Sailing: A Beginner's Guide E-Book

Tim Hore

• Herausgeber: Fernhurst Books Limited
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Sailing is a wonderful sport, it takes place in the open air, on the water and is powered by something that's free and eco-friendly – the wind! It is a sport for life: captivating children and giving them a sense of responsibility as they skipper their own boat and continuing to give pleasure well beyond retirement, whether it be competing against others or taking it more gently. Using this book you can get afloat, learn to sail and start having fun using the step-by-step advice, photo sequences and diagrams. This jargon-free guide allows complete novices to get out on the water with the minimum of fuss. One- and two-person dinghies are covered, along with rigging, knots, safety, handling and much more. Originally published as 'Learn to Sail', it now forms part of Fernhurst Books' series of Beginner's Guides covering surfing, SUP and inflatable kayaking. It can be used on its own or as a compliment to traditional sailing courses run by sailing schools everywhere and is aligned very closely to standard teaching qualifications. It is also linked to many YouTube videos so you get a real flavour and feel for the sport of sailing.

Leseprobe

Sailing is a wonderful sport and open to all. For the purposes of this book, we have had to use the terms ‘helmsman’ and ‘he’ throughout, but please interpret this as meaning either male or female.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

KNOW YOUR BOAT

RIGGING

POINTS OF SAILING

KEY FACTORS

YOUR SAILING ENVIRONMENT & SAFETY

BEACH LAUNCHING & RECOVERY

PONTOON LAUNCHING & RECOVERY

YOUR FIRST SAIL (BASIC CONTROLS)

HOW TO TACK

HOW TO GYBE

CAPSIZE, RECOVERY & RESCUE

ASYMMETRIC SPINNAKER

KNOTS

REEFING

RULES OF THE ROAD

GLOSSARY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Go online for a video demonstration: Click here or visit www.fernhurstbooks.com – search forSailing: A Beginner’s Guide and click on ‘Additional resources’.

INTRODUCTION

Dinghy sailing is the most popular and best way to learn how to sail. It teaches you skills that can then be applied to yacht sailing, windsurfing or even kite surfing. With so many designs available, there is a dinghy to suit everyone’s needs, from stable boats for beginners to high-performance machines for serious racers.

Sailing is a fantastic sport. Understanding where the wind is blowing from and realising how to harness this power is all absorbing and totally exhilarating. I have been a keen sailor since the age of 14, sailing dinghies, windsurfers and offshore yachts. I am a qualified RYA Senior Dinghy Instructor and regularly teach people of all ages to sail. My approach is always to help them enjoy the sport of sailing and my passion is for them to have fun.

Sailing: A Beginner’s Guide is the perfect partner either for anyone new to dinghy sailing or for those looking to refresh their sailing techniques. Step-by-step instructions explain the basic skills of sailing a single- or two-person dinghy. You’ll be guided through each stage of the learning process, starting with what you need to know prior to setting out on the water and how to stay safe.

Many of the photographs are taken from remote onboard cameras, including one at the top of the mast, to provide unique and highly instructive images. You can also go online to watch free video demonstrations showing you how to put the theory into practice – view them at – view them here or at www.fernhurstbooks.com: Search for Sailing: A Beginner’s Guide and then click on ‘Additional resources’. You can see full length instructional videos on our sailaboattv YouTube channel.

I hope you enjoy reading the book and, better still, become a keen sailor.

TIM HORE

KNOW YOUR BOAT

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN THE TERMINOLOGY USED IN SAILING, ASWELL AS THE NAMES FOR THE PARTS OF YOUR BOAT, SAILS & RIGGING

THE BASICS

THE BOAT

Points of view from a dinghy

Looking at a plan view of the hull, the left-hand side of the boat is called the port side and the right-hand side the starboard side. The front of the boat is called the bow and the rear is the stern or transom. Anything that happens ahead of the direction of travel is called ahead, and behind the boat is called astern.

The wind will push the boom to one side of the boat or the other – the side of the boat under the boom is called the leeward side, while the side of the boat opposite the boom is called the windward side. The leeward and windward sides of the boat will change, depending on the wind direction in relation to the boat’s course (see the Points of Sailing chapter on page 37), but all the other descriptions mentioned above will always remain the same.

THE SAILORS

The person steering the boat is called the helmsman, but when we use this term it applies to both male and female. The helmsman steers the boat by holding the tiller extension across and in front of his body with one hand, and the mainsheet in the other hand. This is called the dagger grip and allows him to control the mainsail and rudder easily.

The helmsman holds the tiller and mainsheet in a dagger grip

The tiller extension is held in the back hand and the mainsheet in the front hand

In a two-person boat the second person is called the crew. This person controls the headsail called the jib and, if fitted, the spinnaker.

The second person is called the crew

Both the helm and the crew sit in an area called the cockpit, from where they operate the boat. To help them lean out and balance the boat, they can hook their feet underneath the toestraps, which are webbing straps securely fixed to the inside floor of the cockpit.

The helm and crew work as a team, they can use toestraps to lean out to balance the boat

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BOAT

Boats come in various shapes, sizes and construction to suit different crew weights, aspirations and sailing environments. The hull can be made from wood, fibreglass or hard-wearing durable plastic so, depending on what type of sailing you plan to do, there will always be an appropriate boat for you.

Rather than dashing out and buying the first boat you see, it is much better to try as many different types as possible to ensure that you purchase the best one for your needs. Sailing centres offer great advice and choice, while sailing clubs are also a good place for information and some even provide boats for hire.

For your first boat, perhaps consider a second-hand one – again your sailing centre or club can advise you on where to look.

Sailing has many levels… literally… is he sailing or flying?

BASIC COMPONENTS

Every boat has the same basic components, although variations apply from boat to boat. These components are the hull and rudder assembly, the spars, which consist of the mast and boom and are generally made of aluminium and finally the sails.

Two-person boats have two sails

Single-person boats are simpler in layout

To help with manoeuvring ashore you should use a launching trolley. The trolley supports the boat well when on shore and has large soft wheels that are designed to go in the water and make launching easier. The rope used to tie the boat to the trolley is called the painter. The painter can also be used when launching to tie the dinghy to a pontoon.

Launching trolleys make manoeuvring ashore easy

To tow your boat on the road you will need a road trailer. The launching trolley usually forms part of this configuration. You should avoid putting road trailers in the water as this can corrode the brakes and suspension.

THE HULL

BUOYANCY & DRAINAGE

Your boat should have at least two buoyancy tanks to keep you afloat. They are designed in such a way that, should one become holed, the boat will still float. The buoyancy tanks form the main body of the hull that you sit on, with an additional tank at the bow of the boat.

Boats have in-built buoyancy in the design

A seat that runs sideways across the boat is called a thwart. The upper outside edge of the hull is called the gunwale.

Drainage holes are fitted at the back of the boat to allow you to drain any water that may collect in the buoyancy tanks while sailing. These holes are sealed with bungs, which must be fitted before you go afloat. The boat won’t sink if you don’t fit the bungs, but it will fill with water and be very difficult to steer.

Always check the bungs are fitted before going afloat

After sailing, when the boat is back ashore, raise the bow and remove the bungs to check for water draining out. If more than half a litre of water drains out, you should get the boat checked by a repair specialist as this indicates that there is a leak somewhere which should be fixed.

Some cockpits drain automatically when the boat is filled with water from either a capsize or near capsize. Boats that do not have an open stern or transom may be fitted with self-bailers. These are built into the hull and, when opened and pushed down, rely on the forward motion of the boat to drain the water out.

Self-bailers drain the boat when enough forward speed is maintained

CENTREBOARD

In the middle of the boat, you will have a centreboard, which either pivots and retracts around a pin, or slides up and down, in which case it is called a daggerboard. The centreboard is used to reduce the sideways force that the wind exerts on the sails and will therefore stop the boat slipping sideways. The Points of Sailing chapter on page 37 has more information on this.

Centreboards can pivot up…

… and down around a central pin

Or slide up…

… and down; if it is a daggerboard

RUDDER

At the stern of the boat is the rudder assembly. The rudder blade is your steering mechanism. Unlike a car that is steered by a wheel, dinghies have a rudder blade that works in the same way as the tail fin on an aircraft. With the rudder blade centrally positioned, the boat will sail in a straight line, but with even the smallest degree of angle on the rudder blade the boat will turn and continue to turn until the blade is central once more.

The angle of the rudder blade is controlled by an arm attached to the rudder called the tiller. The helmsman holds the tiller extension which connects to the tiller via a universal joint.

The tiller extension is held by the helmsman

The rudder blade is held in place with the rudder stock – this is a vertical post at the forward edge of the rudder, on which are a couple of fittings called pintles. These marry up with fittings on the transom, known as gudgeons, enabling the rudder to pivot easily.

The rudder blade usually lifts around a pin, which makes launching and recovering the boat from the water easier. Once lowered, the rudder blade is secured in place with a control line called the rudder downhaul, which is in turn secured with a small jam cleat on the tiller.

Rudder blade lifted when ashore

RIGGING

Rigging is the generic term given to the collection of wires and ropes that support a mast and sails.

There are two ways that the mast and sails are secured to the boat. On some boats like the Laser shown in the photograph, the mast is inserted into a pocket on the mainsail and the whole assembly lifted and set into a socket on the hull. In this configuration the mast is relatively unsupported but, due to the reasonably small sail, the load on the rig is somewhat limited.

Some boats have unsupported masts that slot into sockets on the deck

For larger boats where more load is introduced from the sails, wire rigging is used to support the mast. The side rigging consists of shrouds, with one each side of the hull, and the front wire is called a forestay. It is important to use all three wires to prevent the mast from bending or breaking whilst sailing. You may also have spreaders fitted on the mast. These are horizontal brackets that help to further spread the load of the sail to the mast.

Most boats have wire rigging to support the mast and maybe spreaders

Boats with supporting rigging are fitted with rope or wire to hoist the sails. These lines are called halyards and are connected to the top of the sail. They are pulled to hoist the sail and then secured in place when the sail is fully up. They are simply then released to drop the sail back down again.

Halyards connect to the head of the sail and are used to hoist the sails

On a two-person boat it is now common to have a furling system for the jib. This simple system allows the rigged and hoisted sail (jib) to be rolled up and temporarily packed away without the need to fully lower the sail, for example during rigging and launching and even when learning to use the spinnaker. The control line to furl the jib is called the furling line.

A furling system can be fitted to the jib, here furled

Unfurling the sail is quick and easy to do

BOOM

The boom connects to the mast with a flexible joint called a gooseneck. This can be either loosely connected, slotting into the end of the boom, or it can be permanently fixed to the mast.

For a loose fitting gooseneck, the boom has a hole into which the gooseneck slides. It is held in place once the outhaul control line is pulled tight.

The end of the boom slots over a fitting on the mast called a gooseneck

Some boats have a permanently fixed gooseneck

TOP TIP

It is the design of the boat and rigging that dictates which gooseneck option your boat is fitted with. Loose fitted goosenecks tend to be on older designs of boat, with more modern boats utilising the fixed gooseneck.

KICKING STRAP / VANG

All boats should have a kicking strap or vang. This is a device that prevents the boom from rising up when the mainsail is released. Without the kicking strap, the boat will be extremely hard to control, particularly when the wind gets stronger.

The kicking strap has two possible configurations; one will push the boom down, and the other will pull it down – these configurations are purely down to boat design and both have the same effect on the mainsail.

Kicking straps can push the boom down…

… or can pull the boom down; both systems have the same effect

BURGEE

To help identify where the wind is blowing from when sailing, you may also have a flag at the top of your mast. This is called a burgee and the tip points towards the wind. If you have one, keep an eye on it at all times to develop your wind awareness.

Masthead burgees indicate wind direction

SAILS

Single-person dinghies have one sail while two-person dinghies have two or sometimes three sails.

Single-person boats have one sail

Sail cloth is a man-made fabric that is reasonably hard wearing yet flexible enough to allow it to take the shape of a wing when set correctly. Air travelling at different speeds on each side of the sail generates lift, consequently driving the boat through the water.

The big sail (and only one on a single-person dinghy) is called the mainsail. A two-person boat will have an additional smaller sail at the front of the boat. This sail is called the jib.

Sails are generally triangular in shape with three corners and rigged with the narrow part of the triangle at the top.

Most sails are triangular in shape – here a spinnaker...

Mainsail

Jib

Regardless of which sail it is, the corners all have the same description. The top of the sail is called the head, the front bottom corner is called the tack and the other corner is called the clew. The leading edge of the sail is called the luff, the trailing edge is called the leech, and the bottom edge is called the foot.

MAINSAIL

To stop the leech of the mainsail from flapping while you are sailing, sail battens are inserted into pockets along its length.

Sail battens usually inserted into the mainsail help the sail to hold its shape

At the tack of the mainsail the design of your boat will have one of two configurations for controlling the leading edge or luff of the sail.

On boats with a floating tack on the sail this is called a downhaul.

The downhaul pulls the front edge (luff) of the sail down

On boats where the tack of the sail is hard fixed to the end of the boom by the gooseneck, it is called a cunningham.

Both do the same job. As the wind increases, this control line should be pulled tighter, which depowers the sail slightly, making it easier to control. Conversely in light winds this control line should be kept quite loose.

Alternative downhaul arrangement called a cunningham

Your mainsail may also have a reefing system. Reefing is the term given to the process of reducing the amount of mainsail area. For a full explanation read the Reefing chapter on page 169.

SPINNAKER

Two-person boats may also be fitted with a spinnaker. This is a large sail made of a very lightweight cloth that can only be used when the boat is sailing across or away from the direction the wind is blowing from. This sail will introduce a whole new dimension of fun to your sailing and is launched from a chute, controlled by the crew and supported with a retractable bowsprit. (See the Asymmetric Spinnaker chapter on page 147 for a detailed explanation of this sail.)

Spinnaker sailing

TELLTALES

Telltales are small strips of fabric that are stuck on both sides of the sail and positioned towards the front edge or luff of the sail. These are there to help you when sail setting. When set correctly they stream horizontally; when the sail is set incorrectly, they flutter violently.

On single-person boats telltales are found on the leading edge of the mainsail, while on two-person boats they are mostly fitted to the jib.

Telltales will react before the sail flutters so the amount of sail control or course alteration required to set the telltales is often subtle. For more information on how to use telltales, see page 51.

Telltales help to identify how to set the sail

ROPES

Control sheets are used to pull the sails in and out

The ropes used to pull any sail in and out are called sheets. You will have a mainsheet to control the mainsail. The mainsheet will have a pulley system allowing the helmsman to adjust the mainsail easily when it is under load. The pulleys are either at the end of the boom or in the centre of the cockpit and are called the mainsheet falls.

The mainsheet controls the mainsail; this can come in different configurations

In a two-person dinghy you will have a jibsheet to control the jib, and a spinnaker sheet to control the spinnaker.

Jibsheets control the jib

All further ropes on board used to control other aspects of the sail or other fixtures are generically called control lines.

Sail control lines

These are held in place with fixtures called fairleads. A fairlead can either be a pulley or a non-moving captive fixing such as a ring or hook and is used to guide a rope as well as prevent it from chafing. Always tie a stopper knot in the end of all control lines to prevent them running free.

Pulleys fixed to the deck are called fairleads

A jam cleat secures a sheet under tension and makes it easier to use; always tie a stopper knot in the end of the rope

Holding on to a fully powered sail can be hard work so to help with this a jam cleat can be used. Jam cleats come in different configurations, but all do the same thing: allowing you to lock a particular control line.

The mainsheet can have its own jam cleat integrated in one unit with a pulley

Always hold the mainsheet so you can free the sail in the event of a gust

TOP TIP

The helmsman must always hold the mainsheet when sailing, even if it is held in place with the mainsheet jammer. He must be able to quickly release the sail in the event of a gust to prevent an unwelcome capsize.

RIGGING

RIGGING CAN BE COMPLICATED, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A CORRECTUNDERSTANDING OF ALL THE COMPONENTS ON THE BOAT & HOW THEY FIT TOGETHER

As well as being a term to describe the structure above the boat (see page 15), rigging is also the general term used to describe the action of preparing the boat for sailing by attaching the sails and rudder.

As already mentioned, there are two main styles of rigging. The first is an unsupported mast where the mast is inserted into a pocket on the mainsail and the whole assembly is then lifted into a socket on the hull of the boat.

With an unsupported mast, the mainsail slides over the mast

And the entire rig is lifted into place

With a Bermuda rig, the mainsail is hoisted by a Halyard

The other main style of rigging is the Bermuda style. This is where the mast is supported with a series of wires at the side and bow of the boat, and the sails are hoisted by control lines called halyards.

The process for hoisting the sails is basically the same, regardless of where you are launching. However, when launching from a beach, the mainsail is usually hoisted on the shore before the boat is put into the water, whereas when launching from a pontoon, the boat is tied to the pontoon before the mainsail is raised.

Rig the sail on the shore if you are launching from a beach

On a pontoon use the leeward side to attach the boat to rig it

TOP TIP

When rigging any sail ashore, if there is enough space, try to ensure that the bow of the boat is pointing towards the wind.This will stop the wind from catching the sail and blowing it into the mud.