Sheet Leads

An often overlooked component of a headsail is the sheet lead position. While some people treat these blocks as static and permanently set attachment points, the truth is, they are meant to be moved around depending on what you are trying to achieve with your headsail.

Sheet leads are typically only able to move fore-aft, but some yachts are equipped to allow arthwartship adjustment as well. Fore-aft is by far the most common form of adjustment, where the sheet block is setup on a car mounted to a track. 

In the simplest of ways, moving the car forward is ideal in light air situation while moving the car aft is ideal in heavy air situations. The reason is, as you move the car forward, the force of the sheet is transferred up into the leech of the sail, allowing the foot to fill in. This creates a bigger chord in the sail and generates more power. When you move the sheet block aft, the force of the sheet gets transferred over to the foot of the sail. This will cause the foot to flatten and make the sail flatter. A flatter sail will generate less power and thus allow you to maintain control as the winds build. 

As you transfer the force of the sheet from foot to leech or leech to foot, the other side of the sail becomes ignored by the force. So when the car is forward, the leech is under control while the foot is ignored. When the car is aft, the foot is under control and the leech is ignored. This can serve some additional benefits as well. 

When winds build, you want to flatten the sail by tensioning the foot. Moving the car aft will accomplish this and it will also alleviate force on the leech. This will cause the sail to twist and the opening leech will spill excess air from the top of the sail. In high winds, this is ideal and will allow you to continue sailing along comfortably and safely. 

When you are reaching and have eased the sail, you may find that your sail is developing a twist, even though you don't want it to do so. Moving the car forward will allow you greater control of the leech and grant you the ability to close the twist in the sail, maximizing the power from the headsail. 

As of now, we understand that moving the car forward will control the leech and moving aft will control the foot, but where is the car to go to control both? The answer is somewhere in the middle. 

As you move the car forward and aft, the angle the sheet makes to the sail will change. With the car aft, the sheet will come into the sail at a very shallow angle. If you continue this line, it will meet the luff of the sail somewhere down near the tack. As you move the car forward, the sheet will meet the sail at a more extreme angle and the imaginary line will reach the luff further up towards the head of the sail. 

The neutral position where the force on the leech and foot are about equal is when the imaginary line that extends forward of the sheet meets the luff at about 40% the height of the luff (from tack to head). This point is considered to be the neutral position for your sheet block, and anything forward of this position is for lighter airs while anything aft is for heavy airs. 

How to Heave To

Heaving To is one of the most important maneuvers you can carry out on your sailing yacht. This maneuver can be used for such simple tasks as "stopping for lunch" to "riding out a storm". Heaving to is a sailing yachts equivalent to a powerboat putting its engines in neutral. 

A power boats engines will be on a ready to go at a moments notice but there is no forward thrust, instead the boat drifts through the water at a slow pace. In a sailing yacht, heaving to accomplishes the same things; the sails are up and ready to power you forward, but the boat simply drifts along in the water at a slow pace. 

In the simplest form of explanations, heaving to is accomplished by backing the headsail. This means that the headsail will be sheeted on the windward sheet as opposed to the leeward sheet. During normal conditions, the leeward sheet is the working sheet and the windward sheet is the lazy sheet, but when heaving to, the roles are reversed and the windward sheet is the working sheet pulling the clew of the sail into the wind and backing the headsail. 

With the headsail backed into the wind, it will pull the bow to leeward and serve as an air brake to any forward movement. If the headsail were the only sail set at this moment, the yacht would be blown to leeward, jibed, and then set on a run. 

To counter this force, the mainsail is set to oppose the backed headsail. As the headsail pulls the bow to leeward, the mainsail comes into the wind and pushes the bow back to windward. This constant tug of war between the sails results in no forward movement. 

The mainsail is trying to turn the yacht into the wind while the headsail is pulling the yacht to leeward, the end result is the boat sits still and makes no forward progress. Since the wind is hitting the yacht on the beam to bow, the wind resistance offered by the yacht causes the whole system to drift in a leeward direction. As the yacht drifts to leeward, a slick of disturbed water will form on the windward side of the boat and this slick has wonderful properties that will be discussed later on. 

So, the basics of heaving to are: 

• The headsail is backed to windward
• The mainsail is set to leeward
• The helm is turned to windward

In the simplest of measures the combination of these three settings will make the sailboat heave to or at least come to a stop. 

If you are in the middle of a body of water with no risk of collision with land masses or other vessels and you want to stop for lunch, simply tacking without switching the headsail will usually bring the yacht into a hove to position.  The yacht will be sailing along quickly, and then it will pretty much come to a halt and begin to drift backwards at a very slow pace.

This technique is frequently taught as a standard maneuver during a Man-Over-Board recovery, by heaving to, the yacht will stop and the victim can swim towards the yacht or crew members who are still on board can devise a method to retrieve the victim as they slowly drift to leeward. 

In both of these situations, the yacht will stop or at least greatly slow its forward progress through the water which can satisfy the needs of a yacht who wishes to stop for whatever reasons. If you are wondering why you can't just release your sheets and let your sails flog to stop the boats movement if you wish to come to a stop during a lunch break or a MOB recovery situation. The answer has two important points. 

First, flogging sails will cause a lot of noise and the sheets whipping through the air can pose a serious hazard to your yachts gear and crew members. If you are trying to relax during a calm meal on a nice day, the sound of sails beating in the wind might not be what you had in mind. In the more stressful situation of the MOB recovery, the flogging sails will add stress, confusion, and anxiety to an already stressful situation. Hearing commands and relaying information will become very difficult over the noise of the flogging sails.  

Second, flogging sails will quickly work harden the fibers in the sailcloth and lead to early destruction of the sails. A sail violently flogging in a storm will rip to shreds in a few minutes! Deliberately setting your sails to immediate destruction will ruin any plans to sail further when you are ready. For these reasons, heaving to is a much better protocol as it will stop your vessel and protect your sails.

While heaving to during a storm, you need to capitalize on the lateral drift of the yacht through the water which will create a slick of disturbed water to windward. The slick of disturbed water that will appear to windward will settle and calm any approaching breaking wave and transform it into a gentle, though large, roller. If you are fore reaching slowly, you will move out of the protective slick and the bow of your boat will be at risk of being hit by a breaking and boarding wave. If you can remain in your slick, you will be able to rid out a storm without having to take any water over your deck.

Getting the yacht to stop fore reaching can prove easy on some yachts and more challenging on other yachts, but regardless, it can be done. To get the yacht to stop fore reaching and remain in a hove to position, you need to play with various sail configurations to find the setup that works best for your yacht.  

In general, you want to maintain a balanced sail plan with a backed headsail and a set mainsail. This will be the best starting place for configuring your sail plan while hove to. Matching your sail size to the present conditions is also an important consideration.  

If you are heaving to in light airs for lunch, a full headsail and aims ail will work just fine. The yacht will be balanced and will probably hold its position just fine. If you are heaving to in a storm because of incliment weather, full sails would be a death wish for your yacht! Reefing your sails accordingly is very important as it keeps the amount of sails area exposed manageable and heaving to a controlled and predictable operation. A good rule of thumb is that you should heave to with the same amount of sail that you would be willing to fly if you were sailing in these conditions.  

Five knots of wind would allow you to heave to under full sail. Twenty five knots of wind would behove you to heave to under reefed sails. If you are planning to ride out a strong gale, storm sails would be crucial to your survival.

Once again, you will need to test out various sail combinations on your own yacht during strong conditions to see what works best for your setup. During strong winds you might not actually need a headsail set to heave to. Furlers, rigging, deck gear, and freeboard can act as a backed headsail and push your bow to leeward, precluding you from the need for setting a backed headsail. If this is the case, adding a backed headsail will cause your bow to be pulled off the wind and set your yacht beam to the seas. Ideally, you will wish to remain with your bow between thirty to forty five degrees from the wind as this will allow your bow to cut through the approaching waves and keep vessel motion under control. 

Behind the mast, you will want to fly a trysail, as this small scrap of sail cloth will keep your bow into the wind and the vessel's motion steady. I recommend starting with a storm jib and trysail set hove to, and if you find that you have trouble keeping your boat at the ideal angle to the wind, douse the storm jib and lash it to the deck. The bow will begin to turn up into the wind better and the yacht will ride through the seas more comfortably. 

With your yacht turned into the wind, it will attempt to tack. The backed storm jib or deck windage will keep your boat from completing the tack as it stalls and drifts back into ideal posture to the wind and waves. Since the yacht is stalled out as it tries to move to windward, it will be at the mercy of the windage on the entire yacht as it is slowly pushed to leeward as a whole unit. The boat will gently ride up into the wind and then fall off as it slowly drifts laterally through the seas. This lateral drift will generate the protective slick which will calm the approaching seas help you survive the storm in comfort.  

You might be concerned that the small amount of sail up will cause significant heeling and possibly knot the boat down! This is not the case. With the proper amount of sail exposed during a storm, you will be able to ride comfortably through the seas without much heel. We have ridden out several storms with strong winds and minimal heeling.

One storm we had in the ocean had winds of thirty seven knots for more than 14 hours. We attempted to sail during the storm but resistance was futile. We were uncomfortably heeled over while flying only our staysail and trysail. As soon as we hove to, the yacht straightened out and we were only heeled over around ten degrees. 

Another more violent squall hit us where we hove to under just our trysail for around an hour in winds of forty knots and were only heeled over around five degrees. While hove to, the yacht remains relatively straight and the motion of the vessel is very comfortable. There is no jerking or lurching which can cause some crew members to regurgitate their lunch and their morale. Instead, the entire experience becomes a waiting game, where you sit around and find things to do to pass the time as the storm blows over. 

A yacht that is hove to is pretty much the equivalent of a champagne cork. It may be tiny as the seas tower around it, but it floats along without a care as it rides over the crests without much motion. It doesn't move fast during the storm but it does float the whole way through. Heaving to during a storm will convert your yacht from a finely tuned machine that soars through the waves into a cork that floats along mindlessly. Once the storm has passed and the sea state calmed, you can set your sails for performance and race towards your destination once more without any damage nor loss of morale. 

Heaving to is a crucial skill that should be learned, honed, and mastered. It can mean the difference between weathering a storm and surviving a storm. Likewise, it can prove to save your yacht and extend range by granting you the ability to sail in any condition that nature may throw at you.

Single Vs Double Reef Line

On yachts where the running rigging is led aft to the cockpit, you will want all the lines led aft to the cockpit. The worst setup is one where the halyard is led aft and the reef lines are left at the mast. Reefing a setup like this would require working the halyard in the cockpit, then run up to the mast to set the reef lines, then run back to the cockpit to tighten the halyard again. In a perfect world, this setup works just as described. In the real world, this setup leads to many trips between the mast and cockpit to carry out a reef. These problems could all be avoided by simply leaving all the lines at the mast or running all the lines back to the cockpit.

In the case of leading lines back to the cockpit, you have two choices with the reefing lines: Single or Double. 

Single or Double refers to how many reef lines are required to reef the sail properly. When reefing a sail, there are two places that need tension: the tack and the clew. With Double Reef Lines, the tack and clew are controlled by separate lines. With Single Reef Lines, the tack and clew are both controlled by a single line.

To properly decide which setup to go with, you need to weigh out the problems with each and find which system you feel more comfortable with. If you enjoy the benefits and don't mind the draw backs, then you have found your ideal setup!

Double Reef Line Setup

Double Reef Line Setup Reefed

Double Reef Line Setups allow you to tension the tack and clew from the cockpit, where you also have access to the main halyard when all the lines are led aft. The advantage of a double reef line setup is there is reduced friction, less resistance, and more control of tack and clew tension. 

The reduced friction directly leads to the reduced resistance in working the sail. Each turn a line makes adds friction to the system. If you want to shake a reef out of a sail, you will need to raise the sail by cranking in on the halyard. In a double reef line setup, the reef lines will twist and turn as they make their way from the cockpit to the mast, but then they will only have 2 major twists after that. A turning block on the boom will send the reef line up, and the cringle in the sail will send the reef line back down. Since the reef line only needs to work its way through one cringle, less line is needed to pass through the cringle to raise the sail and equates to less resistance.

Since the reef lines are separate, you are able to properly control the tension in the tack and clew independently. If you feel that the sail is a bit full, you can simply crank harder on the clew reef line to act as an outhaul and pull the sail flatter. 

While less resistance and more control over the sail does sound rather wonderful, double reef line setups do have their draw backs. For starters, you have an extra line to manage. If you are trying to reef in a hurry, you need to:

1. Lower the main halyard
2. Crank in on the reef tack line
3. Crank in on the clew tack line
4. Crank in on the main halyard

This might not sound that horrible, but most of the times, this is done with a single winch and a clutch bank. This means that you have to wind and unwind the winch drum in a hurry as you switch between lines. If you find that you need a bit more tension on a line, you will have to repeat these steps as you switch between them all.

The other problem with double reef lines is they are double the amount of lines led to the cockpit. If you have a single reef point, you will have 2 reef lines in the cockpit. If you have 3 reef points, you will have 6 reef lines in the cockpit! The cockpit spaghetti can quickly become overwhelming if you do not keep your lines organized and in a situation of panic, the spaghetti confusion can lead to the sail not getting reefed as quickly as it might be desired to have been reefed.

Single Reef Line Setup

Single Reef Line Setup Reefed

The alternative to double reef line setups is a single reef line setup. As you can imagine, it's most appealing feature is that it only requires one line to operate. This makes reefing a sail with multiple reef points less confusing. If you have 3 reef points, you will only have 3 reef lines leading to the cockpit! The lack of cockpit spaghetti will make this setup seem more enticing until you start to look at the problems that come with simplicity.

The procedure to reef is simple:

1. Lower the main halyard
2. Crank in on the reefing line
3. Crank in on the main halyard

The first issue is the shared tension on the line. The tack and clew share the reef line, as it makes its journey from the boom to the clew cringle to the clew turning block to the tack turning block to the mast and then through all the twists and turns to get back to the cockpit. The setup can also be run in reverse where the fixed point is near the tack and the line returns to the mast from the end of the boom. Either way, the line runs a very long path with lots of turns resulting in a setup where the same line is supporting the loads of the clew and the tack.

If you feel that the sail is a bit full and you wish to flatten the sail out, you will need to tension the heck out of the line so that it can pull on the clew enough to produce the desired effect. The clew and the tack share the force. Any effort you put in to the reef line, only half the force reaches the clew as the tack is taking the other half.

Since the reef line is running to both points on the sail, the load on the reef line is also significantly increased. With a double reef line setup, your effort is only affecting one part of the sail. With a single reef line setup, any effort you do is going to affect the entire foot of the sail. 

All the twists and turns carried out by the sail will also greatly increase the amount of resistance involved in shaking out a reef. To raise the sail, the reef line will need to make its way through both cringles and that will add a lot of resistance and effort onto the arms of the person grinding the winch.

The last issue involved with single reef line setups is the length of line needed to rig the reefing system. Purchasing the length of line is no the big issues, the real problem is dealing with the line while you sail. Imagine a yacht with a really high reef point, say for a third reef, that is located 20 feet up the luff. The reef line will need to travel from the cockpit to the mast, up the mast, then up the sail to the cringle and back to the boom, and then again at the second cringle. This reef line is going to have to cross a 20 foot span four times!

Aside from all the length of line to get to the mast and to travel the boom, you will have 80 feet of line that needs to be worked to manage that sail. This means that when you go to shake out a reef, 80 feet of line will have to travel through the first cringle and 20 feet through the second cringle. When you go to reef, you will have to pull in 80 feet of line and then store it somewhere in the cockpit! While 80 feet may sound like a lot of line, but it gets worse. If that was the third reef, you will also need to haul in the reef line for the first and second reef line. If you don't the reef lines will lay slack and can fall into the water or get snagged on your deck. Not only will you have to deal with 80 feet for the 3rd reef, but the long length of line of the 1st and 2nd reef. This is how the cockpit spaghetti forms and gets really confusing when the lines are not properly color coded.

While it may sound like both of these systems are flawed in dumping all this line in the cockpit and adding a lot of extra resistance to the system, the truth is they do a great job of bringing the lines back to the cockpit. If you do not feel comfortable when you leave your cockpit, then this type of setup would be ideal for you as you would be able to raise, lower, and reef your mainsail all from the cockpit without setting foot on the deck.

Single and double reef line setups are a favorite among coastal cruisers and racers. Coastal cruisers love them because no one needs to leave the cockpit if the weather turns for the worse. Racers love them because it allows the crew to work the entire boat from a central location where they can easily hear commands. Blue water cruisers don't seem to favor either of these systems as the added resistance, effort, and spaghetti all lead to more points of failure and instead opt for the lines to be left at the mast where resistance is minimized as are failure points.

The final decision comes down to those who are sailing the yacht. All systems have their pros and cons, and finding a system that you enjoy the pros and don't mind the cons is the goal!  

Sailing Wing on Wing

When sailing downwind, you might find that the main is stealing all of the wind form your jib. This will manifest itself as a jib that continually falls and can never remain full of air. This loss of sail area will translate into reduced speed through the water, which means it will take you longer to get to where you are going.

There are a few ways to rectify this situation:

• You could broad reach instead of run
• You could lower the main
• You could reef the main
• You could raise the topping lift
• You could sail wing on wing

Broad reaching will put your yacht at an angle to the wind, allowing clean air to reach your headsail and fill it. This will cause your yacht to sail faster, but it will also add additional distance to your destination. It is pretty much the equivalent of tacking downwind. If you do some math, you can find an angle where your Velocity Made Good is higher than if you were sailing on a run, making the extra work worthwhile. 

As stated, broad reaching would be more work than running. In the effort of keeping effort to a minimum, lets look at how we can run more efficiently. The headsail offers significant sail area, but it is hidden behind the mainsail. If wind could get around the main, the headsail would also fill, letting you sail faster while still on a run.

You could lower the main, allowing all of that wind to reach the headsail. This will move you along with a full headsail, but you are still suffering from lost sail area. If your headsail is massive, this might function better than the main, giving you a bit more speed, but there are other options.

If you reef the main, it will be smaller and wind can get around the top of it and past the leech, letting this wind reach the headsail. The fuller headsail will provide more power when combined with the main and will help pull you downwind at a faster pace.

Instead of lowering the top of your sail, you could always raise the bottom. Tightening the topping lift will raise your boom and let air scoot by under the main to reach the foot of the headsail. Sailing along with a twisted main and headsail will be better than sailing along with a main and fallen headsail, but there is still a better way.

Instead of trying to get the air around the main, why not place the headsail in its own clean wind? This is called sailing wing on wing.

When on a dead run, as in the wind is directly behind you, you can set the main on one side of the yacht and the headsail on the other side. Each sail can be set full and in its own clean air with no disturbances or compromises. Now you have all your sail area functioning to carry you straight downwind towards your destination with as little effort as possible. 

You must be wondering why more people don't like to set the sails in these manners? Well, to sum it up:

• Broad reading is more work than running
• Dropping your main and sailing under headsail alone is usually as fast as sailing under main alone
• Reefing the main is work, and when people are running, they don't want to work
• Raising the topping lift will induce twist into the main and cause it to chafe on the rigging
• Wing on wing is very prone to accidental jibes.

Accidental jibes are a real and present danger when sailing wing on wing. A preventer can be used to stop the main from slamming across the boat, but preventers can make a mess if you need to change directions quickly, so I prefer to not use one. Instead of using a preventer, I will sail along at a slight angle to the wind, so I am not truly on a dead run, but instead the slightest of broad reaches.

With the main set on the leeward side, this slight angle will protect against those accidental jibes. If I see that my angle to the wind is changing, I can correct it before the boom comes smashing across the cockpit. With the main set to leeward, the drifter will be set to windward. 

The drifter is a very safe sail to fly by the lee, as it is simply a nylon genoa with a very full cut. It will stay on the windward side and fill up like a kite. If I sail too far off angle the drifter will fall and lay against the rigging. There is no noise, bashing, or terror on board when this happens. I just alter course a little bit to fill the drifter with wind and continue on our way.

Sailing at a slight angle won't guarantee that accidental jibes won't happen, they just reduce the likelihood. Since they are still a very real and present issue, I don't recommend sailing wing on wing in strong winds. If I can't grab the mainsheet as it runs out to the boom and pull the whole boom towards me without any assistance, I won't sail wing on wing. If it were blowing harder, the pressure on the main were greater, I would not be able to pull the sail as easily and there would be more potential for damage if an accidental jibe did occur. 

Another issue with wing on wing sailing in strong winds is you are at higher risk of broaching. The sails are set on either side of the hull and the rolling waves could push the boat into a roll which could lead to a broach or worse, a Chinese jibe! Keeping this sailing technique restricted to light air days will ensure that running is as little work as possible, letting you reach your downwind destination in comfort and with ease.

Balancing Sails

Balancing the sails may be viewed by some as sailing Nirvana, a perfect state which you know exists but can never quite reach. The truth is, balancing your sails is very simple.

When a sail fills with air, it begins to power up as its shape takes on the form of an airfoil. When the sail is properly trimmed and shaped like an airfoil, it will generate lift which will be transferred to the sailboat via the rigging and in turn move the sailboat through the water.

Perfect trim will have the air flowing evenly and smoothly over the both sides of the sail. This state will produce the maximum amount of power out of the sail. This is why when sailing, you want to trim the sail until the tell tales are streaming evenly on both sides of the sail. 

There are various sails on the boat, located in front and behind of the mast. If the sails are all powered up to their maximum, balance will probably not be attained.  The combined force from the sails will be localized into the "Center of Effort" or CE. This force is going to be counteracted by the "Center of Lateral Resistance" or CLR which is produced by the underwater profile. If the CE is ahead of the CLR, the boat will have lee helm and veer to leeward. If the CE is behind the CLR, the boat will have weather helm and veer to windward. If the CE is directly in line with the CLR, the boat will be balanced!

For purposes of balancing the boat, the rudder will be locked midship and not altered. This will keep the rudder in line with the keel and thus keep drag to a minimum. With the rudder center lined and locked, the CLR will not change. The relationship of CE to CLR can be altered by trimming the sails.

If the boat wants to turn to windward, this means that the CE is behind the CLR. 
If the boat wants to turn to leeward, this means that the CE is ahead of the CLR.

These are the only two options present when the helm is locked, and it no longer seems that complicated when you break it down to just two choices with no gray area.

Your sails will generally develop more power if you sheet them in, and less power if you ease them out. This means that you can generally alter your CE by either sheeting your sails or easing your sails.

If the yacht wants to turn to windward, you need to move the CE forward to meet the CLR and balance the boat. To do this, simply ease the main. Easing the main will reduce its efficiency and cause the CE to move forward as the headsails have not been altered. 

If your yacht wants to turn to leeward, you need to move the CE aft to meet the CLR and balance the boat. To do this, simply ease the headsails. Easing the headsails will reduce their efficiency and cause the CE to move aft as the main has not been altered.

That's it! Doesn't seem so complicated now does it?

If you ease a sail to the point that it starts to luff or develop leach flutter, you should sheet the sail in a bit until it calms down and then sheet in the opposite sail.

For example, if you have lee helm and you ease the headsail until it flutters, sheet it in a bit and then sheet in the main. Easing the headsail will move the CE aft, but flutter will destroy your sail. Sheeting in the main will also move your CE aft, and not cause premature destruction of your headsail. In the end, you can move the CE aft until it meets the CLR and the boat becomes balanced.

After you achieve perfect balance and are sailing along with your rudder center line and causing minimal drag, you may feel inclined to look at your sails once more. You will probably see that your sails are trimmed terribly. Tell tales will probably be twirling on one side of the sail, indicating that the sail is not trimmed to utmost performance. You may feel the urge to go trim the sail until all the tell tales are flying perfectly, but that would upset the balance of the boat by moving the CE either forward or aft. 

You need to remember that sails are an individual component that is tied together into the rest of the boat via the rigging to form a sailboat. The goal is not to have a perfect sail, but instead a perfect boat. If an over trimmed sail is needed to balance the sailboat, then that is what is needed to sail along properly.

Being able to zoom out and see the big picture is an important ability. This will show you that the tell tales don't really matter, and what is important is that the boat sails along through the seas.