Tips of the Trade

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ver a few years, certain amendments to the basic procedures prove their worth time andagain. Below, for you convenience, we’ve listed a few of our favorites. Get the jib fairlead right
The tell tales are a good guide for ensuring you have the jib fairlead in the correct position.Sailing upwind in a moderate breeze, sheet the jib on until the leech is 2” from the spreaderends. Gently luff into the eye of the wind and check where on the luff the telltales are breaking first. If the telltales up high stall out firs, then move the lead forward a little; if the telltales at thebottom of the genoa stall first, move the lead back a little. Once you have established thismedium position, move the fairlead back a couple of holes in heavy winds and forward a couple in light winds, as previously discussed. (figure 13) Figure 12 Avoiding broaching
Make sure the spinnaker sheet is always eased as much as possible. When a gust strikes, dump- ing the spinnaker sheet two feet in a repeated jerking motion will tend to free up the rudder and give the helmsman a few critical seconds of control. At this stage, completely ease the vangallowing the boom to rise and the leech to twist off. This will completely de-power the mainsailand make the boat much easier to sail. Reefing the mainsail
Jiffy reefing remains the most popular system of shortening sails in strong winds. It is a veryreliable system if used properly. Just follow this procedure:Begin by tightening the topping lift (if you have one; if not, be very careful because the nextprocedure, if executed incorrectly, can result in the boom falling into the cockpit). Next, drop themain halyard while a crewmember stands by the mast to attach the tack of the sail to the reefpoint. It is vital that the luff is secured and the halyard pretensioned before you make any attempt to tighten the clew line. Once you have tightened the main halyard and secured it, youcan move on to the clew line, pulling it in tight. When this is done, re-tighten the mainsheet sothe sail fills. When you have settled down, have a crewmember tie in the reef across the points, especially if you are passage-making or expecting stronger winds.On a racing boat you can leave the loose fold of cloth free if you think you will be taking thereef out shortly. If you do use individual points, don’t tighten them up too much. Remember they are only there to tidy things up, not to take any load. AND IMPORTANTLY, remember to untiethem when you take the reef out. Parrel beads connect thetack of a free-flying sailto a forestay with afurled genoa on it.Plastic balls rollharmlessly over furledgenoa, avoiding chafeand friction. Using the telltales
The mainsail has telltales down the leech. They are a good indicator of the amount of twist youhave. If you have the correct amount of twist in most conditions, then the top two telltales willfly cleanly backwards approximately half the time. If they are flowing more than half the timethen you probably have too much twist. If they are always stalled out, and hidden behind theleeward side of the sail then you haven’t got enough twist.The telltales on the front of the genoa are indicators of your heading relative to sail trim. If youare sailing upwind in moderate winds and the genoa is approximately three inches off the spreader, you can sail by the telltales. If the windward telltale starts to flutter then you aresailing too close to the wind; if the leeward side starts to flutter you are sailing too far off thewind. With correct sheet trim—i.e., approximately three inches off the spreader ends—both setsof telltales will stream aft when your heading is correct.