Sailing for novices
As the seemingly endless lockdowns and restrictions of the Covid-19 year begin to come to an end I've had an increasing number of friends asking about Isosceles and talking about visiting.
I'm always happy to have visitors along, to introduce new people to sailing. But it's always good if people have a bit of an idea what to expect.
Isosceles is certainly no "gin palace" where people can sip cocktails & sunbathe while someone else does the work. A trip on the boat is an activity break ... there will be things that need doing, you will be pulling on ropes if you visit.
First of all a few basic principles ...
A sailing boat is powered by the wind. The engine is only there to get you into and out of harbours, and out of trouble in an emergency.
Cruising sail boats don't go fast, on a good day we might do 5 to 6 knots (sea miles per hour), if we are really lucky we might get up to 7 knots! Don't expect to get places quickly.
Of course, its actually a lot more complex in reality, but its a start.
A sailing boat can not sail directly towards the wind. The sails need to be at an angle in order to drive the boat forward, and when the wind is directly in front of you there is no way of creating that angle.
The simplest principle for where to position the sails is this, the closer you sail toward the wind (close hauled), the more you pull in the sails. The further away from the wind you turn (broad reach), the more you let out the sails.
If you pull the sails in too far the boat will lean over (healing) more than it needs to. The effort the wind puts in to making the boat lean would be better used to make the boat go forward. If the sails are not pulled in far enough then they start to flap and flog, this will slowly break the sails over time by weakening the stitching in the material, and make the sails fall apart.
Knowing how to secure these 'ropes' safely is key. Just trying to hold a rope with the power of the wind pulling the sail or the weight and momentum of the boat pulling against you is a recipe for serious injury and disaster.
If you wind a rope around a bollard, winch or cleat and then keep tension on the lose end then 99% of the weight is taken by what you've wound the rope around. By keeping the rope tight the friction of the rope against the solid surface, or against the rope itself, is what does the hard work. If you are using a winch on the boat then you must always wind the rope clockwise, if you don't the mechanism in the winch will let the rope out, this is actually incredibly dangerous for your fingers!
A sail full of wind forms an airfoil and propels the boat forward with lift, in the same kind of way a plane’s wing does, except across water rather than into the air. The art of sailing is to position the sails to maximize lift in the direction you want to go.
In its simplest terms, if the sails are flapping they are doing nothing, if you pull them in until they stop flapping you will start to go forwards, if you pull them in too far the boat will slow down and lean over more.
In its simplest terms, if the sails are flapping they are doing nothing, if you pull them in until they stop flapping you will start to go forwards, if you pull them in too far the boat will slow down and lean over more.
Wind direction
In order to work out where to position the sails on a boat first you need to work out where the wind is coming from. The easiest way is to turn and face the wind. You don't need to do this all the time, but it helps if you get confused and are not sure where the win is coming from. There are wind indicators and flags on the boat, over time you get used to seeing what direction these are pointing in, and to do this without thinking about it.A sailing boat can not sail directly towards the wind. The sails need to be at an angle in order to drive the boat forward, and when the wind is directly in front of you there is no way of creating that angle.
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| Points of sail |
The simplest principle for where to position the sails is this, the closer you sail toward the wind (close hauled), the more you pull in the sails. The further away from the wind you turn (broad reach), the more you let out the sails.
If you pull the sails in too far the boat will lean over (healing) more than it needs to. The effort the wind puts in to making the boat lean would be better used to make the boat go forward. If the sails are not pulled in far enough then they start to flap and flog, this will slowly break the sails over time by weakening the stitching in the material, and make the sails fall apart.
Sailing is a fine balance that takes time to learn, and years to perfect. I'm not expecting you to know where the line is from the start, so don't expect too much of yourself either, but you will get practice doing things to make the boat move. This will not be a "sit and drink while someone else does the work" kind of break!
Rules of the road
In the diagram above you can also see something call Starboard Tack and Port Tack, this is basically dictated by which side of the boat the big sail (the main sail) is. You won't need to worry about this, but it makes a difference to who has right of way, some of the time anyway.
There is a common misconception that sailing boats have right of way over motor boats. While there are many situations where this may be true, it is not always true.
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| Who has right of way? |
There is a whole book of conditions and clauses to who has right of way in different situations, and getting it wrong can get the skipper into deep trouble. If you want to have a browse through the book then just ask when you're on the boat.
Just a quick note for anyone who is interested. These rules apply to ANYONE on the water, paddleboarders, canoeists, jet skiers, everyone. "I didn't know" is not a defence in the eyes of the law. Rant over, for now.
Steering
Isosceles has a steering wheel, so steering is just like in a car, except you are not following a road. If I ask you to steer the boat for a while then I'll give you a point to aim for, or ask you to steer straight into the wind while I do something with the sails. It is important that you concentrate on what you're doing, and don't get distracted by what else is happening, trying to put sails up while the boat goes round in circles is nigh on impossible. I'll set the boat up to be safe, you just need to keep it going in the direction I point you in.A knotty issue
There are lots of ropes on a sailing boat, but none of them is called a rope. There are sheets (used to control the sails), halyards (used to pull the sails up), warps (used to tie the boat to a dock or mooring) and many others.Knowing how to secure these 'ropes' safely is key. Just trying to hold a rope with the power of the wind pulling the sail or the weight and momentum of the boat pulling against you is a recipe for serious injury and disaster.
The picture here shows how to tie a rope onto a cleat. This can be on the boat or on the dock side, the knot is just the same. The important bits are 1) always lead the rope that has (or will have) the load on it to the back of the cleat first, this helps prevent jamming the knot. Then take the rope down the other side of the cleat and round the other end. 2) Cross the rope over the top of the cleat and go back under the first arm of the cleat. If this is as far as you can remember, then as long as you keep tension on the rope the cleat should now be able to hold the load. I'll be by in a minute to help you finish off.
If you want to learn a couple of knots then Animated Knots is a good place to start, with simple to follow animated instructions. Ones to start with are the Cleat (or Halyard) hitch, Clove hitch and Bowline. If you master those, to do them without thinking, I'll be impressed.
If you wind a rope around a bollard, winch or cleat and then keep tension on the lose end then 99% of the weight is taken by what you've wound the rope around. By keeping the rope tight the friction of the rope against the solid surface, or against the rope itself, is what does the hard work. If you are using a winch on the boat then you must always wind the rope clockwise, if you don't the mechanism in the winch will let the rope out, this is actually incredibly dangerous for your fingers!
Please be careful with ropes. I want to go sailing, not visiting hospital. If you are being asked to hold on to a rope and find you are struggling, try winding it around the winch, bollard or cleat a couple of more times, the friction around an object will help take the tension. But remember to keep a tight pull on the rope, the friction only works while there is tension on the rope.
