizontally and attached to both sides of the sail. When this is going on, both telltales will stream straight back toward the stern of the boat. If the boat is pointed too high into the wind, (pinching) the windward telltale will flutter a little. If the wind angle is too great, the leeward telltale will tend to flutter. If trim and fairlead position are just right, all the jib telltales will be flying back together. By watching the telltales carefully the helmsman can judge the correctness of the course to within just a few degrees. Use the jib telltales when adjusting trim with the sheets too.

Handy Rules for Using Jib Telltales

When beating to weather you should steer to the telltales. Move the tiller in the direction of the fluttering telltale to correct your course.

When steering a course, you should trim to the telltales. Trim or ease toward the fluttering telltale. In other words, if the inner telltale flutters, the sail needs trimming, and if the outer one flutters, the sail needs easing.