Boat Control

Traveling in a straight line is easy enough, but you've got to be able to do a wee bit more than that.

Tacking: Turning can be done in one of two ways.  Tacking is turning into the wind.  This is the easier method as everything happens more gradually than when gybing.  As the boat comes round, the sail gets closer to the wind. When the boat is pointing directly upwind the sails will flap until the boat comes around on the opposite tack. If you tack too slowly the boat will stop moving through the water and you will no longer be able to steer it. This is called ‘getting into irons’. See In Irons below…

Gybing: Gybing is turning away from the wind.  As the boat turns away from the wind the sails stay taught (i.e. they do not flap) but once the wind gets behind the sails they quickly flip over onto the other side (keep your head down when this happens or you will learn how the boom got its name).  You have to be quick to jump across to the other side when the sails change or you'll be in danger of capsizing.  It helps to sheet in the mainsail just before a gybe - the sails will flip over sooner and then can be sheeted out again.

In Irons: When a boat is in irons it is pointing into the wind, or is too close to the wind to make headway.  In other words it's stopped, dead in the water.  In smaller dinghies (without a jib) you have to push, push and pull, pull. That is, push the boom and the tiller away from you, which reverses and turns you, and then pull in the mainsheet and pull the tiller towards you and off you go.  With larger dinghies and yachts (i.e. boats with jibs) you just back up the jib.  That is, sheet in the jib on the windward side (so long as you're not directly into the wind). The jib catches the wind and pushes the bow away from it. When you're far enough away, sheet the jib in on the leeward side and off you go.

Reversing: One method of getting out of irons is to reverse. (this technique is also useful to stop the boat quickly should you find you are about to hit something). With the boat facing into the wind direction, push the boom hard and away from you. The sail will fill with wind and billow out towards you. This will cause the boat to sail backwards. Whilst sailing backwards it is possible to steer the boat. If you push the tiller to the port side, the bow will swing to port and if you push it to starboard the bow will swing to starboard (very confusing because its the opposite of when you sail forwards). Keep a firm grip on the tiller as it will tend to be snatched out of your hand and go into full lock unless you control it (sailing boats are not really designed to sail backwards). If you want to keep sailing backwards you must keep the boat facing the wind direction - if you allow it to turn too much the wind will get round the other side of the sail and you will go forwards again...

Heaving-to: Heaving-to is a method of stopping the boat - getting it into the hove-to position.  Compared to being in irons, it is easy to start sailing again because all you have to do is sheet in.  The hove-to position is where the hull is pointing across the wind direction with the sails are sheeted out and flapping in the wind. To heave-to, go onto a reach and let the sails out until you stop.  It helps to turn into the wind once you let the sails out to slow down the boat, then simply turn away from the wind into the hove-to position when you still have a bit of steerage.

Pinching: When beating, it is usually the objective to move upwind as fast as possible.  Turning too close to the wind - or pinching - will make the boat sail more upwind but it will also slow the boat down. If you 'pinch' you will usually sail upwind more slowly than if you keep the sails full of wind and sail faster.  Sometimes pinching just a little bit and for short intervals will help you to move upwind. If there are any waves then DO NOT pinch. The waves will knock the wind out of the sails and your boat will stop.

Slowing down: To slow down on a beat or a reach simply let the sails out until they flap - they'll loose power and the boat will slow down.  On a run you cannot let the sail out far enough so that it can flap so the only way to slow the boat is to sheet in (pull in the mainsheet) and get the boom close to the centre of the boat. You cannot stop on a run but this will slow you down.

Reefing: If the wind is strong you may want to reduce the sail area.  The way you do this depends on the boat; usually you tie the mainsail down to the boom or wrap it around the mast. For the Topper the sail is wrapped round the mast before the outhaul is attached to the clew - or the clew is loosened and the mast is rotated to get the same effect.