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Yachting Monthly

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Downwind sails: How to pick the right one and fly it

• Rachael Sprot
• December 15, 2022

Sailing downwind can be slow without extra canvas. Rachael Sprot explores extra sail options and lists the pros and cons of downwind sails

The words ‘pink spinnaker’ are enough to send a chill down the spine of anyone who’s ever watched Cowes Week disaster footage. There’s Atalanta of Chester , which dis-masted when their fuchsia-coloured kite wrapped around the anchor of a tanker in August 2011. And who hasn’t seen the iconic image of Silk II as she nose-dived into the Solent in a 40-knot squall? It’s enough to put you off the big downwind sails for life.

But, like it or not, as you bear away through the wind angles you need additional downwind sails to maintain good passage speeds, rather than languishing under white canvas. The good news is that in the last two decades we’ve seen huge advances in sail design and sail handling technology. Asymmetrics, code sails, snuffers, furlers and laminates have all become much more accessible to us humble cruisers. But which of these sails would most suit you, your boat and your cruising plans?

I joined Mathias and Sybille Keim on board their brand new X5.6, Pure Fun, in Southampton to compare their gennaker, Code Zero and Parasailor spinnaker. Under the old racing rules a spinnaker was any sail where its width halfway up was 75% or more of the foot length.

A sail with a 10m foot length would need to be 7.5m across at the mid-height to count as a spinnaker. Anything below this was a headsail. These days, there’s a complex spectrum of sails which fall between a spinnaker and a genoa but few industry-wide definitions for these hybrids. Terms such as cruising chute, gennaker, asymmetric and reacher can all be used to describe the same sail. However, code sails, asymmetrics and the Parasailor are fairly distinct families.

For racing, a Code Zero counts as a spinnaker as its ‘mid-girth’ is more than 75% of the foot length. Less than that and it’s a headsail. In cruising, definitions and measurements are less strict. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Downwind sails: Code Zero

At the closest end of the scale to the genoa is a code sail, sometimes known as a Code Zero. These are big reaching sails, which set independently of the forestay on a furler. They’re usually made of a laminate if they’re designed for close-reaching, and spinnaker-style medium weight nylon for larger sails and beamier angles.

Much of their power comes from the vast sail area, but shape is also important. There’s usually a semi-rigid cable in the luff which gives stiffness and allows the sail to be furled, although some ‘cableless’ sails are now in production.

Whilst the luff is straight, the leech is curved like a spinnaker which accelerates the airflow over the top of the mainsail. This creates power in light airs and should dramatically reduce motoring time. Generally used between 80 – 120° TWA (true wind angle), larger code sails can reach deeper in stronger winds and smaller, flatter sails can point higher. They’re particularly useful for boats with small foretriangles where a large genoa can’t be accommodated, especially boats with self-tacking jibs.

Rigging a Code Zero is straight-forward, although it may require modifications to the boat. Firstly, it needs to set forwards of the forestay for maximum airflow. This was easy on the X5.6, which has a sprit with an integral electric furler. Without this you might need to modify the bow roller or fit a removable sprit.

Most boats will use a manual furler with a continuous-line furling drum, with the line taken back to the cockpit. The drum remains attached to the sail, and is removed from the sprit when stowing. Code Zeros also require greater halyard tension to furl well, so their halyards often have a 2:1 purchase system to cope with the increased loads.

A 2:1 halyard purchase is needed for sufficient tension, and to stop the top drum twisting when furling. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Unlike a spinnaker, the halyard should not articulate as that will stop it furling.

The sheet needs to be led well aft, probably to the same point as the spinnaker. A single sheet on the clew will suffice because you can’t gybe or tack a code sail due to its proximity to the forestay, so it needs furling for the manoeuvre. Since they’re used for reaching rather than beating or running this is rarely an issue.

The furled sail can be hoisted to windward or leeward of the headsail. With a 2:1 purchase system on the halyard the hoist is relatively easy, even on a big sail such as that of the X5.6, but there’s twice as much line to pull through so it can be slow going.

If the headsail is set, then hoisting it to windward works better as it will snake its way up the sail, pulling forwards and clear of the forestay once halyard tension is established. With the headsail furled a leeward hoist works better as it keeps the code sail clear of the genoa sheets and furling gear.

You can hoist the Code Zero in harbour and leave up while sailing. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Setting and trimming

One advantage of the Code Zero is that it can be hoisted in port and left furled until you need it. The body of the furled sail can disrupt air flow over the headsail, as well as taking some tension off the forestay, reducing the headsail’s efficiency, but this might be preferable to foredeck work at sea.

Since the wind strength in the central Solent was a good Force 4, we were close to the top of the sail’s maximum wind speed. We found shelter in Stanswood Bay and the electric furler seamlessly opened the sail as we took in the sheet.

A magnificent ivory behemoth appeared. We instantly set off with purpose, making over 8kn in just 9kn of true wind. As we ventured further offshore the wind was stronger and we bore away until we had 10kn apparent just abaft the beam.

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Now the true wind was 13kn from 130°and we were making around 8knots. If we hadn’t had the code sail we’d have either had to cling on to a gennaker, or put up with much slower speeds under the headsail. It filled the gap between these two sails beautifully. We lost the impact of the sail at about 140° TWA, or 110°AWA where the wind dropped to only 7knots apparent. Even so we made 6knots through the water.

Unlike a roller-furling genoa it can’t be used partially rolled up, so it’s for light, stable winds only. The feeling of power was quite intoxicating but I was conscious that a moderate gust could have put serious loads through the rig.

On a manual furler it would be laborious to douse if the wind suddenly decided to pick up. As it was, the electric furler made short work of it; we simply bore off to blanket it behind the main, minimising the apparent wind speed, and eased the sheet as swiftly as possible without inducing too much flogging, which would work with a manual furler too.

Top tip: A Code Zero is the largest headsail you can have that doesn’t count as a spinnaker. It is defined as a sail where the mid-girth – the width of the sail from luff to leech – is no more than 75% the length of the foot. More than this and you’ve got an asymmetric spinnaker. While racing rules are irrelevant to cruisers, a light sail with a reasonable pointing angle can go a long way to keep you sailing in light airs.

The sail may need a tug when you start hoisting the sock, but once the wind catches it, it will unfurl rapidly. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Downwind sails: Asymmetric

Asymmetric spinnaker are best used for deeper angles without the fluster of polework. They come in a huge range of shapes and sizes and can be optimised for reaching, running or somewhere in between.

Racing yachts would carry several different asymmetrics with a numbering system to differentiate between running and reaching sails and their designed wind strength. Cruising yachts tend to carry one all-purpose sail, optimised for the mid-range of wind angles and strength, often referred to as a gennaker.

The cut of a gennaker depends on whether it is to be used on a furler. Furling sails need a straighter luff which limits how much belly it can have. A furling sail will have a semi-rigid ‘torsion cable’ strung between the head and tack, but not usually sewn into the sail. This cable is attached to a top-down furling device which winds the sail away from the head.

Deep running sails can’t be used with a furler as they’re too big and baggy, although technology is improving all the time and this may soon become a reality.

A barber hauler controls the sheeting angle and helps make the sail more stable. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Rigging and setting

Ideally, an asymmetric should be set on a bowsprit to give it clean air. However an inexpensive ‘tacker’ device negates the need for retro-fitting a sprit by tethering the sail’s tack to the forestay, but limits the amount of canvas that can be carried.

Pure Fun had a 225m2 all-purpose gennaker from Elvstrom in a snuffer sock with an inflatable collar (to minimise stowage space). It needs three lines to set: a tack line run to the bow, a pair of sheets run well aft and a halyard running through an articulating block on the mast crane. Ideally, the tack line is taken back to a cockpit winch or jammer so it can be adjusted underway.

Sails on furlers don’t have a tack line as they attach via the furler straight to the deck.

Even when contained by a snuffer or furler, a spinnaker should be handled with care and not left lying around where it might fill with air – unlike a Code Zero it can’t be rigged in harbour beforehand. The usual spinnaker handling rules still apply: remember to clip on the bag and don’t attach the halyard until you’re ready to hoist or else a big gust of wind could make it ‘live’.

Hoisting the sail in the snuffer is simple: connect the tack line and sheets to the sail and attach the halyard to the strong point on the snuffer. You’ll need to decide whether to set up for inside or outside gybes and lead the lazy sheet inside or outside the halyard. Most cruising boats with short sprits will find outside gybes easier as there’s limited clearance between the forestay and luff.

Keep the control lines on the snuffer tied down until you’re ready to hoist so that the spinnaker can’t take matters into its own hands. Unless it’s on a furler it should be hoisted to leeward like a symmetric kite.

As ever, a deep broad reach where the gennaker is partially shadowed by the main will keep the drama to a minimum when you unveil it. Once the halyard’s set, raising the snuffer is easy; it practically lifts itself once the sail starts to fill with air. Whoever’s on the snuffer lines needs good gloves as there’s no winch between you and the power of the kite.

When Pure Fun ’s bright yellow sail appeared from its chrysalis there was an exhilarating feeling of power. She took off and we scrambled to keep up with her.

Top tip: Woolling a spinnaker is an old technique which can come in handy if you want to re-hoist it. Simply work down the luff and leech of the sail, tying it up like a string of sausages every metre or so. You need to use a soft wool which will break easily; natural fibres are kindest on the sail and environment.

Sailing deep angles can be tricky as the sail can be blanketed by the main. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Gennaker trim is a hybrid of spinnaker and genoa trim. Flatten it out and turn it into a conventional triangular sail for reaching. When running the sheet needs easing so that it comes out in front of the boat.

When racing the sheet is constantly in play to keep a slight curl on the luff. For cruising, ease the sail and find the curl then tweak it in.

As you bear away you want the sail to take the shape of a more conventional spinnaker and come out from behind the shadow of the main. A slight ease on the tack line can help, but beware of easing it too much, it makes the sail less stable as it sets further out to leeward.

Like a symmetric spinnaker, a barber hauler helps to bring the sheeting angle forwards and keep the leech closed on deeper angles. This is important in stronger winds to improve stability.

Flatten the sail and ease the barber hauler to sail higher. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

The key with any spinnaker flying is to keep the pressure in it. When you’re trying to make ground to leeward in light airs this is largely down to the helm: coming up to create some apparent wind in the lulls and bearing away when the pressure allows. It’s hard work to do manually and challenging for an autopilot so you’re unlikely to achieve the same performance promised by sail makers.

On Pure Fun we found the true wind angle range to be between 125° and 160°, which equated to 70°- 145° apparent.

Top Tip: A barber hauler is an adjustable line to control the sheeting angle of a spinnaker. This can easily be added by attaching a block or low friction rig roughly half way between the cockpit and the shrouds. A second block or ring, through which the spinnaker sheet passes, is attached to a line that runs through the turning block and back to a winch or cleat in the cockpit

Gybing a very large asymmetric is challenging. The outside lead of the sheet makes it prone to slipping beneath the sprit and catching around the anchor or pulpit. If this happens mid-gybe it’s likely that the sail will then wrap around the forestay.

The gennaker had a webbing keeper for the sheet to sit in and a ‘gybulator’ batten protruding from the luff to help prevent this but it was by no means foolproof. A batten taped to the end of the sprit, protruding a metre or so horizontally, would improve the odds. As always with teamwork in the cockpit there’s no substitute for practice and coordination.

Alternatively snuffing or furling the sail for the gybe will eliminate the risk of spaghetti.

Top Tip: An inside gybe is where, like a headsail, the body of the sail crosses the boat inside the luff, through the foretriangle. An outside gybe sees the body of the sail fly around the front of the boat with the clew passing forward of the luff.

Off the wind, extra sail power is needed to keep the boat moving, and it’s a great feeling. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

With any down-wind sail, Newton’s first law of sailing applies: what goes up must come down, and it usually comes down in a hurry. Although furlers and snuffers have simplified the sail handling they haven’t fully tamed the beast.

When it comes to dousing a large spinnaker the first thing you need is foresight to not leave it too late in the first place. After that a combination of good technique and a sense of determination will see you through.

On a boat as large as the X5.6 you need liberal amounts of both. Even the incredible hulk would find it nigh on impossible to snuff or furl a big sail without depowering it first. Bear away and blanket it behind the main, simultaneously giving a generous ease on the sheet. At this point the sail will collapse and the foredeck crew can heave on the snuffer or furling line. Taking the snuffer line around a cleat or a block gives purchase and control.

If your furler or snuffer fails, it’s important to know how to drop the sail without it. Releasing the tackline, pulling the sail through the letterbox of the mainsail and down the companionway hatch is the conventional method and would work if a snuffer fails.

If a furler fails it’s more difficult since the tack is fixed to the furler. In this instance try to blanket the sail behind the genoa and mainsail as best as possible, take a deep breath, channel your inner octopus and gather it down the fore hatch.

Parasailors are designed to be flown pole free, and without the mainsail up for simple downwind cruising. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Downwind sails: Parasailor

From a distance a Parasailor looks like a spinnaker with a pressure relief valve, and crudely speaking that’s what it is, much like the vast J-Class spinnakers used to have cutouts in them to create airflow. But the paraglider wing inserted into the sail serves several purposes and isn’t just a vent. It’s designed to solve many of the challenges posed by conventional spinnakers so I was intrigued to see how the sail compared with the gennaker.

Neither Mathias, Sybille or I had ever sailed with one before, so we enlisted the help of Istec Parasailor trainer, Stuart Anderson, to help us learn the ropes. The sail itself was a 251m2 Istec Parasailor, which was bought second-hand.

The wing stops the luff collapsing as much, and makes it more forgiving when it does. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

The theory behind the sail is that the horizontal wing gives the sail structure, creates lift and allows air to pass through it, rather than around it. The wing acts like a ‘soft batten’, helping the sail take shape on a wide range of wind angles and without the need for a pole. It also makes the sail less likely to wrap by giving it more structure.

According to the designers, the upwards thrust of the wing reduces the tendency for the bow to be buried in a seaway and, as you’d expect, the wing aperture helps gusts to ‘vent’. Furthermore, the Parasailor sets best without the main, eliminating the threat posed by the boom and reducing the likelihood of a broach. Jimmy Cornell, world cruising guru, has said that he ‘would recommend it to anyone who is considering buying a new spinnaker’.

I have to confess I was somewhat sceptical as to whether the Parasailor would really live up to its bold claims and celebrity endorsement.

It can take some effort to pull the snuffer over the bulk of the wing. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Like a gennaker, a Parasailor is controlled by a tack line led to the bow, and a sheet led well aft. It can be flown from a pole, but it isn’t necessary and most people are attracted to the simplicity of going pole-free. In order to gybe you need a lazy guy and lazy sheet, so, rather like a conventional spinnaker, there are four lines in total, plus a halyard.

Parasailors are nearly always used in combination with a snuffer, and Istec have designed its own with colour-coded clips to prevent the clews from twisting.

We set off on a broad reach down Southampton water with 14-knots true wind behind us. Stuart explained that when opening the snuffer it’s important to pause after the first few metres in order to pull on the tack line and bring the sail towards the bow. Once the tack was just off the bowsprit the snuffer could be fully hoisted and the working sheet taken up.

There was some resistance as the mouth of the snuffer negotiated the bulk of the wing, but after that the sock raised smoothly. We all found ourselves smiling when the sail popped out: there was no huge shock load on the sheet, the sail just took shape and started flying.

Once up it can be set much like a conventional spinnaker, flattening the sail using the sheet and tackline on a reach, and easing as you bear away. When running, the aim is to keep the clews the same height, so a barber hauler on the sheet is useful.

We set the sail for a comfortable broad reach with an apparent wind of 8 knots at 135° and a true wind of 14kn on 153º. Pure Fun made an easy 7 knots through the water. It was composed and comfortable. As we pushed her up through the wind angles we took in on the sheet, achieving 8 knots on 100° apparent before she started to wobble.

We sailed her as high as 80° AWA but there was a lot of lee helm without a mainsail up and a Force 4 felt like too much wind for the higher reaching angles. Performance on a deep run was sedate and predictable, we trundled along at 6 knots with the wind dead astern and even sailed slightly by the lee without complaint.

When we put her through an ‘accidental’ gybe the sail inverted but as soon as we gybed back again it instantly recovered its shape. It was impressively forgiving, if a little underwhelming speed wise. Stuart commented that the X5.6 should have had a sail which was 5-15% bigger, which would have improved performance.

Gybing is easy with no pole or main, but still requires changing from working to lazy sheets. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

Gybing involves rotating the whole sail around the boat much like you would a symmetric spinnaker. With four lines to manage it could be daunting short-handed, but the process can be done in stages, easing the working lines and taking up the lazy lines as the helm holds a course deep down wind. It was easier and less stressful than gybing the gennaker, partly as there’s no mainsail to manage.

On a benign day in the Solent we couldn’t test the Parasailor’s stabilising effect in swell but many people testify to this.

The primary difficulty we had was dousing it with the sock. Since there’s no mainsail up it’s hard to collapse the sail and depower it without letting the sheet completely off.

It took two of us to bring the sock down in 15-16knots. Admittedly the X5.6 is a big yacht, but we weren’t operating at the top of the sail’s wind range and the sail was slightly under-sized for the boat. I wondered what would happen when a squall hits. Leaving it up and hoping the vent works well might become the only option.

Keep an eye on true wind speed. It’s easy to forget how windy it really is when running with the wind. Photo: Richard Langdon/Ocean Images

All three sails got us moving downwind when the mainsail and genoa lacked oomph and any of them would be an asset. I’m drawn to the thrills and spills of the big yellow gennaker which certainly helped Pure Fun live up to her namesake but does need careful handling and the right conditions.

The Code Zero was glorious, and at a time when we’re all trying to wean ourselves off hydro-carbons it’s a useful tool for very light airs.

The Parasailor was far more effective than I imagined: it’s kind on novice crew and is one of the few sails that works deep down-wind as well as on a reach. It scored full marks for versatility and temperament. However, it won’t deliver the same wow factor as a Code Zero or gennaker operating within their optimum range.

I asked Mathias and Sybille how they’d come to carry all three sails on board, when most people would have opted for either a Parasailor or the combination of Code Zero and gennaker. ‘I only chose two sails actually’ replied Mathias, ‘the gennaker and the Code Zero’. ‘The Parasailor was my choice,’ Sybille said, ‘I wanted it for the ARC’.

Choosing your sail wardrobe is just as personal as choosing your own outfits, and what works for one occasion won’t always suit another. Buying second-hand sails for a specific passage also makes perfect sense.

If you can only carry one, then the gennaker is a rewarding option for experienced sailors, while the Parasailor is a pragmatic choice for short-handed or novice crew. If you decide on a second sail, then the Code Zero compliments either of them well.

Top Tip: It is tempting to lean towards buying sail cloth of a heavier, rather than lighter weight, as it seems like it would last longer. In reality, most cruisers only fly spinnakers in light airs, and a heavier cloth would tend to collapse more and be harder to set.

A lightweight spinnaker will last as long, and be used more. Once the sail cloth does get old, it will become less stable, making the sail harder to set and trim, and more likely to induce rolling, so a new sail is easier to handle.

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How to Plan Your Sail South

• By Andrew Burton
• Updated: September 11, 2019

Halfway from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda one recent November, all four crews on the boats in my offshore sailing program listened rapt to the drama unfolding on the VHF radio. We could hear only the U.S. Coast Guard side of the conversation as they rescued the crew of a boat in trouble, but that was enough for all of us.

It was a stinky night, blowing 35 knots and gusting over 40 out of the southeast—our course to Bermuda. The rain was pelting down, and big sloppy seas were coming from three different directions. On our matching 46-foot performance cruisers, all four skippers had independently arrived at the same solution for dealing with the conditions.

Before darkness closed in, we’d doused the main, rolled up the jib and set the hank-on heavy staysail/storm jib on an inner forestay. We jogged along with the wind at about 60 degrees apparent doing 4 or 5 knots of boatspeed, waiting for the wind shift we knew was coming from listening to the high-seas forecast on the single-sideband radio. We knew this gale presaged a cold front and that by sunrise we’d be loving life as we ran toward Bermuda in a clear 25-knot northwesterly.

We later learned that the Coast Guard had pulled all five people off a well-built, 50-foot double-headsail-rigged cruising ketch about 80 nautical miles from our position. Its crew had tried to cope with the deteriorating conditions by dousing all sail and motoring into the wind. In those conditions, they’d ended up rolling the gunwales under. Then the engine quit. As they drifted, the deck was leaking, and every member of the crew was seasick, cold, wet, scared and exhausted. Calling the Coasties for rescue seemed like a no-brainer, and the decision was unanimous. With that call, the owners of the boat gave up on the cruising dream they’d been working toward for many years.

Practicing Patience

Every November, the southbound routes from the East Coast are furrowed with sailboat wakes as cruisers abandon the rapidly approaching icy winter weather and set sail for the tropics. Some head for Florida, others for the Bahamas, and still others for the Caribbean. Some crews prefer to buddy-boat their way, some like to join rallies, and others prefer to sail by themselves. In more than three decades of sailing other people’s yachts (and lately my own boat) south in the fall, if there is one piece of advice I’d give anyone contemplating this voyage it would be: Throw away your calendar. The weather is what it is, and your schedule matters not a whit.

On a recent passage with a couple starting their dream of cruising the world on a well-found heavy-displacement cutter, we ended up stuck in Beaufort, North Carolina, for a full month as one system after another pounded through at 36- to 60-hour intervals. There was just no way we could pick a decent window to get across the Gulf Stream and far enough along the track to Tortola in the British Virgins to make it clear of the storm paths rolling through.

A couple of professional delivery crews passed through town and made a break for it, but they later reported very miserable passages and told me I’d done the right thing in waiting with my inexperienced crew. In the end, we had a delightful passage in near-ideal conditions. After completing that trip, I returned to Beaufort to get my own, much faster boat with a more experienced crew. I ended up waiting for another week for a weather window before we left. The point is you have to be patient. Good—or at least reasonable—conditions will roll around sooner or later. I tell my clients, “You’re cruising; you’re already home, so what’s your rush?”

I usually leave sometime in November from Newport, Rhode Island, bound for Bermuda. If you have a good boat capable of making the 650-mile passage in five days or less, except in rare years, you should be able to pick a good weather window, if you’re patient. Note how many times I qualified that statement. We have much better weather information nowadays than when I started delivering boats, but bear in mind that weather forecasting is not perfect, nor are professional weather routers. You, your crew and your boat should be prepared to get clobbered. Just as important, you should be prepared to motor if your boatspeed drops below about 5 knots; save the purity of sailing for when you’re south of Bermuda. That piece of North Atlantic water on the way to Bermuda bears a justified fierce reputation. It’s not a place to lollygag. For forecasts and Gulf Stream info, I use the excellent GFS forecast models from passageweather.com .

Planning and Preparation

Before I leave on a passage, I have my sails professionally inspected and any defects repaired. I have them pay special attention to batten pockets and sail slides. Sailmakers will do this for you for at a ­surprisingly reasonable price.

Another thing I do is load up the boat with spare fuel filters. I get a couple of 5-micron elements for the engine and at least half a dozen 30-micron elements for the Racor filter. You might run for years along the coast on the same filter, but once you get offshore and the seas start bouncing the boat around, any crud in the bottom of the fuel tank gets shaken up, and you’ll find yourself having to change filters until your tank is clean.

Along those lines, make sure your engine is happy being run for a long period. Test it by motoring continuously for several hours. Too often engines in sailboats are used simply to leave the mooring and charge the batteries. That’s a rotten thing to do to a diesel.

Your engine manual should tell you what rpm you should achieve running in forward gear. Get clear of other boats one day, and slowly mash the throttle all the way to the limit. Leave it there for five minutes or so. You won’t hurt your engine. Check the engine temperature to make sure it stays under about 180 degrees. If it doesn’t, it’s time to give your cooling system some love. If it revs above the maximum rpm rating, you might be able to add pitch to your propeller; if it comes up short, you might have too much pitch. (Obviously, I’m simplifying, so check with your mechanic before making changes.) Your cruising rpm is 75 to 80 percent of maximum rpm. Top up your diesel tanks and run for several hours at that speed, then fill the tank again to give you an idea of your fuel consumption; this will be an important number to keep in mind when you start thinking about fuel management on passage. Bear in mind that running at 60 percent of max rpm can greatly increase your range when you have to stretch your fuel in a prolonged calm. I always leave my main up for a little extra push and to damp any rolling—unless the sail is slatting hard, which can kill your sail in short order. Bear in mind also that it is not really that hard to make 3 or 4 knots just sailing in light airs.

While you’ve been preparing your boat and stowing spares, you also should have been thinking about crew. I like a three-person crew who can all steer a compass course and know how to sail, including when to trim or ease the sails, and when to call the skipper with questions. A three-person crew allows my favorite watch system: three hours on and six hours off. This allows the skipper and crew almost a full night’s sleep every nine hours, a vital element for keeping everyone safe and happy.

Enticing a good crew to take the time out to sail with you is a conundrum often solved with the promise of good food. My basic rule for provisioning is to never put any food on the boat that you wouldn’t eat at home. So no canned stew and very few tins of tuna, and definitely none of those cups of soup you add boiling water to. Our daily routine is for everyone to help themselves to breakfast cereal (unless someone feels like cooking for the crew); lunch is help-yourself cold- cut sandwiches, though in colder weather we’ll sometimes fall back to tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches. And there is always plenty of peanut butter and jelly aboard.

Except in the roughest weather, we do our evening meal together at the 1800 watch change. Stews, chili and other meals can be premade and frozen before departure. Unless it’s rough, pasta is easy to cook underway and, along with rice, makes easily stowed emergency provisions too. Look at cookbooks and the People & Food column in this magazine and vary the menu, concentrating on stick-to-your-ribs meals up north and lighter, quickly cooked or uncooked fare once you reach the tropics.

All the care you put into provisioning will come to naught if your crewmembers aren’t hungry. Seasickness is the bogeyman for every sailor new to offshore passagemaking, and more than a few experienced sailors too. Experience has shown me that getting your favorite medicine into your system three days before your planned departure will go a long way toward preventing “Gulf Stream gastritis.” It doesn’t seem to matter which medicine you take (I use Bonine, which doesn’t make me as drowsy as some other meds), just get it into your system. During my offshore sailing program one year, I followed this plan when I left Newport for Bermuda with 54 people (aboard 10 boats) who’d never been to sea before. Only one mighty-man-of-the-sea who “never gets seasick” was sick. My wife follows this prescription and has gone from getting seasick on a dewy lawn to running the boat all night on the 200-mile passage across the Gulf of Maine from Cape Cod to Mount Desert Island alone on deck. A last important note: Don’t try a new seasick medicine for the first time right before your passage. A couple hundred miles at sea is not the place to discover you have a nasty or dangerous reaction to ­whatever you took.

When we left on the passage that caused the crew of the 50-footer to abandon ship, our forecast had called for the southeasterlies to blow at a manageable 25 knots, not the 35 to 40 we got. If that unfortunate crew had known to hoist a staysail and perhaps a reefed mizzen, and then either jogged long as we did or hove to, they might still be living their dream on their boat.

Heaving to is one of the most important of an offshore skipper’s tools. To heave to, you back your jib or staysail—that is, you sheet it hard on the wrong side of the direction the wind is blowing—and sheet in your reefed main enough to keep the wind about 60 degrees off the bow with your helm lashed hard over as if you’re trying to get the boat to tack. Done correctly, the boat will sit quietly through pretty intense conditions. This is a technique worth discussing and practicing before departure.

Though it happens, with modern forecasting and patience, you will rarely encounter storm conditions on the short legs from New England to Bermuda, and from Bermuda south to the islands, but it is best to understand and be prepared should it hit the fan. Fatty Goodlander’s excellent book Storm Proofing is recommended reading before you set sail.

Yes, reading articles like this one is enough to scare anyone into taking up RV’ing, but don’t let it. There is little that is more satisfying than sailing your boat at sea toward a distant horizon. There’s a reason so much has been ­written about the romance of the ocean. It’s worth the trouble to just get out there. And as Joshua Slocum once wrote, “To any young man contemplating a voyage, I would say go!”

One final word: Cruising sailor Douglas Bernon told me that before he and his wife, former CW editor Bernadette Bernon, left on their multiyear cruise, I had given him the most important of any advice he’d received before they left. “No matter what,” I’d told him, “each day, be sure to stop whatever you’re doing, relax, and watch the sunset.” And so I pass that along now: Don’t get so caught up in the preparation and operation of the boat that you forget to have fun!

As a delivery skipper, Andrew Burton has logged more than 350,000 nautical miles under sail. Aboard his Baltic 47, Masquerade , he also helps those new to passagemaking understand what it takes to cruise offshore successfully under the auspices of his company, Adventure Sailing. Upcoming voyages include passages from Rhode Island to Bermuda and the Caribbean, cruising through the islands, and a celestial-navigation passage from the British Virgin Islands to Key West. For more information, visit his website .

If the weather is bad, and systems keep moving through too often to leave you without a good window to make Bermuda from New England, the best option is to hop down the coast to Beaufort, North Carolina, one of my favorite ports on the East Coast. Typically, from New England, I head west down Long Island Sound to New York City. From Sandy Hook, New Jersey, at the entrance to New York Harbor, it’s a 110-mile hop down the Jersey shore to Cape May. I’ve had easy rides in smooth water half a mile off the beach, though it was blowing 40 knots from the northwest.

If conditions become uncomfortable, you can bail out into Manasquan Inlet or Atlantic City, where you’ll find good year-round marinas. From Cape May, it’s 150 miles across the mouth of Delaware Bay and down the DelMarVa Peninsula into Chesapeake Bay, where you can either head down the Intracoastal Waterway or pop into Hampton or Little Creek, Virginia, while you wait for a perfect weather window to sail the 200 miles around Cape Hatteras to Beaufort. From Beaufort, if you want to carry on to the Caribbean, it’s 850 miles to the important 25 degrees north, 65 degrees west waypoint that lines you up to reach across the trade winds and westerly current the final 400 miles to the Virgin Islands.

If you’re heading to the Bahamas or Florida, and prefer to be on the ocean rather than the Intracoastal, from Beaufort you have the choice of making the 150-mile overnight run to the Winah River or the 200 miles to Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is a good jumping-off spot for 25N/65W, but it’s no shorter than leaving from Beaufort.

South of Charleston, you have lots of ports to choose from in Georgia, should you want to tuck in, including Port Royal Sound, the ­Savannah River and Brunswick.

In the 300 miles down the east coast of Florida to Miami, without local knowledge, your ports are limited to Jacksonville, the sometimes-tricky St. Augustine Inlet, Cape Canaveral, Fort Pierce, Lake Worth Inlet, Port Everglades and, finally, Miami. The latter three are good spots from which to jump across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

If you’re heading to the Caribbean, you won’t have done yourself any favors by departing from so far south; it’s still 850 miles to the 25N/65W waypoint, and now you stand a good chance of having to sail upwind a good part of the trip. Your tactic here should be to wait for a cold front to approach. As the wind veers from the prevailing southeast, make your departure when it is out of the south making for Great Isaac Cay at the entrance to Northwest Providence Channel. The wind will continue to veer as the front approaches and moves through. If you can make good speed, you might carry southwest to northwesterly winds most of the way to the waypoint.

An alternative is to island-hop all the way to the Virgin Islands via the “Thorny Path,” about which much has been written.

Hank Schmitt, the founder of the crew-­networking service Offshore Passage Opportunities, this year will be running the 20th edition of his North American Rally to the Caribbean (NARC). Starting October 26 from two locations—Newport, Rhode Island, and Little Creek, Virginia—the NARC will call in Bermuda on the opening leg before the second stanza carries on to St. Maarten. The rally is free and includes discount docking space, parties, professional weather routing, and much more. For more information, visit the event website .

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Downwind sailing

It’s the yachtsman’s favoured point of sail, but what’s the best way to go deep downwind.

Downwind cruising should be a careful balance of comfort and boat speed. Choosing the right sail plan to achieve that is a fine art which changes not just from boat to boat but also with the conditions.

Very rarely is there one solution to fit all, and there’s a lot to be said for setting aside a little time to experiment with different sail plans under various conditions. Then switching from one to another becomes second nature – and avoids resorting to the motor.

For many cruisers undertaking long passages, it’s preferable to sail a ‘velocity made good’ (VMG) course directly to your destination, even when that happens to be dead downwind. Sailing closer to the wind is an alternative but, considering the weight of most cruising yachts, this rarely results in a sufficient speed gain to make it worthwhile sailing the extra distance.

The further off the wind you sail, the less apparent wind there is, therefore you can comfortably carry more sail area than you may think. If you’ve practised you can change often to get the most from the wind and your sails.

It’s well worth extending your sail wardrobe beyond just a main and headsail. This is particularly true if you have a small non-overlapping jib as your primary headsail, as a larger foresail can significantly improve your off-wind performance.

Balancing what you can reasonably handle, and stow, is a big consideration for any cruising yacht owner, and it’s a good idea to look at all the options for the type of sailing you are most likely to do, and consider a compromise if needs be. Get your sail plan set up in the right way, and not only will it help you manage the power, it can also help to stabilise the boat in rolly conditions. Here we take a closer look at some of the options:

Goosewinging

A simple way to maximise speed when running dead downwind is by goose-winging, to expose the full area of the jib to the wind without it being blanketed by the mainsail.

Use the spinnaker or whisker pole to control the jib and ensure that the inboard end is set higher than the outboard end. Keep the pole firmly in place by tightening the up- and downhaul. Run an additional ‘afterguy’ line outboard and back to the cockpit to control the pole end independently. Adjust the pole to achieve a flat sail shape, so that the leach doesn’t flop open and lose power from the sail.

Use the jib sheets to gybe, trim and furl the sail as required.

 Twin headsails

With the wind behind you, as a rule of thumb you want as much sail area as possible set forward to ‘pull’ the boat through the water. Taking the mainsail (which ‘pushes’ the boat) out of the equation steadies the balance of the boat. It reduces the risk of a crash gybe and can be easier for the windvane or autopilot to steer to. Dropping the mainsail also reduces wear and tear on the main and frees up space on deck.

If set up correctly, and in constant winds, twin headsails should require very little monitoring and are great for long distances. With the larger sail set to leeward, any rolling motion is significantly dampened by the additional pressure pushing down to leeward. If the wind increases and you feel the need to reduce sail, try to keep the balance by furling both jibs gradually, rather just than dropping one altogether.

Pole out the windward jib using the spinnaker or whisker pole (see above). If you have a second pole you can use this to pole out the leeward jib. If not, set up a boom preventer (see above), then attach a snatch block to the end of the boom and run the leeward jib’s sheet through this. Sheeting via a solid spar reduces unwanted flapping of sails, greatly stabilises the boat and eliminates the need to steer to the sail settings.

The options for a double headsail arrangement will vary depending on your boat’s particular rig and deck plan. Most furling gear has a second luff track. Another option is to have a specially made arrangement of one furler with two headsails. If you have just the one track and are looking to improvise, it is possible to hoist the second jib with a loose luff.

On boats with two independent headsail furlers, such as a Solent-rigged yacht, running dead downwind with both headsails out is very easily done and, if both headsails are of a similar size, will be nicely balanced and efficient.

 Single headsail only

It is quite common with sloops to sail under just one headsail alone – particularly on shorter passages or when short-handed.

Adjust the sheet fairleads to maintain optimum shape in the jib – if needs be, run them from snatch blocks clipped to the toe rails to open up the leach and encourage a deeper shape. While this is easier in terms of set up and handling, a single headsail is not as stable as sailing with two headsails, or even with one headsail and the main – particularly dead downwind in rolly seas.

 Asymmetric sails

Asymmetric sails, (sometimes referred to as a gennaker or cruising chute), are easy to set up. Flown in lieu of the jib, the sail projects forwards like a spinnaker, but with no need for a pole, as the clew typically attaches to a bowsprit or the centreline via a strop.

Gybing an asymmetric is a simple and straightforward process, not dissimilar to tacking a normal headsail. Generally, an asymmetric performs best on a broad reach, although it is possible to fly when running dead downwind.

Asymmetric sails truly come into their own in light winds, when a better VMG is achieved by sailing the angles.

 Symmetric spinnaker

While many cruising sailors will shy away from using a full symmetrical spinnaker due to its bulk, complicated set up and sheer sail area, it is very often the most ideal sail for a long downwind passage with an apparent wind angle of 135° or more.

Take the time to think through and practise your hoists, gybes and drops with your crew in advance.

Have the sheets and guys permanently rigged. Use shackles that can be easily tripped under load. Stow the pole on the mast to minimise handling; fit an adjustable track to the inboard end. Rig the pole topping lift for maximum leverage, and set the pole up well in advance of the hoist, tightening the uphaul and downhaul to prevent it swinging.

Moving the sheet blocks forward can help to strap down the spinnaker and stabilise everything. Over-sheet if you don’t want to have to constantly monitor the setting. Fly both clews about level, adjusting the pole height if needs be. On a long passage, make sure that your spinnaker lines can’t chafe on the underside of the boom or elsewhere, causing unnecessary wear.

Always ensure that you steer a steady downwind course when hoisting and dropping the spinnaker. If you have a snuffer sock, once the sail is set, tie the sock control lines to the guardrail to prevent tangles.

The Parasailor looks like a symmetrical spinnaker but has an opening in the middle and a secondary foil that automatically exhausts strong gusts of wind, without the crew having to ease the sheets. This makes it effectively ‘self-trimming’ and generates extra lift.

The Parasailor can be flown from a bowsprit or spinnaker pole, and used at wind angles of 70° to 180°. It can also fly without a pole.

Twin mast yachts often offer many different sail plan options, with the ability to add in extra staysails and gennakers. Some, such as a mizzen headsail, are easy to set and drop if needs be, offering lots of flexibility. Spinnakers tend to be smaller than for an equivalent-sized sloop.

Whether a ketch or a yawl, a reliable plan for sailing dead downwind is to set the mizzen and forestay alone in a goose-winged configuration. This eliminates any sideways twisting caused by the mainsail.

On a yawl, a main/jib or double headsail configuration proves most effective downwind and a reaching course often proves to be more efficient overall.

Whether the breeze is heavy or light, whenever you get close to dead downwind, or in particularly rolly seas, it is wise to rig a boom preventer to stop the boom from flicking across the boat unexpectedly.

1. Loop a long bowline around the end of the boom and lead the line outboard through a strong point on the bow (the mooring cleat is ideal).

2. Take it back to a winch in the cockpit, so you can release it quickly if needs be.

3. Try and stow the preventer on the boom so that it’s ready for use at a moment’s notice.

 Which asymmetric should I choose?

Asymmetrics can vary widely in cut. The fuller the sail – particularly at the luff – and the longer the foot length, the better it will perform deep downwind. If reaching on a tighter angle and sailing for speed, consider a flatter-cut asymmetric. Cruising chutes often come with snuffer socks, which makes easy work of taking them down.

For sailing reaches with an apparent wind angle (AWA) greater than 60°, a cruising code zero or screecher can work better. Cut very flat, these sails are typically mounted off a sprit forward of the genoa furler or pulpit. The roller furling system makes it simple to deploy and equally easy to furl and stow. However, because of its belly – as with any asymmetric – a code zero should be rolled either all the way in or all the way out, not half-furled.

On a close reach, a large overlapping genoa may work well. Your sailmaker should be able to advise you further, depending on the type of sailing you are most likely to do.

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How Do Sails Actually Work: Full Beginners Guide

The sails are your boat's primary driving force. Your boat is designed to sail , and with good wind it will be faster and more comfortable than using the engine. Engines on sailboats are called "auxiliary" for a reason, almost every sailor hates to use them once they get the hang of sailing. But it won't happen if you don't learn to trim the sails, and to trim them you have to understand them.

But how does a bunch of cloth - your sails - get so much motive power and force? How do sails actually work?

The short answer is that upwind sails generate lift which acts against forces on the keel in the water to pull the boat forward, and downwind sails capture as much wind force as they can to push the boat downwind.

On this page:

How sailing requires some math, understanding the physics of sailing, putting math and physics together under sail, why is it easier to sail downward, applying your knowledge of sails.

But the detailed answer for sailing upwind is more complex, so come join us for a deep dive into the reason sailboats work and can sail up, down, and across the wind. It's going to get a little into math and a little physics, but we'll keep it on a practical level where you can get the concepts with little hard stuff. And downwind sails are much easier to explain.

To understand sails and sailing, understand the forces which apply to a boat and how they combine to make forward motion. To represent forces, motion, and velocity, we need to use vectors .

We'll do our best to keep this simple, and you will not need a calculator. The important takeaway is how we add forces together to figure a net force or motion .

What is a Vector?

A vector is a number with both a magnitude (a number or size) and a direction. Traveling at 60 miles per hour down the highway is a speed—the car's speed is 60 mph no matter where it’s headed. It has no direction component. But traveling west at 60 mph is a velocity , which is a speed and a direction (west).

You represent the speed easily with a number: "60." But how do you show its velocity headed west? Just as easily, with a vector.

Draw a six-inch line running east/west, then put an arrow on the west end. If we set our scale to one inch = 10mph, then we have our scalar measurement (6") and our orientation - west, or 270°. This arrow is the velocity vector of a car moving at 60mph headed west.

You can represent anything with an orientation and a scalar measurement this way. Whether it's the force and direction a pool cue applies to a ball, the force a hammerhead puts on a nail or the speed and direction of the wind, you can show it with vectors.

Calculating the sailing vector (with pictures)

So what is the point of drawing arrows to describe things? If we can describe forces with vectors, then we can add and subtract the vectors to see how the forces add and subtract, too.

Adding vectors is simple. To add two vectors, put the arrow end of the first vector at the beginning of the second vector. Then, with a straight edge, draw a line from the start of the first vector to the end of the second and put an arrow on the end where it meets the second vector. That new line you just drew is the sum of the vectors.

That's all there is to it. But what does it mean? Let's do a couple of thought exercises to show how it works.

Picture a bicyclist riding north along a road at 20 mph with no wind. The bicyclist feels a 20 mph north wind in her face, right? You can draw that as a line 20 units long pointing directly at the rider's face. The exact units on paper don't matter. That they're consistent is all that counts, so "one square of graph paper = one unit" and "one unit equals one mph" is just fine.

Now picture a 10 mph north wind from straight in front of the rider. What does it feel like to the rider?

That 10 mph wind is added to the 20 mph wind, and it feels like the rider is moving into a 30mph wind. You don't need vectors to see this, it's simple math, and you know how this feels. Just like you know a 10 mph south wind from straight behind the rider will make the total wind feel like just 10 mph.

But what about if there's a 10 mph wind from the east - 90 degrees from the rider's right? What does the wind force feel like in her face now?

• Draw your 20-unit north wind line in the rider's face.
• From the end of the first line, draw a 10-unit east wind.
• With a straightedge, draw a line from the beginning of the north wind vector to the arrow on the east wind vector.
• That line is what the rider feels in her face from the combined wind of her motion on the bike and the 10 mph east wind.
• You can measure the exact angle of the new vector with a protractor or compass and measure the length in units to get the wind strength. You'd get a wind that felt like 22.4 mph from 26.6° to the rider’s right.

Vector A, the north wind (0°) 20 mph long, and B is the east wind (90°) at 10 mph

The line is drawn to add them together.

The new vector for the wind force.

To explore this further, check out the tool used to make these graphics , where you can create your own vectors and add them together. Just remember it's made by mathematicians, not sailors, so North (0°) is to the right instead of up!

Applying vectors when sailing

You don't need to understand how to measure vectors or even do the math to get all the numbers. All you need to understand is how to add the forces together with the arrows.

Lay them head-to-tail and draw the new line. And that's enough for you to see how the combined forces will look without using a calculator.

Vectors are an important part of understanding sailing. When you learn to navigate, you'll use vectors to calculate the current set and drift or the course to a waypoint (though they won't call it that!). From our examples, you see how they apply to understand apparent wind. You don't need to draw lines on paper all the time, but understanding how forces, currents, and wind affect each other will make you a better sailor.

Now that we know how to measure and add forces, we can talk about the forces on a boat that create upwind motion. There are a few basic physics principles that describe and explain these forces and how they apply to a sailboat. If you never took physics back in the day (or you remember as well as most of us do years later...) don't sweat. We'll keep it relatable.

What is the Bernoulli Effect?

Standing near a chimney, you can feel flue drafts that suck the heat right out of the room if you leave it open, or see them suck smoke up the chimney. And if you've ever flown, did you ever look out the window at what the wing was doing during the flight? Ever wonder how the wings get that big jet plane off the ground?

The answer lies in the work of Daniel Bernoulli, an 18th-century Swiss mathematician. Bernoulli's Principle states that a moving fluid is associated with a decrease in static pressure. The faster the flow, the lower the pressure near it.

At lower speeds, the air is effectively fluid, and the same rules apply. So wind moving over a chimney opening creates a low-pressure spot at the top of the chimney, which draws air up the chimney even when there is no fire. On a windy day, this force is powerful enough to rattle the flue cover when it's closed.

How the sail generates lift

How does this get a plane in the air? And by extension, how does it get power to a sail? Because the same principle applies and upwind sails are very similar to airplane wings.

An airplane wing is a curved surface. As air flows over a curved surface, the air on the outside of the curve has a longer path to travel than air on the inside before it meets again at the back of the wing. Both sides of the wing are moving through the air at the same speed, so the air over the top of the curve must move faster than the air on the bottom.

The faster a fluid moves, the lower the pressure. So the faster air on top of the wing has lower pressure than the bottom, which leads to a lifting force from the higher pressure under the wing. The curve of a wing causes the lifting force towards the top of the wing. The same thing applies to upwind sails - the curve in the sail generates "lift" towards the outside of the sail.

If you want to feel this yourself, the next time you're a passenger in a car, roll down the window and put your hand. Flatten your hand with your palm down parallel to the ground. Then, slowly curve your hand and feel the lifting force!

How the sailor controls lift

If you've watched the wing while a plane takes off or lands, you've seen the pilot adjusting the flaps and the overall shape of the wing. A modern plane wing changes shape from a low-flat profile to a shorter, thicker shape. This different shape changes the amount of lift the wing gives, and the thicker shape has more lift, which helps at takeoff and landing.

The pilot is trimming the wing like a sailor trims a sail.

In a curved surface like an airplane wing (or sail), the chord is the curve's height. The fuller the curve, the longer the chord. And the faster the wind has to travel over the outside to meet the inside wind, which leads to more lift. But it also creates more drag, so once a plane is off the ground and getting closer to cruising speed, the pilot flattens out the wing to reduce drag for higher speed.

For airplanes, this makes taking off and landing easier since the plane can get off the ground and land at lower speeds. For sails, it gives more power for acceleration from low speed or through waves and chop.

What is Newton's Third Law of Motion?

"For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction."

If you push against a wall, the wall pushes back with the same force. If it didn't, the wall would fall over. A rocket blasts hot gasses from burning fuel out of the bottom, and the rocket moves forward from the reaction force. A car's tires push against the road, the road pushes back, and the car moves forward.

When wind hits a boat's sails, it will either flop over and capsize or skitter sideways through the water unless it has a keel or other appendage under the water . A mono-hulled boat without a keel, centerboard, daggerboard, or other underwater stabilizers can not sail upwind.

So the keel acts as a counterpoise to the forces on the sails to keep the boat upright, but it also pushes against the water. This pushing against the water and the sails is an action, and there's an equal and opposite reaction. This force works against the sail lift to move the boat.

Sailing upwind, you've got a combination of lifting force from the sails, reactive force from the keel against the water, and other forces, like friction and drag from the water. These forces have their own vector arrows.

For simplicity, we will ignore friction and drag, since they're the only forces pushing against the boat in one direction as it moves through the water. While they increase with speed, we can assume the other forces are large enough to overcome them. And you don't want to make me explain adding four or five vectors together at once...

Friction and drag are very important to boat performance. We've simplified them out of the equation to make the force diagrams clearer. Faster boats have less drag from hull form and smooth bottoms, but all the drag and friction vectors point straight back against the boat's forward motion so they only slow the boat down, not change its direction.

In the diagram below, you can see vectors for the lifting force from the sails and the side force of the keep pushing against the water.

Now, add them.

You don't have to do it on paper, as long as you can see that those vectors, when added together, result in a vector that nets a forward motion of the hull through the water. There's your answer.

Any yacht designer will tell you there's much more to getting the correct forward vector. And this is true. The shape of the hull, the smoothness of the bottom, and a few other factors will affect the final forward forces on the boat.

But at its core, the lift vector from the sails added to the keel vector ends up in the boat being pulled forward.

What makes a boat sail downwind is much simpler than the mashup of force vectors we had to work through for upwind sailing. It's quite simple really - the sails fill with wind and pull on the boat to push/drag it downwind.

When you're not going against the wind, the physics is a lot simpler.

Not that you can't look more closely at the forces involved to maximize your speeds and find the best way to sail downwind. But we're not asking how to trim for speed, we're asking how the boat moves. And heading downwind, your full sails catch as much wind as possible to put as much propulsive force onto the hull as possible.

If you've gotten this far, you may wonder "now what?" The next step is to apply that knowledge to sail your boat. Now that you know you can change sail shapes for speed and power and why that works, check out our complete guide to trimming sails so you can trim better and sail faster.

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Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway: everything you need to know

• May 30, 2022

Peter Nielsen brings you this guide to cruising the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), or as it is more widely known, 'The Ditch'

Perhaps you’ve cruised the Caribbean and fancy heading up the east coast of the United States to sample the fine cruising grounds of the Chesapeake Bay or New England. Or perhaps you’re a Canadian sailor itching to escape the brutal northern winter. Either way, you will become acquainted with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

The ICW – or ‘The Ditch’, as it is affectionately known by many – stretches 1,088 miles (statute, not nautical) from Mile Marker 1 in Norfolk, Virginia, to its end point in Key West. It is part of a 3,000-mile series of interconnected waterways that can take you all the way from Virginia to Texas.

On the east coast, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is a busy highway in the autumn and spring. The snowbirds flock south in the fall, gathering on the Chesapeake to head south after the Annapolis Boat Show in October and get to Florida as the hurricane season ends in late November. In the spring, there’s a procession of boats heading back to the Chesapeake or downeast to Maine.

American sailors have something of a love-hate relationship with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. On the one hand they deplore the need to motor the best part of 1,000 miles when they could be sailing; on the other, they welcome the many opportunities to duck into shelter from threatening weather. The majority of cruisers taking the offshore option will, for instance, happily nip into the ICW to avoid rounding the notorious Cape Hatteras.

Before I actually went down the ICW for the first time, I did not think of it as a cruising destination in its own right. ‘The Ditch’ sounded far from appealing to this deepwater sailor. Yet over the course of three forays down various parts of the waterway, I began to enjoy it for its own sake. Yes, you will be plugging along under power for many miles, but you will also pass through some beautiful scenery and visit parts of the country that typical tourists would never get to see.

Sailing the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

You’ll also get to sail some, notably on the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, though there are many other places where you can unroll the genoa to get a break from the engine. My favourite parts are the northern section, from Norfolk, Virginia, down to Beaufort, North Carolina, and farther south to Charleston, South Carolina.

On my first excursion I motored slowly down the historic, 22-mile-long Dismal Swamp Canal, dug by slave labour in the late 18th century as a trade route. Its inky black water, infused with tannin from the swamp vegetation, left a brown moustache on our bow. Our spreaders grazed overhanging branches and our 6ft 3in keel bounced over the shallows.

It was a unique experience, followed by a gorgeous cruise along a winding tree-lined river to a welcoming town called Belhaven, where we tied up to the free dock and a friendly local drove us to the supermarket. From there, we set sail at first light in a solid blow, bouncing across a choppy Albemarle Sound, and made 80 miles before dark. Such are the contrasts of the ICW.

There are some pretty towns and cities that warrant a few days’ exploration, for anyone not in delivery mode. Some are famous, some you’ve likely not heard of.

Lighthouse and pier at Manteo, North Carolina. Photo: Matt Claiborne/Alamy

In Norfolk, Virginia, you can marvel at the sight of a good chunk of the US Navy lined up almost gunwale to gunwale along the riverbank; deceptively sleepy Oriental, North Carolina, is home to two good boatyards; while the two Beauforts, ‘Bowfort’ in North Carolina and ‘Bewfort’ in South Carolina, are charming stopovers.

Charleston, also in South Carolina, is an almost mandatory stop, as is Savannah in Georgia. Many cruisers get as far as St Augustine and decide to stop there for a spell. To me, it’s the best town on Florida’s east coast.

As you motor farther south, things get busy. Above the Keys, the Florida coast lacks the charm of the Carolinas or Georgia, and so does the ICW. It’s here that, if there’s a northerly component to the wind, the temptation to hop outside (but stay west of the Gulf Stream) and make some fast miles away from bridges and currents becomes overpowering.

Sure, there are a couple of nice towns to stop at for a while – Vero Beach and Stuart, for example, and it would be a shame to steam past Cape Canaveral without a tour of the space centre – but generally speaking it’s a dull run, and the farther south you go, the more congested the waterway becomes.

Down around Fort Pierce, a good many sailing crews split off and head across to the Bahamas, while others head down as far as Fort Lauderdale. However, I’d recommend going outside well before you get too far south, or at least do not travel on a weekend; as it’s here that the boat traffic gets hellish.

The Intracoastal Waterway is spanned by 160 bridges. Photo: Peter Neilsen

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway can become chockablock with all manner of overpowered and under-piloted watercraft, a celebration of horsepower and inebriation, all zooming around willy-nilly. I stayed in the waterway a little too long last year, and being trapped in tight quarters amid so many powerboats was downright frightening at times.

There’s a bridge with only 56ft clearance just before you get to Miami, so most sailing boats have to go into the Atlantic at Fort Lauderdale and back into Miami at Government Cut.

For many, Miami marks the end of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; it’s an easy staging point for the Bahamas. The ICW continues down to the Florida Keys and then up and around the Gulf of Mexico, but most east coast cruisers, and most foreign vessels, either break off and head towards the western Caribbean, or go to the Bahamas and perhaps south to the Eastern Caribbean.

One of the first things the bluewater sailor will notice about the ICW is the sheer number of bridges. There are some 160 between Hampton and Miami. Most of them are fixed bridges, all built to a vertical clearance of 65ft (20m) above the high-water mark. Supposedly built to that height, anyway.

Mind the gap

During my foray down part of the Florida ICW on a catamaran with a 63ft (19.2m) air draught, we lost the masthead wind transducer on one bridge and nervously watched the VHF antenna scraping the underneath of several more. This is nerve-wracking if you have some current with you and are effectively committed, watching the height boards at the centre span and hoping they aren’t lying.

Entrance to the ICW at Fort Pierce, Florida. Photo: Stephen Wood/Alamy

Then there are the opening bridges, which relieve you of height concerns but offer some challenges of their own. Some are bascule bridges, others have a span swinging sideways to open the path for water traffic, others have lifting spans. The latter are usually found in populated areas, or where topography precludes a fixed bridge.

Some will open on demand, the etiquette for which involves a call on Ch13 or Ch9 and a usually pleasant interaction with the bridgekeeper. Others open to a timetable, usually on the half hour. This leads to plenty of strategising, as you either hurry to get to the next bridge in time to avoid milling around with a bunch of other boats waiting for the next opening, or slow down so you don’t get there too soon. What’s more, many of the metropolitan bridges don’t open at all during morning and evening rush hours. Diligent study of bridge locations and timetables will ease your passage along the ICW.

The further south you get, the more bridges you will encounter, peaking in heavily populated southern Florida. The only three locks you’ll encounter are all in Virginia, and they’re easy enough to negotiate.

Overnighting

Depending on your draught, there are plenty of places to anchor for the night along the ICW, and no shortage of town docks and marinas, though these often fill up quickly from mid-October to December and April through May.

ICW at Fort Lauderdale. Photo: Patrick Lynch/Alamy

I’ve stayed for free, or nearly so, at docks in small but welcoming towns along the waterway, and enjoyed hot showers and restaurant meals in marinas, but most of all I have enjoyed the many lovely anchorages I’ve discovered.

Often, an overnight stop is as easy as pulling a few boat lengths off the channel, depth permitting, and dropping the hook. The various guides to the ICW will point out the best spots. One October we pulled over to a tiny dock on the Dismal Swamp Canal and shivered in our blankets as the temperature dropped close to freezing on the stillest of nights; next day we were in shorts and T-shirts again.

Another time, just north of St Augustine in Florida, we sat on deck with gin and tonics and watched an hours-long lightning show play out in the clouds, happy not to be underneath it. And on one occasion, anchored in a cut leading out into the Atlantic, I paced the deck nervously as the wind pushed the boat one way and the current another, the anchor chain stretching bar-taut astern. In some places you may want to double up on your anchors, or drop a kellett from the bow to make sure your anchor chain doesn’t foul your keel or running gear.

I also recall sitting out a late November north-easterly in Beaufort, North Carolina, where the boat heeled in her berth to 50-knot gusts while we sat in a bar eating boiled oysters, feeling relieved to be in a marina.

Beaufort, South Carolina. Among the best parts of the ICW are the 200 miles north of here. Photo: John Wollwerth/Alamy

Luckily, such blows are well forecast and there’s really no excuse for being caught out in one. They also remind you why you’re in the ICW instead of out at sea at that time of year. During that same passage south, we left Morehead City, North Carolina, bound for Charleston, only to catch a forecast that made us duck back into the ICW at Wrightsville Beach. That night, snug at anchor, we listened to the wind howling in the rigging while 20 miles offshore, about where we’d have been, a new Beneteau 50 was dismasted and its crew rescued by helicopter.

Navigating the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

Make no mistake, the ICW is shallow. The US Army Corps of Engineers tries to maintain the depth to 9ft (2.7m), but given the nature of the waterway, with its often strong currents, things aren’t always the way they’re supposed to be. I’ve run aground several times, but only once with any damage. On the other hand, some friends went the length of the waterway without a functioning depth sounder and never once touched bottom.

I used Navionics charts on my iPad on each of my ICW trips and never had any issues. Although some commercial traffic does run at night, it would be foolhardy for us sailors to do the same. It would be all too easy to misjudge a turn and end up with your keel stuck in the mud.

Draw bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway at Great Bridge, Chesapeake, Virginia. Photo: Cindy Hopkins/Alamy

The navigation marks are all well kept, and follow American red-right-returning protocol, return being southbound on the east coast.

Channel markers can become confusing where channels from seaward intersect with the ICW, so there’s a simple system of reflective yellow squares and triangles superimposed on the nav aids; leave the triangles to starboard, the squares to port. If the nav aids don’t have the yellow marks, you’ve left the ICW.

Dealing with traffic

At least until you get to the chaos of south Florida, boat traffic on the waterway is easy enough to deal with. Faster boats wanting to pass should hail you via VHF. If you’re feeling generous you can slow down to let them pass faster, which is sensible, for you don’t know what’s coming your way around the next bend.

We sailors are slower than most other traffic, so we get passed often. Most powerboaters will slow down as they pass so as not to ‘wake’ you. There are some exceptions, notably big sport fishing boats with professional crews who delight in steaming past at full speed.

It can get crowded at bridges, so my advice is to hang back and let the nimbler powerboats go first.

Planning an Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway passage

There is lots of literature about the ICW, most of it hard pilotage advice, which is as it should be. If you want some entertaining reading, try The Boy, Me and the Cat , by Henry Plummer, a fun tale of a cruise up the ICW in a small catboat in 1912.

Otherwise, here are some useful books and websites:

The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami – The Complete Cockpit Cruising Guide , by Bill Moeller/John Kettlewell. Waterway Guide Atlantic ICW , by Waterway Guide Media (updated annually). 2021 ICW Cruising Guide , by Bob423.

Many cruisers swear by Bob423’s frequently updated online guides and paperback books. Bob has travelled the ICW for many years and few know it better. His blog is at bobicw.blogspot.com

You’ll spend a lot of time obsessing about bridges and their opening times; the Waterway Guide website and Bob423’s blog are good sources of up-to-date info.

On my ICW excursions, I have exclusively used Navionics charts on iPad and phone, with C-Map charts on the plotter as a backup. I have been happy with the accuracy and functionality of the Navionics charts. Many cruisers also swear by Aquamaps.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

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Home » Blog » Gear » Downwind sails demystified: how to choose a downwind sail for cruising

Downwind sails demystified: how to choose a downwind sail for cruising

By Author Fiona McGlynn

Posted on Last updated: February 15, 2023

Downwind sail terminology can be baffling! If you’re looking to build out your downwind sail inventory for cruising you may find yourself awash with spinnaker codes, headsail overlap percentages, and trying to understand the difference between an asymmetric spinnaker, gennaker, and cruising chute.

But don’t despair, the good news is: it’s not that complicated . All the marketing jargon aside, there are really just three types of downwind sails commonly used by cruisers and I’m going to cover them in this post.

• Asymmetric spinnakers

Symmetric spinnakers

We’ll also briefly touch on Code sails.

Sure there are more exotic downwind sail options like Parasailers and Blue Water Runners, but the three sails above tend to be the staples in most cruising sail wardrobes.

Also, if you’re looking to buy a downwind sail, be sure to check out our post on  buying used sails . Buying second-hand sails is a good way to build out your sail inventory without breaking the bank.

What is the best sail for downwind sailing?

No single sail is going to do everything well. Downwind sails achieve peak efficiency at different apparent wind angles and conditions, which is why performance-oriented boats carry a large inventory of sails. For example,  Vendee Globe skippers carry 9 sails  (their allowable limit).

As cruisers, we don’t have this luxury. Instead, we make do with fewer, less specialized, sails that can be used over a wide range of wind angles and conditions.

The best sail for downwind sailing is going to depend on your boat, your crew, and what you’re trying to achieve.

Considerations for choosing a downwind sail

Boat and rig.

How heavy is your boat and what type of rig does it have? How much space do you have for storing sails?

It’s important to  know your boat’s most efficient downwind sailing angle  and then choose a sail that performs well at that angle.

Modern, light, flat-bottomed boats often sail faster on a reach, whereas older, heavy-displacement cruisers don’t achieve the same gains from reaching.

You’ll also want to consider your rig and existing sail plans. As we’ll see later in this post, fractional and masthead rig boats will have slightly different downwind sail requirements.

Crew and experience level

Will you have six people onboard or be sailing single-handed? Are your crew newbies or ocean veterans? Are you comfortable handling a pole and working on the foredeck?

Certain downwind sails are more challenging to fly than others. For instance, a symmetrical spinnaker is a lot more effort to launch, fly, and douse, than a genoa on a roller furler.

Often short-handed crews (couples, single-handers, and families with small kids) find that spinnakers are too much work and choose to fly white sails alone. Even the most energetic sailors may find that sleep deprivation on a long passage can sap the fun out of elaborate sail changes.

We, like many cruisers, are very conservative. On our Pacific crossing, I can count the number of times we flew a spinnaker on two hands.

However, now that we have more bluewater miles under our keel, I’m a lot more eager to break out the kite. On our next ocean passage, I can see it playing a bigger role in our downwind repertoire.

What are your sailing goals?

Do you aspire to complete an Atlantic or Pacific crossing? Do you enjoy racing your cruiser? Are you content to motor sail?

The type of sailing will influence what downwind sails you carry.

For instance, if you’re planning on bluewater cruising, your focus might be on durable, heavyweight sails that can handle a squall and stand up to the rigors of an ocean crossing.

Consider how much you want to use your engine. If you’re planning long passages where you don’t have enough fuel to motor, you may want to invest in a light air sail.

Reach out to other sailors with similar boats who are doing the type of sailing you’re interested in and find out what they’re using.

Types of downwind sails

Genoas on roller furlers are hard to beat for downwind sailing. They’re robust, easy for a single person to manage on a roller furler, and make for a stable, stress-free downwind sail.

They can become problematic in light air and ocean swell when they tend to flog. The best way to avoid this is to pole out the genoa.

Poled out genoa

Sailing downwind with a poled-out genoa  was our go-to setup for much of our 2017 Pacific crossing.

It seems to be a favorite with Atlantic skippers too.  Yachting World surveyed 276 ARC skippers to learn about their sail and sail handling systems. “Despite most yachts carrying a spinnaker or offwind sail, over 60 skippers commented that using a poled-out foresail was the most effective downwind option, with twin headsails proving the next most popular.“

Twin headsails

Twin headsails  are another great option, and one I would consider for our next ocean passage.

Many roller furlers have a second luff groove so you can fly two headsails at the same time, one to each side. This gives you a large sail area, while still making it easy to reef from the cockpit.

Again, you may need to pole out one sail and sheet the other to the end of a boom that’s been locked off with a boom preventer in order to prevent flogging.

Speaking of which, if you’re planning on doing a lot of downwind sailing I highly recommend using a  boom brake or preventer for limiting the risks associated with an accidental gybe.

Headsail types

Headsails are categorized by their Luff Perpendicular percentage (LP%), which describes a headsail’s size/overlap relative to the boat’s J dimension (from where the forestay connects to the bow to the base of the mast). Larger sails, with more overlap, have higher percentages. 

Generally speaking, 130-135% headsails are pretty common sizes on cruising boats. We had a 130% genoa on our 1979 Dufour 35.

If you have a fractional rig with a non-overlapping headsail, you could use a Code Zero (more on that below) either poled out or flown as twin headsails.

• Stable and comfortable
• Easy to deploy and reef on a roller furler
• Covers a wide range of wind angles and wind speeds
• Dacron is durable and not prone to damage
• Requires a spinnaker pole or whisker pole in lighter wind conditions and swell

Asymmetric spinnaker

Asymmetric spinnakers (also known as gennakers and cruising chutes) can be thought of as a blend between a spinnaker and a genoa.

They’re ideal for sailing in light conditions. We usually doused ours when windspeeds increased to 15 knots.

Most of the time, they’re flown like a genoa, with the tack attached to the foresprit or bow, and the clew trimmed with a sheet. However, it’s also possible to sail an asymmetrical spinnaker in more of a symmetrical configuration .

Many short-handed crews (including ourselves) prefer asymmetric spinnakers to symmetric spinnakers because they’re a lot easier to sail and often don’t require a pole.

It’s possible to put asymmetric spinnakers on a roller furler, but this generally requires a flatter sail and limits the wind angles you can sail at to 135-145 degrees.

For fuller shapes, there are other options for taming your sail. A snuffer sock (a.k.a. spinnaker sleeve) consists of a tapered fabric sleeve that can be raised and lowered over a sail. According to  Yachting World’s 2019 ARC Survey , 57% of skippers used a snuffer sock on their boats.

Asymmetric spinnaker types

You may have heard cruisers referring to their A-sails. The “A” stands for asymmetric and is preceded by a number that designates whether the sail design is for light air or heavy air—the higher the number the heavier the air.

The number also tells you whether it’s a reaching or running sail, with odd numbers for reaching and even numbers for running.

• 1A Light Air Reaching Asymmetric
• 2A Light Air Running Asymmetric
• 3A Heavy Air Reaching Asymmetric
• 4A Heavy Air Running Asymmetric
• 5A Extreme Wind Asymmetric
• Can point higher than a symmetrical spinnaker
• Easier to fly than a symmetrical spinnaker
• Not always necessary to use a pole
• Great in light winds
• More work than a headsail on a roller furler
• Only appropriate for light air
• Lightweight nylon fabrics more prone to damage

Symmetrical spinnakers have been around for a long time and continue to be a valid choice for cruising sailors.

The symmetrical shape of the sail lends them to wind angles of 165 degrees or more. If you’re going to spend a lot of time running, it’s a great option.

They’ve become less popular with short-handed crews, namely because of the work involved to fly them. They require a pole, sheet and guy lines, an uphaul, and a downhaul—all of which can be a lot to manage! They also can’t point as high as an asymmetrical spinnaker.

Symmetric spinnaker types

Similar to asymmetric spinnakers, symmetrical spinnakers have S codes. The “S” stands for symmetric and the number designates whether the sail is for light air or heavy air (the higher the number the heavier the air) and for reaching (odd numbers) or running (even numbers).

• 1S Light Air Reaching Symmetric
• 2S Light Air Running Symmetric
• 3S Heavy Air Reaching Symmetric
• 4S Heavy Air Running Symmetric
• 5S Extreme Air Symmetric
• Great for running
• Great in light air
• More work than an asymmetric spinnaker
• Limited reaching performance

Code sails are not technically downwind sails, and are best used for reaching in light airs. They’re similar to asymmetric spinnakers but have a solid luff that allows them to point higher.

They’re necessary on fractional-rig boats with non-overlapping headsails as they fill the gap between upwind headsails and downwind spinnakers. However, they can also be flown on a run as a twinned or poled-out headsail.

Finding the right sail and having a good downwind sailing setup can make your cruising experience more efficient, comfortable, and enjoyable.

I highly recommend talking to other sailors who own similar boats and who’ve sailed the passages and cruising grounds you’re interested in. Most experienced bluewater cruisers have spent a lot of time thinking about and refining their systems and will be more than happy to share what they’ve learned.

Fiona McGlynn is an award-winning boating writer who created Waterborne as a place to learn about living aboard and traveling the world by sailboat. She has written for boating magazines including BoatUS, SAIL, Cruising World, and Good Old Boat. She’s also a contributing editor at Good Old Boat and BoatUS Magazine. In 2017, Fiona and her husband completed a 3-year, 13,000-mile voyage from Vancouver to Mexico to Australia on their 35-foot sailboat.

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How A Boat Sails Upwind

By: Zeke Quezada, ASA Learn To Sail , Sailing Tips

 A sailor’s life revolves around the wind. Its direction and its strength govern where he can sail, with what degree of difficulty or comfort, and how quickly. Naturally, the language of sailing reflects how sailors orient themselves and everything around them with reference to the wind.

Upwind and Downwind  

The sailor’s world is roughly divided into two hemispheres: upwind and downwind. anywhere or anything in the direction from which the wind is blowing is upwind; anywhere or anything in the direction toward which it’s blowing is downwind. 

When sailing, you trim the sails according to the wind direction relative to the boat. As you learn to sail, the all-important “points of sail” become second nature. When you are out on the water, you’ll be constantly aware of them as the wind changes and as your course changes. You will continually fine-tune the trim of your sails to suit the degree to which you are sailing upwind or downwind. 

By understanding the points of sail and their implications on crew comfort and sail trim, the helmsman and the crew will be able to work together to move the boat efficiently to any destination they choose. 

Sailing Close-hauled  

You sail close-hauled on the very edge of the no-sail-zone — making your best speed toward a destination to windward. This involves a balancing act between boat speed and your course, or angle to the wind. For most boats, that angle is about 45 degrees to the true-wind direction, but it varies with the design of the boat, the shape of the sails (both their geometry and physical condition), and the strength of the wind. 

If you attempt to sail a course above close-hauled, or closer to the wind, the sails will no longer deliver full power and the boat will slow down. Sailing a course below close-hauled (or footing off), would be faster but, if your destination is upwind, you would not be making as much progress toward it. Close-hauled is that happy confluence of speed and course that brings the boat upwind with maximum efficiency. Many sailors find close-hauled the most enjoyable point of sail. The wind (this is the apparent wind, remember) will feel the strongest in the crews faces, while the boat bounces along merrily over the waves (maybe sending a bit of spray-on deck) heeling more than on any other point of sail. All of this adds to the exhilaration and fun of sailing. 

Start on a beam reach and head up about 45 degrees. Concurrently trim the jib sheet tightly (but not rock hard). Trim the mainsail to the point that its luff just stops bubbling. The boom will lie a little off centerline. experiment with small changes to the trim of both sails — it’s a fine art!

Steering is especially important when sailing close-hauled because with the sails pulled in tight there’s no more to trim in. The driver must be constantly adjusting course to any shifts of wind.

Telltales, short dark yarns or nylon strips streaming on the jib a foot or two back from the luff are an excellent closehauled steering aid.

Except in very light winds, when the boat is barely moving, the helmsman, whether using a tiller or a wheel, should always sit on the windward side for visibility and control. When you’re steering just a little too close to the wind, or pinching, the warning signs are obvious: The jib begins to luff at its leading edge, signaling your entry into the no-sail zone. 

When you steer just slightly lower than your optimum close-hauled course, the sails will look full but you are no longer making your best speed to windward. Get in the groove! Concentrate on steering as close to the wind as possible without causing that small luff in the front of the jib with its associated loss of speed.

So now you’re in the groove, but don’t get too comfortable. You’re trying to get to windward, and there’s only one way to get there and that’s by a series of changes in course.

Tacking — Getting From Zig to Zag and Back  

A sailboat cannot make any forward progress directly into the wind. When you tried to sail too close to the wind, the sails simply flapped and you lost headway. You may even have put the boat in irons. To reach a destination directly upwind, you have to sail a zigzag course. each leg of the zigzag will be approximately 45 degrees away from the direct line between your starting point and your destination. Think of climbing up a mountain on a trail with a series of switchbacks. This means at some point, you have to get from your zig course to your zag course, which is on the other side of the no-sail zone.

Tacking Defined

When you turn the boat so that its bow passes entirely through the wind — that is, through the no-sail zone — that’s called tacking. The word tack gets a bit of a workout here, just as you will when you tack the boat. 

When the boat is sailing with the wind blowing on the starboard side, it’s on starboard tack, and when the wind is blowing on the port side, the moving sailboat is on port tack. To reach a destination directly toward the wind, you have to sail, using the steering skills you just learned, part of the way close-hauled on starboard tack and part of the way close-hauled on port tack. To bring the boat from close-hauled on starboard tack to close-hauled on port tack, you must pass through the no-sail zone — you have to tack. 

Tack, Tacking, And Tacks 

Where do the apparently multiple meanings of “tack” come from? An old-time square sail was supported along its top by a horizontal spar, or yard, and had control lines on the bottom two corners. When sailing closehauled, one of those corners was hauled forward and down, and was therefore the tack of the sail, and the other was hauled aft. If the wind was on the starboard side, the starboard corner was the tack — starboard tack. To go from sailing with the wind on the ship’s starboard side to sailing with it on the port side, the crew had to literally change tacks. 

Of course, we also use the term coming about to mean tacking. 

Sailing Upwind

The ability of a modern sailboat to sail close-hauled, sometimes even closer than 40 degrees to the wind’s direction, is due to the boat’s design and the shape of its sails and the forces they generate.

Lift, Drag, and Leeway  

The net sum of the forces in play (sail, keel, and rudder) is the forward motion we enjoy. the wind blowing over the airfoil-shaped sails creates a forward force in the form of aerodynamic lift arising from the pressure difference between the windward and leeward sides of the sails. It also creates the sideways force that causes heeling and, even when the forces are in balance and the boat is steering “straight,” a small amount of leeway. 

The hull and keel resist motion, both forward and sideways, because of their inherent drag, but once moving forward, the keel, because of the leeway, is at an angle to the water flow. In just the same way as the rudder generates lift when turned, the keel generates an additional forward force from its hydrodynamic lift. 

When the forces are balanced, the boat sails in a straight line but with a few degrees of leeway. however, because of the frequent variations in the wind’s strength and the effect of waves on the hull and keel, this balance is hard to achieve simply with sail trim. the rudder provides the turning force that corrects for changes in the balance. 

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Raising and Lowering the Sails

Published by admin on may 27, 2019 may 27, 2019.

On a cruiser, the sails are typically down at the dock and they stay down until the boat is at sea. Of course, if you have no motor, the sails must be used to cast off, but we’ll discuss that later. For now, we’ll assume that the boat is out at sea with the sails tied down.

Raising the Main

The mainsail is raised first, and this can be done with the motor idling. The boat should be pointed with the bow facing into the wind. This alignment means the sail will be luffing when raised, making it easier to bring in the halyard and less likely that the sail will fill unexpectedly and knock the boat around.

The boom vang should be loose so that it does not resist the tension you’ll put on the main halyard. The mainsheet should also be somewhat loose for the same reason, but it shouldn’t be completely free since you don’t want the boom swinging around in an uncontrolled manner.

When the boat is pointing into the wind and the boom vang and mainsheet are loose, the cover and ties can be removed from the main and the halyard brought in to raise the mainsail. The halyard should be able to be pulled in most of the way by hand – if not, there may be something resisting it, such as the boom vang, or it may be caught – and then brought the final one or two feet by using a winch.

Once the sail is fully raised and the halyard cleated, the topping lift should be let out, which will cause the boom to drop slightly, which will flatten out the sail. The boom vang and mainsheet can be tightened again.

Since the boat is pointing into the wind, it’s easiest to start sailing on a close hauled tack. You can use the motor to turn out of irons and then it should be cut off. You’re sailing!

Raising the Jib

The jib should be deployed only after the main is up and the boat is sailing, and the process is fairly simple, whether for a furling or non-furling jib. We’ll assume that the jib shackles are hooked to the forestay if the jib is non-furling. Also it is assumed that the jib sheets are already rigged to run through the fairlead and back to the cockpit.

For a non-furling jib, the sail is simply raised using the jib halyard. The wind fills the sails and the leeward jib sheet is used to set the sail. To prevent the sail from flapping uncontrollably and pulling the jib sheet out of the blocks, the leeward jib sheet can be pulled in slightly prior to raising the jib.

To unfurl a furling jib, the process is even simpler. The furling line is uncleated, but kept taught, and the leeward jib sheet is taken in as the furling line is slowly released. This action unfurls the jib, which immediately fills with wind.

Lowering the sails

Lowering the sails basically involves carrying out the sail hoisting procedure in reverse order. First the jib is lowered or furled, then the main.

The jib can be furled anytime. The boat does not necessarily need to be pointed into the wind, but heading on an upwind tack or being in irons will help the jib furl tighter and more neatly. Keep tension on the active jib sheet, slowly releasing it while brining in the furling line. When the jib is completely furled, the furling line can be cleated.

To bring down a non-furling jib, a crew member needs to go to the bow and pull the jib down by hand, bunching it up. Another crew member should uncleat the jib halyard and release it slowly as the jib is brought down. Also, the jib sheet should be let out slowly, but this can be done after the sail is down if there aren’t enough crew hands to let out the halyard and the jib sheet at the same time. Once the jib is down, it can be held in place temporarily using bungees, to be stowed below deck upon return to the dock.

When lowering the main, it helps to point the boat into the wind, and in some cases the boat can be positioned so that a hill or tall building on shore blocks the wind to make things easier. Similarly to the jib, one crew member slowly lets down the halyard while another pulls the sail down by hand. As the sail is lowered, the bungees or straps used to hold it to the boom are replaced.

This process is best done with one crew standing forward of the mast, bringing down the sail, one crew lowering the halyard, and another wrapping bungees around the sail as it comes down. Obviously, when fewer crew are available, it’s a bit more hectic.

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Beginner Nautical terms

In this section we will talk about parts of the boat that are used to move it along.

Let' s start at the bottom and work up:

The heavy wing at the bottom of the boat in the middle is called the  keel .

This prevents the boat from falling over when the wind pushes on the sail, and also helps the boat go forward with the sails set.

The wing at the back of the bottom of the boat is called the  rudder .

This directs the flow of the water and steers the boat.

FRONT / BACK / LEFT / RIGHT

The front of the boat is known as the  bow . The back of the boat of the boat is called the  stern . The left of the boat is called  port while the right is  starboard.

Relative locations on the boat

If something is behind another object it is  aft  of it while if it is in front of something it is  forward .

Consequently the keel is'forward of the rudder' while the rudder is 'aft of the keel'.

This is why you put special airbags on the side of the boat called  fenders  between you and the other object.

Right at the stern of the cockpit you will see a  life ring . It will be attached to some rope.

If someone falls over the side you throw the life ring towards them and turn the boat to get them out as quickly as possible.

The cockpit

The space in the stern where everything happens is known as the  cockpit .

Here you have the steering wheel (the  'wheel" ), the  winches  to tighten or loosen the sails, and most of the sail control ropes will lead into there too.

At the bow...

At the bow you will also find a hole where the anchor chain goes (the anchor will generally be hanging off the bow). This is called the  chain locker.

Finally, on the diagram you will see that the boat has two night lights on the  bow : red  on the  port  side and  green  on the  starboard  side.

When sailing or motoring at night you need to turn these on so other water users can get an idea of what sort of boat you are and your direction of travel. This is so they can avoid hitting you.

MAST AND SAILS

When you are sailing, the sails are the engine of the boat. As with the engine for motoring, they are quite complicated but once you know what is what you can set them better and go more efficiently.

THE JIB SAIL

Let's start with the  jib sail , the sail at the front of the boat. The  tack  is attached to the bow. The clew is attached to the  jib sheets  that control the shape of then when you set the sail. To get the sail up, you haul on the jib halyard that is attached to the  head  of the sail.

The front edge of the sail is called the luff. By tightening the jib halyard you tighten the  luff.

Generally speaking you want all the edges of the sail to be tight when the sail is set (not flapping about) so you always want the jib halyard to be as tight as you can manage.

Between the tack and the clew is the  foot  of the sail, and this is tightened by the jib sheets. When sailing you want the jib sheets just tight enough to keep the sail firm, yet by letting it out just a little bit it will flap. In setting it just right you get the most efficiency of the sail.

If the sail is flapping then it isn't pulling the boat forward, so to stop the boat you let your sheets go and they will stop the boat.

The  mast  is where the  halyards  are led through. As well as the jib halyard you also have the  main halyard  that pulls the  mainsail  up and down.

Attached to the mast at right angles to it is a straight piece of metal called the  boom .

This is where the foot of the mainsail goes, with the  tack  attached to the  cunningham  and the  clew  attached to the  outhaull .

These tighten the foot of the mainsail.

Again, for good sailing you want the foot tight so at the mast you will tighten the Cunningham and at the end of the boom you will tighten the outhaul.

THE MAINSHEET

At the cockpit end of the boom you will see the  mainsheet.

This is led into the cockpit and as with the jib sheet pulls the sail in or lets it out according to the wind direction.

Going down wind you will want to let it out, while sailing close to the wind you will tighten it. To stop the boat you let go of it and steer into the wind.

The  Cunningham  also keeps the sail tight from top to bottom.

The main halyard pulls the sail up while the Cunningham pulls it down.

SAILING IN STRONG WIND

If the wind gets too strong, you sometimes want  less sail up .

Sailing can be fun in stronger winds!

That's why you have the  reefing cringles  that are part way up the sail to 'reef the sail'.

You would attach the  Cunningham  and the  Outhaul  to the  Reefing cringles , and re set the sail.

With less sail area you will be more comfortable in bigger winds and still enjoy you time on the water.

WINDWARD AND LEEWARD SIDE

The side of the boat facing the wind is the  windward  side and the side facing away is the  leeward  side.

Generally speaking the boat will lean away from the wind, so the leeward side will be the lower side of the boat when sailing.

THE TELLTALES

Finally, on both sails in the picture you will see the  'telltales' . These give you an idea as to how well the sail is set. When sailing on an upwind leg - the telltales on both the windward and leeward side of the jib should point aft.

If the leeward telltales twirl, the helm should steer closer to the wind.

If the windward telltales lift and twirl, the helm should head slightly downwind.

THE WINCH AND WINCH HANDLE

Winches are used to pull ropes (also known as lines) when manpower alone can’t pull them.

On big racing yachts you will see the biggest guys on the boat on the ‘grinder’ that is just turning the winch. On smaller boats like yours you will only need a winch handle to turn it.

Winches are most used to tighten and loosen the jib sheet.

SOME NOTES ON USING THE WINCH

Firstly turn the line around it in a clockwise direction for one turn.

Make sure that the end of the line with you are pulling from is at the bottom while the end of the line you are pulling is above.

NEVER put your fingers between the line and the winch barrel . If there was a sudden gust on the sail it is trimming your fingers could be broken or even removed.

ALWAYS use the flat of your hand on top of the line when on the winch.

Usually before there is any tension on it you only put one full turn on it and then pull like crazy until there is tension on it.

At this stage put two more turns on the winch. Make sure the turns don’t overlap as that could trap the jib sheet and this in turn could mean the boat end up flat on its side in an emergency situation.

When you have the turns on the winch immediately put the winch handle on and turn clockwise until you cannot turn any more at a decent speed. If you are quick enough with the winch this might be all you need to do.

Once it is too much for your arms alone, turn the winch handle anticlockwise and this will use the mechanics inside the winch to help you tighten it the rest of the way.

To loosen rope on the winch, hold the line taught with both hands and ease off the tension gently. One common time you’ll need to do this is when you are tacking the boat. Read our explanation about tacking and gybing later in this manual.

On most days tacking and gybing are the most exercise you will get while sailing. There will be lots of noises and dashing about the winches for about a minute and then you can return to your gin and tonics!

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HOW TO SAIL SAFELY THROUGH A STORM

Tips and tricks to help you get home safe.

Compared to the quick response and sudden nature of a squall , sailing through a storm in open water is an endurance contest. In addition to big wind, you’ll have to deal with big waves and crew fatigue.

Sailing in Waves

Sailing in big waves is a test of seamanship and steering, which is why you should put your best driver on the helm. Experienced dinghy sailors often are very good at heavy air steering, because they see “survival” weather more often than most cruisers.

Avoid sailing on a reach across tall breaking waves; they can roll a boat over. When sailing close-hauled in waves, aim toward flat spots while keeping speed up so you can steer. To reduce the chance of a wave washing across the deck, tack in relatively smooth water. A cubic foot of water weighs 64 pounds, so a wave can bring many hundreds of pounds of water across the deck.

Sailing on a run or broad reach in big waves is exhilarating, but be careful not to broach and bring the boat beam-to a breaker. Rig a preventer to hold the boom out.

Storm Sails

If reefing isn’t enough to reduce power, it’s time to dig out your storm sails — the storm trysail and storm jib. They may seem tiny, but since wind force rises exponentially, they’re the right size for a really big blow. Storm trysails are usually trimmed to the rail, but some modern ones are set on the boom. The storm jib should be set just forward of the mast to keep the sail plan’s center of effort near the boat’s center of lateral resistance. This helps keep the boat in balance.

Storm Strategy

The first decision before an approaching storm is the toughest: Run for cover, or head out to open water for sea room? With modern forecasting, a true storm will rarely arrive unannounced, but as you venture further offshore the chances of being caught out increase. While running for cover would seem the preferred choice, the danger lies in being caught in the storm, close to shore, with no room to maneuver or run off.

Two classic storm strategies are to try to keep away from land so you’re not blown up on shore, and to sail away from the storm’s path — especially its “dangerous semicircle,” which is its right side as it advances.

Storm Tactics

Storm tactics help you handle a storm once you’re in it. There are several proven choices, all of which aim to reduce the strain and motion by pointing one of the boat’s ends (either bow or stern) toward the waves. No one tactic will work best for all boats in all conditions.

Sail under storm jib and deeply reefed mainsail or storm trysail. This approach provides the most control. Sails give you the power to steer and control your boat in the waves.

Run before the storm with the stern toward the waves, perhaps towing a drogue to slow the boat. This tactic requires a lot of sea room, and the boat must be steered actively. Another concern is that you will remain in front of an approaching storm, rather than sailing out of its path.

Heave-to on a close reach with the jib trimmed to windward. Heaving-to can be an excellent heavy weather tactic, though some boats fare better than others.

Deploy a sea anchor while hove-to or under bare poles. A sea anchor is a small parachute set at the end of a line off the bow. A sea anchor helps keep the bow up into the waves so the boat won’t end up beam to the seas. One concern is the load on the rudder as waves push the boat aft.

Another alternative is lying ahull, simply sitting with sails down. This passive alternative is less reliable than the other tactics, as you lose the ability to control your angle to the waves and may end up beam to the seas. Furthermore, the motion of the boat rolling in the waves without the benefit of sails can be debilitating.

Want to order a storm trysail or storm jib for your boat? Contact a North Sails Expert here .

How to Heave-To

Wouldn’t it be great if, during a heavy air sail, you could just take a break, and relax for a bit? Imagine a short respite from the relentless pitching and pounding: a chance to rest, take a meal, or check over the boat in relative tranquility. Well, you can. The lost art of heaving-to allows you to “park” in open water.

To heave-to, trim the jib aback (i.e., to the wrong side), trim the main in hard, and lash the helm so the boat will head up once it gains steerageway. As the jib tries to push the bow down, the bow turns off the wind and the main fills, moving the boat forward. Once the boat begins to make headway, the lashed helm turns the boat toward the wind again. As the main goes soft the jib once again takes over, pushing the bow down. The main refills, and the rudder pushes the bow into the wind again.

The boat won’t actually stop. It will lie about 60 degrees off the wind, sailing at 1 or 2 knots, and making significant leeway (sliding to leeward). The motion will be much less than under sail, and dramatically more stable and pleasant than dropping all sails and lying ahull. You will also be using up less sea room than if you run before the storm at great speed.

Achieving this balance will require some fine tuning, depending on the wind strength, your boat design, and the sails you are flying. Also, fin-keeled boats do not heave to as well as more traditional designs.

In storm seas, some boats will require a sea anchor off the bow to help hold the boat up into the waves while hove-to.

Alternate Storm Strategy: Don’t Go

If conditions are wrong, or are forecast to worsen, don’t go. If you can avoid the storm, then do so.

If you’re at home, stay there. If you’re mid-cruise, button up the boat, make sure your anchor or mooring or dock lines are secure, and then read a book or play cards. Relax. Enjoy the time with your shipmates. Study the pile of Owners’ Manuals you’ve accumulated with each piece of new gear. Tinker with boat projects.

Put some soup on the stove, and check on deck every so often to make sure the boat is secure. Shake your head as you return below, and remark, “My oh my, is it nasty out there.”

If your boat is threatened by a tropical storm or hurricane, strip all excess gear from the deck, double up all docking or mooring lines, protect those lines from chafe, and get off. Don’t risk your life to save your boat.

Misery and Danger

Although everyone will remember it differently years later, a long, wet, cold sail through a storm can be miserable. As the skipper, you need to make the best of it: watch over your crew, offer relief or help to those who need it, and speak a few words of encouragement to all. “This is miserable, but it will end.”

Take the time to marvel at the forces of nature, and at your ability to carry on in the midst of the storm. Few people get to experience the full fury of a storm. It may not be pleasant, but it is memorable.

While misery and discomfort can eventually lead to fatigue, diminished performance, and even danger, do not mistake one for the other. Distinguish in your own mind the difference between misery and danger. Don’t attempt a dangerous harbor entrance to escape misery; that would compromise the safety of the boat and crew, just to avoid a little discomfort.

Interested in a new sail quote or have questions about your sails? Fill out our Request a Quote form below and you will receive a reply from a North sail expert in your area.

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Featured stories, offshore sailing guide, how to care for your foul weather gear.

27 February

GITANA TEAM WINS INAUGURAL ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE

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Downwind Sailing Techniques

Our sailboat lies under bare poles in the Southern Ocean. But it’s not what we expected. We are right in the middle of a high-pressure ridge, absolutely becalmed with large swells rolling in from the southeast (from a low that has just passed) and from the southwest (from an approaching low). We managed to keep sailing until the wind dropped below 4 knots, and then the swell started rolling the wind out of the sails, making everything inside slam and crash around and causing the whole boat to shudder from masthead to keel. We had to drop the main and roll up the jib to keep the rig from being shaken to bits. As this high-pressure ridge moves away and a frontal system approaches, we expect the winds to slowly build over the port quarter (from the northwest), rotate over the stern to the starboard quarter (southwest) and continue to build a bit more. 

Light Air 

A few hours later, I stand in the cockpit, sniffing the air and looking at small ripples in the water. I think we may have a couple of knots of wind, but it’s hard to filter out the artificial ‘gusts’ caused by the boats’ rolling in the swell. I call my wife on deck, and she agrees the wind has finally begun to fill in again over the stern quarter. We raise the mainsail and prevent the boom from stopping it from swinging with the boat’s roll, collapsing the sail. Our preventer system consists of two long lines tied to pad eyes at either side of the aft end of the boom and then led forward to cleats on the front of the boom where they are tied off, cleated, and coiled when not in use. We uncleat the appropriate line (which can be done with the boom at any angle), run it through a snatch block on the toe rail in front of the stays, and back to a winch. 

The boat’s already sailing, making two knots through the water, and we can see that we do indeed have enough wind to make some progress. We discuss which of our large light air sails to use. Though we agree that the ‘right’ sail for this wind would really be our 1,500 square foot asymmetrical spinnaker (in a sock), we eventually hoist our Code Zero (1,000 square foot masthead reaching jib on a Vectran luff furler) for three reasons. First, if the wind continues to build as it’s supposed to, the slightly smaller Code Zero will be the right sail in a few hours. Second, in very light winds with a big swell, we have found the Code Zero to be a more stable sail, less likely to collapse. Third, if this is a false call and the wind dies again, we can just roll up the Code Zero and leave it hoisted until the wind actually comes versus dropping the spinnaker in its sock down to the deck and then hoisting it again. 

Our desired course would take us almost dead downwind, but with below 5 knots of true wind speed, our best option is to bring the apparent wind to about 100 degrees, just behind the beam. In light winds, this offers both the most comfortable and fastest way to get dead downwind. The sails stay full with the apparent wind on the beam, and as the boat accelerates, she brings the wind even more forward, allowing us to bear off while still keeping the apparent wind on the beam. 

The wind continues to build as forecast, and over the course of the next two hours, we bear off further. We try to keep the apparent wind speed at a very comfortable 8 to 10 knots by bearing off a bit if it gets above this and coming closer to the wind if it falls below. Three hours after we raised sails, we have been able to bear off enough that we are right on course with 10 knots of apparent wind at a 140-degree wind angle. 

Building Wind 

Two hours later, the wind starts gusting up to 15 knots and then dropping back to 10. A short time later, the wind has built to a fairly steady 13 knots (15 to 20 knots true depending on our sailing angle) with higher gusts. At that point, my wife calls me on deck to drop the Code Zero. She uses the autopilot to turn the boat until we’re sailing at about 120 degrees to the wind. At that angle, some wind pressure stays on the sail so that it furls smoothly. If we leave the sail up too long and the wind gets too strong, we have to sail deeper and blanket the sail with the mainsail to furl the Code Zero, but then it tends to furl very unevenly. 

We are now running with over 15 knots of true wind, the point at which the boats’ polars show that sailing dead downwind becomes more efficient than tacking downwind. At this point, we drop the mainsail and switch to a double headsail rig. Many cruisers sail “wing and wing” in these conditions, with a poled out jib to windward and the mainsail prevented to leeward. We will do that if we will be running for only a short time. However, if we will be running for any significant length of time, we prefer the double headsail rig because it is better balanced and easier for the autopilot/wind vane to steer, and there is no opportunity for the mainsail to chafe on the stays. We start with the working jib poled out to windward and a ‘blast reacher’ set to leeward. The blast reacher is a high cut sail, just a bit larger than the working jib, flown using the same vectran luff furling system as the Code Zero. 

The poled out jib can be kept full up to about a 120 degrees apparent wind angle. Since we’re running very deep and the swell still causes the boat to roll hard every few minutes, we clip a snatch block onto the end of the boom, prevent the boom right out, and then lead the blast reacher’s sheet through this snatch block. This stabilizes the reacher and prevents the swell from rolling the wind out of it. 

Strong Wind 

The afternoon weather forecast calls for the winds to build up to 40 knots, so we eat an early dinner while we’re still under this comfortable sail combination. By the time I start my evening watch, the true wind has built to 25 knots with gusts into the thirties. The boat is flying along at 10 knots under perfect control, with only 15 to 20 knots of apparent wind over the deck. These conditions offer some of our fastest and most comfortable miles aboard our sailboat, and I get to enjoy them for most of my watch. But around midnight, the wind builds beyond this, and I call my wife to change sails between our watches. We roll up the blast reacher, drop it, and bag it. We leave up the poled jib to windward and hoist a staysail genoa (a deck sweeper staysail that completely fills our inner triangle) to leeward in place of the blast reacher. Some of our friends call this sail combination ‘bat’s wings.’

My wife takes the watch, and as the wind and waves continue to build, she slowly rolls up the jib to maintain easy steering for the autopilot/wind vane. The wind reaches 35 knots of true wind (25 to 30 knots over the deck) near dawn. At this wind speed, we have two options. We can continue with the two headsails and slowly roll up more and more of the jib, or we can drop the staysail and run under the working jib alone. The first option is the most comfortable and easiest for the self-steering to handle, and my wife does this until the end of her watch. 

But we don’t like leaving the pole set in real storm conditions, and it’s clumsy handling it in really big waves. Given the forecast for even stronger winds, when I get up, we decide to take the pole down and stow it away in its chocks on deck before the working conditions get too bad. We drop the staysail, remove it from its stay, and hank on the storm staysail without raising it. Then we jibe the furled jib and drop the pole, so we are running under working jib alone. Our normal jib sheets lead inside the stays, providing a poor lead for reaching and running angles. So we clip a running sheet (a short length of the sheet with a large snap shackle on one end) to the jib clew and lead it through snatch blocks clipped to the toerail. This really opens up the jib, making it both more stable and faster.

Coastal cruising down the Beagle Canal, we ran with full jib in 50 knots of true wind, hand steering, and surfing along at 10 to 12 knots. But we are far more conservative passage making with the self-steering in control. Over the course of the morning, the wind continues to increase, and we slowly roll the jib up until at about 40 knots true it’s furled halfway, and the sail area has been reduced by about two-thirds. At noon, we decide it’s time to switch down to the storm jib. We roll away the jib completely, and while the boat continues to sail at about six knots under bare poles, we hoist the storm staysail. Some cruisers continue rolling up the jib, but we don’t like to abuse the jib material that way nor subject the furling gear to the forces in that much wind. The storm staysail sets much better than a partially furled jib, and nothing much can go wrong with it. Finally, the wind starts to die as the gray day fades to evening, and over the next twenty-four hours, we reverse this whole sail change sequence. 

If the wind had continued to build, we have an even smaller storm sail, which we call ‘the hurricane jib’, but we have never used it. The few times we’ve been in such strong winds, we’ve just dropped the storm staysail and run under bare poles. So long as the waves are regular and not too steep, we’ve found the boat quite comfortable and under control under bare poles in these conditions. However, the steering needs some extra help with very steep or very irregular waves, and we then trail either warps (a minimum of 300 feet with 12 feet of chain at the end) or one of our two drogues. Both these options help keep the stern from being pushed around by the waves. 

Downwind Sailing Techniques – Conclusion

There are easier ways to run downwind. One alternative would be to run wing and wing, reefing the main as the wind built until dropping it completely and running under the jib alone, and then rolling the jib up until the boat was running under bare poles. However, for us, the extra sail handling work involved in the system described above has proven to be the most comfortable system with the least sail damage (both chafe and flogging) and the most easily controlled steering aboard the boat. 

Peter is the editor of Better Sailing. He has sailed for countless hours and has maintained his own boats and sailboats for years. After years of trial and error, he decided to start this website to share the knowledge.

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Sailing Terms: A Complete Guide

Last Updated by

June 15, 2022

Learning sailing terms when you first get into boating can be a daunting task.

Some sailing terms are logical, like 'fore' means forward or front of the boat, while others might as well be in a different language. Athwartship, for example. Nothing in our daily lexicon gives any clues as to what that might mean. Like it or not, it's time to dust off the old noodle and get to memorizing some new vocab words!

Knowing the difference between a clew and a tack, a luff and a leech, will help you communicate with your sail maker regarding which part of your sail needs resewn. If you need to have your rigging adjusted, you must know the difference between your shrouds and your stays, your standing rigging vs. your running rigging.

By educating yourself in the correct names of all parts of your sailboat, you can avoid situations in which you may need to use terms such as ‘thingy’ or ‘that round part at the end of that thing’. While even the most seasoned sailor occasionally troops over the vernacular, it is always beneficial to have as wide a nautical vocabulary as possible. Many in the sailing community get by without knowing the entire sailing dictionary, but if you’re interested in avoiding vocabulary embarrassment, check out the list I’ve compiled of sailing terms that every sailor ought to know.

I’ve been sailing on and off throughout my life and I know from experience that it is incredibly helpful to know the correct terms for each part of your sails, rigging, and boat.

Sailors are among the kindest, most helpful people you’ll ever meet. But, if you’re looking for help on why you’re not getting the most speed out of your mainsail and you know don’t know the correct terms for each part of the sail, it may be hard to get advice from you fellow sailor on why ‘the back of the mainsail is flappy’. They would be more likely to give useful advice if you’re able to tell them that you’re struggling to keep wind in the roach of your mainsail. Check out my list of sailing terms and see if a few don’t stick. I’ve done my best to include pictures when possible.

Table of contents

Sailing Terms

Abeam : When an object, craft or island is abeam your vessel, that means that it is off the side of your boat. It is 90 degrees from the centerline of your boat.

Abaft : Toward the stern. “Honey, have you seen my boat shoes?” “They’re abaft the navigation table!” This is the opposite of forward.

Aft : In the stern of the boat. For example, the back cabin is referred to as the aft cabin.

Apparent wind : The wind direction and speed which the crew observes to be blowing in combination with the true wind. This is often different from the true wind direction and speed due to the boat's motion.

Astern : The area behind the boat. If you go astern, you are going in reverse.

Athwartship : Directionally perpendicular to the centerline of the boat.

Backing (a sail) : Forcing the sail to take wind into its opposite side by pulling the sail to the opposite side of the boat.

Backstay : The wire that runs from the back of the boat to the mast head. This prevents the mast from falling forward.

Bailer : Any scoop-like container that is used to remove water from within a vessel’s hull.

Ballast : Weight which adds stability to the vessel. The weight usually is composed of lead or iron and placed low in the boat's hull, such as within the keel.

Batten : a thin, flexible strip (often fiberglass) that is inserted into the main sail to help it stay open to the wind. The batten runs from the back edge of the sail (leech) toward the front edge (luff).

Beam : The width of the vessel at its widest point.

Beam reach : Sailing with the wind blowing perpendicular to the direction the boat is traveling.

Bearing off or Bearing away : Steering the boat away from the direction in which the wind is blowing.

Bend : a knot which connects two ropes.

Berth : A slip, a mooring, or a bed within the boat.

Bight : A bend or loop in a rope. When a rope forms a bight, it has changed direction 180 degrees.

Bilge : The lowest area within a boats hull. This area collects water which is then pumped overboard by a bilge pump.

Bimini : The covering over the cockpit. Usually constructed from a stainless steel frame covered with canvas or fiberglass. It provides protection from sun and rain, but not wind.

Binnacle : The pedestal centrally located in the cockpit that generally holds the steering wheel and navigational instruments.

Block : A pulley.

Boom : This pole runs perpendicular to the mast and holds the bottom of the mainsail in place. Its position is adjustable side to side as needed for the wind direction.

Boom vang : A tackle which ensures that the boom does not lift upward from wind pressure in the mainsail.

Boot Top or Boot Stripe : The stripe of tape or paint between the boat's underwater (bottom) paint and it’s above water (topside) paint.

Bow : Front end of the boat

Bowsprit : The forward most protruding pole or platform which some boats possess. This spar allows for the sails and rigging to be attached further forward.

Broach : When a boat sailing downwind accidentally ends up sideways to the waves and heels over dangerously. This can be caused by large seas or poor steering.

Broad reach : Sailing with the wind coming off your stern quarter. If you’re standing at the helm facing the bow, the wind is blowing halfway between the side and the back of the boat.

Bulkhead : The walls in a boat which run athwartship, or perpendicular to the centerline of the vessel.

Capsize : When a vessel tips over past 90 degrees.

Catamaran : A vessel with two hulls.

Centerboard : A retractable keel which helps the sailboat maintain course and stability underway. When raised, the vessel is able to enter shallow waters.

Centerline : An imaginary line that runs from the center of the bow to the center of the stern.

Chainplate : A metal plate that is secured to the boat's hull to which wires supporting the mast are attached. The chainplates may be exterior or interior, visible or hidden.

Chandlery : A store that sells boat supplies and parts.

Cleats : The wooden or metal piece to which ropes are secured.

Chock : A fitting that a line passes through to change direction without chafing.

Clew : The lower back corner of a sail. This is where the foot and leech of the sail meet.

Close-hauled : Sailing as close to the direction the wind is coming from as possible with the sails pulled in tight. (See Points of Sail for infographic.)

Close Reach : Sailing between close hauled and beam reach. (See Points of Sail for infographic.)

Coamings : The lip around a hatch or window which stops water from entering. Also the raised area around the cockpit to keep out water.

Cockpit : The area from which steering occurs. This can be in the center of the boat or in the back of the boat.

Companionway : The doorway into the cabin.

Cotter pin : a bendable metal pin which is inserted into a metal rod then bent to lock it in place.

Daybeacons : Markers for navigation which are on posts. These are red or green.

Dead run : Sailing with the wind coming from directly behind the boat. Sails are fully out to catch the wind.

Dead reckoning : Determining a vessel's position by knowing the direction and speed traveled.

Dinghy : A small boat which is used to travel to shore from the main vessel. This can be propelled oars or a motor.

Dodger : The structure at the front of the cockpit which protects the cockpit and companionway from wind and spray. This is generally made of stainless steel frame covered with canvas and plastic windows. It can also be a solid structure with solid windows.

Dismasting : When the mast breaks off the boat. This can occur due to rigging failure or structural failure of the mast.

Displacement : The weight of the water that would otherwise be in the place of the boats hull.

Drogue : A sea anchor which is deployed to help control the drift of a vessel. It can be constructed like a parachute, bucket, or even a rope dragging behind the boat.

Ebb tide : After high tide when the water is receding towards low tide.

EPIRB : Stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. This device transmits a distress signal to emergency services and notifies them of a vessel's location.

Fairlead: A fitting which encloses a line within a smooth ring and helps guide its direction.

Fathom : A measurement of water depth equal to 6 feet.

Fid : A pointed tool used when splicing a line.

Fiddle : The raised edge around a table which prevents objects from falling off as the boat rocks or heels.

Fix : Determining a vessel's location by using the compass bearing of two or more fixed points of reference such as landmarks or buoys.

Fin keel : A fixed, ballasted keel which is centrally located beneath the hull. It does not run the full length of the hull.

Flogging : When a sail flaps noisily because it is not being filled by the wind.

Flood tide : Time period between low tide and high tide when the water is rising.

Foot : The bottom edge of a sail.

Fore : At or near the bow of a vessel.

Forestay : The wire which leads from the bow to the top of the mast. The forward most sail attaches to the forestay either directly or by use of a roller furling system.

Full keel : A fixed, ballasted keel which runs the full length of the hull.

Furling system : A system around which the sail wraps when not in use and is unwrapped for sailing. This may be around the forestay or within the mast.

Freeboard : The distance on a vessel from the waterline to the deck.

Galley : The kitchen on a boat.

Gelcoat : A colored resin which is painted onto the outside surface of a boat and forms a protective glossy layer.

Genoa : A large forward sail which, when fully extended, comes back past the mast. Larger than a jib sail.

Gimbals : Often attached to a boat's stove, it is the fitting which allows an object to maintain an upright position when a vessel heels.

Gooseneck : The point at which the boom attaches to the mast. It allows the boom to move in all directions.

Ground tackle : The anchor, chain, and line used to fix a boat to the bottom when anchoring.

Gunwale : Pronounced “gunnel”. This is the top edge of a boat's hull.

Halyard : The line which attaches to a sail to raise it.

Hanks : The clips that attach the front edge (luff) of a sail to the forestay.

Hatch : An opening window in the cabin roof much like a skylight.

Head : Bathroom on a boat. Also, the uppermost corner on a sail.

Headway : The forward motion of a vessel through the water.

Heave to : A method of controlling a boat’s position to the waves and limiting headway by backwinding the forward sail and keeping the rudder hard over into the wind.

Heel : The tilt that occurs to a boat's hull when the sails are filled with wind.

In-Irons : When a sailboat is bow into the wind with sails flapping. No steerage is possible as the vessel has no forward motion. (See Points of Sail for infographic.)

Jackline or Jackstay : Lines that are run from the bow to the stern. To these safety lines, sailors attach a lanyard connected to their harness so that they may work on deck without fear of being swept overboard in rough seas.

Jib : A triangular forward sail.

Jib sheets : Lines used to control the jib.

Jibing : Pronounced with a long i sound. Steering the boat from one downwind direction to another downwind direction by turning the stern of the boat through the wind. This will cause the sails to move across the boat to the other side, i.e. from port to starboard.

Kedge anchor : A small, lighter second anchor.

Keel : The bottom most part of a boat's structure. This part provides ballast and stability.

Ketch : A sailboat with two masts. The forward mast is the taller mast.

Knot : Regarding speed, one knot is equal to one nautical mile per hour.

Lazyjacks : Light lines that run from the boom to the mast and help contain the mainsail while it’s being lowered to the boom.

Leech : The back edge of a sail. If the sail is square, then this term refers to the outside edges of the sail.

Lee shore : The shore onto which the wind is blowing. On an island, the side of the island facing into the wind is the lee shore.

Leeward : The direction to which the wind is blowing. If the wind is coming from the north, then south is leeward.

Luff : The forward edge of the sail.

Lying a-hull : When a vessel is drifting with all of it’s sails down.

Mainsail : Pronounce main’sil. The primary sail of a boat that is hoisted up or unfurled from the mast.

Mayday : An emergency call put out over a marine radio when there is clear and present danger to the crew of the vessel.

Mizzen : The shorter mast behind the main mast on a ketch.

Monohull : A vessel with a single hull.

Mooring field : An anchorage in which permanently anchored buoys are present to which vessels may be secured.

Multihull : A vessel with more than one hull such as a catamaran or trimaran.

No-sail zone : This is an area 45 degrees to either side of directly into the wind. It is not possible for a boat to sail in this zone as the sails cannot fill with wind. Tacking is necessary. (See Points of Sail for infographic.)

On the hard : When a vessel is out of the water and being stored on land.

Painter : The line which secures the bow of a dinghy to the main boat.

Pan Pan : Pronounced pon-pon. This is an urgent distress radio call which is used when a vessel needs assistance. It is one step below Mayday.

Points of sail : The vessels course in relation to the direction of the wind.

Port : The left side of the boat when facing forward.

Port tack : Sailing with the wind hitting the port side of the vessel and the sails are out on the starboard side.

Pulpit : The metal rails at the bow of the boat which protect the crew from going overboard.

Pushpit : The metal rails at the back of the boat to protect the crew from going overboard.

Quarter : The back corner area of the boat. This area is 45 degrees behind, or abaft, the beam of the vessel.

Reef : reducing the size of the sail in high winds for the safety of the crew and equipment. This is done by either tying or rolling the sail to the boom or forestay.

Rigging : All the wires and ropes used to hold the mast in place and adjust the sails.

Roach : The outer back edge area of the mainsail. If you were to draw a diagonal line from the head of the sail to the clew (back corner), the roach would be outside this diagonal line.

Roller furling : A system which rolls the sail up when not in use. The sail is stored on the roller either at the mast or boom for the mainsail, and at the forestay for the jib or genoa.

Rudder : Steering fin at the back of the boat. Controlled by a steering wheel or tiller from the cockpit.

Running : Sailing in a downwind direction.

Running rigging : The lines, such as sheets and halyards, which control the sails.

Schooner : A sailing vessel with two or more masts. The mainmast is at the back.

Seacock : a valve which can be open or closed to allow water to flow in or out of a through hull fitting.

Scope : The length of chain and line that is between the anchor and the boat.

Scuppers : Deck drains which allow water to flow overboard.

Securite : Pronounced securi-tay. This is a radio call to provide mariners with local marine safety information.

Shackle : A metal U or D shaped link which has a removable pin through the ends.

Sheet : A line or rope which connects to the clew (back corner) of a sail. It is used to control or trim the sail.

Shrouds : Wires or ropes which run from the deck chainplates to the mast. The shrouds prevent the mast from moving side to side.

Skeg : A section of the hull from which the rudder hangs. It provides a variable amount of protection to the rudder depending on its size.

Sloop : A single masted sailboat with a mainsail and a foresail.

Slugs : Fittings on the front edge (luff) of the mainsail that slide into the mast track for hoisting the sail.

Spinnaker : A large, light, often colorful sail that is used off the bow of the boat for sailing downwind (running).

Splice : Connecting two lines together by weaving their strands together.

Spreaders : The horizontal arms extending out from the sides of the mast.

Spring line : Dock lines positioned from the bow to a midship point on the dock or from the stern to a midship point on the dock. This line configuration helps decrease forward and backward motion of the boat while docked.

Stanchions : The metal posts along the outside edge of the deck through which the lifelines run.

Standing rigging : The wires and ropes, such as the shrouds and stays, that are permanently in place and hold up the mast.

Starboard : The right side of the boat when facing forward.

Starboard tack : Sailing with the wind hitting the starboard side of the boat and the sails out on the port side.

Stays : The wires or ropes which run from the bow and stern to the mast top to keep the mast from moving forward or backward.

Steerage way : When a vessel is moving through the water with enough speed to allow the rudder to steer the boat.

Stern : The back end of a boat.

Storm jib : A small, strong forward sail used in heavy winds.

Swing : The circular motion of an anchored boat around it’s anchor due to wind and water movement.

Tack : The forward lower corner of a sail.

Tacking : Turning the boat across the direction the wind is coming from to change course direction. This causes the sails to travel to the other side of the boat.

Tender : Small boat used to transport from shore to the main boat.

Tiller : A bar which controls the rudder and is used to steer the boat from the cockpit. It is used in place of a steering wheel.

Toe rail : The raised lip around the edge of the deck. This can be constructed of wood, fiberglass, or aluminum. It helps prevent items from rolling overboard.

Topping lift : A wire or rope which runs from the back end of the boom to the mast top. This line controls the height of the boom.

Trysail : A small, strong storm sail that is used in place of the mainsail in high winds.

Trim : To adjust the sails.

Winch : A round, drum-like mechanical device used to pull on a line to raise or adjust sails.

Windlass : A winch used to raise and lower the anchor.

Windward : The direction from which the wind is blowing.

Wing on wing : Sailing downwind with the mainsail out on one side and the foresail on the opposite side.

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Beth lives on board her 1983 30ft S2 sailboat with her husband, 6 year-old son, and her two fur babies. She has been sailing and boating for most of her life. Beth has been blessed to experience cruising in the Great Lakes, the Bahamas, and in Alaska. She loves to travel and adores living on her tiny boat with her family.

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What you need to know before you buy a sailboat - five steps to prepare for the reality of boat ownership.

Are you new to sailing and already dreaming about buying your first boat? There’s something so alluring and romantic about the idea of buying a boat, cutting the dock lines, and sailing away. This powerful allure is the fuel for a sailing industry that thrives in spite of sailing being perhaps the most impractical mode of transportation that exists in modern times. The idea of sailing is so alluring, in fact, that we often hear about people buying boats and simply casting off, not letting a lack of experience stand in their way. 

On one hand, we are impressed by their chutzpah  and we root for them. On the other hand, we know that the reality of boat ownership will catch up with many of these starry-eyed newbies sooner or later, who may end up walking away (or running) and selling their boat for much less than was invested in its original purchase, repairs, maintenance, cleaning, berthing, insurance, and upgrades.

The truth is that unless you’re financially very comfortable and can afford to pay others to take care of the grittiest aspects, buying a boat can be in some ways like having a baby – it’s a huge responsibility! All those who come aboard your boat are putting their lives into your hands. Boat ownership can be messy, expensive, risky, stressful, exhausting, and will test your patience. The immaterial rewards can be immeasurable and well-worth these challenges – otherwise we wouldn’t pursue this nonsensical endeavor with such ineffable devotion! (A difference between boat ownership and parenthood is that your child won’t ever leave you in the sea to drown. Or so one would hope!)

Many of us who work for Modern Sailing are, or were at one time, boat owners ourselves, or are directly involved in the care of our fleet, so we have some perspective to offer on this subject. We are dreamers too and nothing thrills us more than aiding and witnessing others making their own sailing dreams come true. Our intention is never to scare you away from your big dream, but as a sailing school, one of our core motives is to help others prepare for the real risks and challenges that come with those cherished dreams. We hope you’ll find this article helpful as you prepare to buy a boat of your own.

1. Learn to Sail Before You Buy a Sailboat 2, Learn What Kind of Sailing You Love to Do 3. Learn About Your Preferred Boat Features and Designs 4. Learn About Sailboat Maintenance, Repair, and Troubleshooting 5. Connect to Community to Support Your Goals 6. How Long Does This Process Take? 7. Need Some Advice?

1. Learn to Sail Before You Buy a Sailboat

There’s a huge learning curve involved both with sailing and with boat ownership. Combining the two at the same time can be a recipe for overwhelm. We often hear stories about intrepid souls with little to no sailing experience who buy a sailboat, read books and watch videos to learn how to sail, and figure out how to repair and maintain the boat’s myriad systems along the way. Some have risen to this challenge, and while we are mightily impressed, we don’t recommend it for everyone! We’ve also heard many stories about some of those intrepid souls who eventually discovered that they, their significant other, or their child(ren) actually hate sailing. Or, they realized that owning a boat costs more in terms of time and money than they can afford. Or worse, their lack of experience led to disaster. The reasons sailors bail out of boat ownership are many and can often be avoided with smart planning and preparation.

We recommend to not start everything all at once. A rational, phased-in approach to your sailing dream will invite enough of the rewards to keep you emotionally invested through the challenges as they come.

Start by not only learning to sail, but by learning whether you and anyone you hope to involve actually enjoy the kind of sailing you dream of doing. Take some sailing lessons, join a sailing club, and expose yourself to as many weather conditions as you possibly can – preferably on OPBs (other people’s boats). In the process, you’ll find out how much you actually enjoy sailing and how well you can tolerate it when conditions are less than ideal.

Some might say they don’t want to waste the time and money on sailing lessons. But, considering that those who come aboard your boat are putting their lives in your hands, and anyone attempting to rescue you from a serious mistake may be putting their life on the line too, we tend to think the investment in lessons is well worth it. Also, you’ll learn the common language for boat parts, lines, and maneuvers, which will make you a better crewmate and a more effective skipper and leader for your own crew someday.

While you’re learning to sail, you’ll be very safe with a US Coast Guard licensed captain as your guide. Experienced instructors know a lot about what can go wrong on a boat, and how to prevent, troubleshoot, and manage problems as they arise. A good sailing instructor will allow you to make minor mistakes as a natural part of the learning process, but will quickly step in to prevent errors that could lead to injury or damage. There isn’t one sailor or instructor on the planet who knows everything about sailing, but the more people you sail with and the more often you sail, the more you will learn, and the better you’ll be prepared.

This level of preparation is worth every penny and every minute, and then some. You are laying a solid foundation of safety and seamanship that will serve you well and contribute to your enjoyment of sailing over the years. Eventually you can even become a valued mentor and the dollars you invested in the beginning will also contribute a legacy of sailing enjoyment for many others.

As you progress in your sailing education, if it turns out you feel less enthusiastic about the realities than you first imagined, you will only be out the cost of lessons and not the cost of an entire boat plus everything you spent on it after buying it. If you enjoy sailing but decide to downsize your goals, you can always continue sailing on OPBs as a member of a sailing club, racing team, or social group. 

2. Learn What Kind of Sailing You Love to Do

There are many types of sailboats built for different purposes and waterways, and to know which type is right for you, you’ll need to find out the answers to these questions:

• What kind of sailing do you love to do? Are you interested in performance sailing and racing, casual day sailing, extended cruising, or maybe all three?
• Will you stick to sheltered inland waters or do you want to explore the coast? Will you ever want to cross an ocean?
• What is the biggest sailing goal that you hope to achieve with your boat?

To explore these questions, join a race clinic and try out racing . Go on a few overnight and multi-day charters in the Bay. Join a Pacific Coast Expedition  or a Global Destinations Flotilla to get a feel for the ocean. Once you have your ASA 104 certification, take your closest companions on a bareboat sailing charter somewhere exotic and beautiful for a taste of the cruising lifestyle. These are the best ways to find out what kind of sailing you love to do – and therefore what type of sailboat will be best for you.

With prudent weather planning, just about any kind of sailboat is up for the job of crossing an ocean, so we won’t delve into the topic of bluewater boats versus coastal cruisers. However, know that due to weight, ballast, and hull shape, some boats' motion will be more comfortable in a seaway than others. Simply know that it takes time to learn about all the different sailboat models, configurations, and builds, and which are ideal for which purposes.

Take the time to learn what kind of sailor you are so you will know what kind of sailboat you want. There’s also nothing wrong with starting with a boat that’s not well-suited for your biggest sailing goal, as long as you understand and intend before you sign on the dotted line that that this will be your “stepping stone” boat.

3. Learn About Your Preferred Boat Features and Designs

In-mast furling mainsail or lazy jacks and stack pack? Dual helm or single? Monohull or catamaran? Pullman berth or centerline? In-line or U-shaped galley? Do all lines lead to the cockpit, or will crew need to go the mast? The possible configurations of boat features are endless. How will you know what your preferences are until you have sailed a variety of boats and experienced for yourself?

This is one of the best advantages of membership with a sailing school or club. You’ll get to try out a wide variety of boats and learn what features and layouts you like and dislike. This will greatly help inform a wise choice of boat for your purchase.

Take your time learning about different sailboat types and designs. One fun way to learn is to simply hop onto YachtWorld.com and look at boats in your price range. When you see something that catches your interest, do some Internet research on the model. Look for a model “owners’ forum” to see what kind of sailing the model’s owners do and what kinds of common complaints they may have. You’ll learn a lot about boat models on the market this way. When you’re seriously shopping for a boat, you’ll know more about what you’re looking for and what you'd prefer to avoid.

4. Learn About Sailboat Maintenance, Repair, and Troubleshooting

There are thousands of parts and pieces on a sailboat, and all of them are continually embattled by the sun, wind, and saltwater. Only your constant care will keep your boat shiny, safe, and seaworthy.

You may have heard some of these bleak euphemisms about boat ownership:

• "BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand."
• "A boat is a hole in the water that you pour your money into."
• "Cruising is mostly just repairing boats in exotic places."
• "The two best days in a boat owner’s life: the day you buy the boat and the day you sell it."

As you learn to sail with others, you will inherently begin to learn about some of the common (and uncommon) problems that crop up on sailboats. In the process, you will begin learning from your instructor(s) and fellow sailors about boat systems and how to keep them running. 

In addition to the mechanical skills you’ll need to develop for self-sufficiency on the water, be prepared for the costs. It’s a common belief that a boat’s annual maintenance and repairs will cost 10-20% its purchase price – every year. Sometimes it ends up being less than that, sometimes more. Our advice is to always budget for more.

For example, the standing rigging will need to be replaced every 10 to 15 years, and depending on the size of the boat, it can cost $2,000 to $20,000 or more. (Costs increase exponentially with every foot of length.) If you buy an older $20,000 boat and the engine croaks, you can wind up spending another $10-15k or more on a repower alone. An unfortunate incident like wrapping a line around a propeller or a grounding can cost thousands to repair. That’s only three small examples of the countless costly repairs that boats can need. (At Modern, we’ve seen it all!) Don’t forget about the costs of berthing and insurance too.

Don’t let all this scare you off, but give you pause to slow down. Strategize your sailing goals carefully. When you are prepared for the costs and technical challenges, it’s possible to own a boat and go cruising even on a shoestring budget.

There are also alternatives that can help minimize the costs of boat ownership. Sharing ownership (partnership) is one alternative, but ensure you have a legally enforceable agreement with someone you mutually like, respect, and trust. 

Placing your boat in a charter fleet under a Yacht Management Services agreement can help ease the burdens of ownership substantially. When you are not sailing your boat, vetted sailors can pay the charter company to sail her, and you will receive a share of the revenue to help offset the costs. The charter company will also manage the details of berthing, cleaning, maintenance, etc. A disadvantage is that it might not be easy to go sailing spontaneously. You'll have to place an advance reservation on your boat if you want to take her out. Other than that, keeping your boat in a charter fleet means that she will contribute to the learning and enjoyment of others while helping to earn her keep. 

5. Connect to Community to Support Your Goals

There’s an international maritime rule that requires all mariners to give aid to other mariners in distress, as long as doing so doesn’t jeopardize their own vessel and crew. And as diverse a community as we are, those who are drawn or addicted to sailing automatically share something compelling in common. Stemming from this rule and our shared passion is a general spirit of helpfulness and supportiveness among sailors.

If you jump right in and buy a boat, chances are you will soon connect with a neighbor or neighbors in your marina. Favorite topics of conversation among boat owners is about their biggest mistakes (and commonly other people's mistakes) and their boat’s most vexing issues, so it’s quite possible to pick up knowledge just by talking to other boat owners. Not all, but some sailors will even volunteer to come to your boat and help you troubleshoot. You’ll find this spirit of comraderie and helpfulness in marinas, yacht clubs, anchorages, and seaways worldwide.

A sailing school that is also a charter club offers more than just sailing lessons and certifications. It provides ample opportunities for sailors to practice and learn with and from each other. If you sail frequently, your skills, confidence, and community will grow quickly. Using social sailing forums and tools like the GoSailing app  and attending sailing seminars and workshops, boat shows, and other social events for sailors like Latitude 38’s Crew List Party can also help you get connected. Modern Sailing’s weekly newsletter email also helps keep you informed about opportunities in the Bay Area for sailors to connect with and learn from others. Remarkably, when you express genuine enthusiasm and passion for sailing, you will attract others who will feel inspired to help you learn and get connected to the resources you need.

While we all have a responsibility to be as self-sufficient as possible, it’s great to know you always have a community to fall back on when you need a sounding board or get into trouble. One day, you will come across a sailor in need, and remembering all those who helped you on your journey, you will be glad to take your turn as a helper or mentor in your community.

6. How Long Does This Process Take?

In our experience, we have seen sailors go from absolute beginners to boat owners in about 1.5 to 3 years. Of course, you can go faster or slower depending on your schedule, budget, and goals.

The photo featured at the top of this article is of a former student and member,  Koren Leslie Cohen , seated on the deck of her very own boat,  Sugar . Click on the names to learn about how  Koren , Warren Holybee ,  Scott Corder , and  Ken and Linda Hargreaves  went from beginners to boat owners in only three years.

7. Need Some Advice?

Are you still feeling unsure about where to begin? Give us a call at (415) 331-8250 or send us an email . Our friendly office team can help you build a sailing education plan to prepare you with the skills and confidence you'll need to get underway.

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I would definitely recommend Modern Sailing to anyone who is interested in learning to sail the right way.

WE LOVED IT! The whole team was so honored and thankful. Thanks so much for all of your team's hard work and excellence in organizing our party. Of the 22 of us, only 4 had ever been sailing and not in the Bay. The guys had an incredible experience, the skippers were all really great, allowing each of us to be at the wheel. They were kind and empowering. Plus the weather and wind were perfect! It was definitely one of the top 3 experiences that we have shared as leaders in the past 5 + years. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

The vessel was clean and in fine condition - very nice boat for training, well-equipped.

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Man dies, two rescued after yacht capsizes off Lady Elliot Island

The search for a sailor who went missing when a yacht overturned off the Queensland coast has ended in tragedy after his body was recovered. Police said the 65-year-old man had been traveling on the yacht from Yeppoon to Brisbane when an EPIRB was activated about four nautical miles south of Lady Elliot Island about 5am Sunday.

The vessel was found shortly after 10:15am with two men in the water. RACQ LifeFlight said the father and son had managed to climb onto the upside-down vessel to raise the alarm. They were winched into a rescue helicopter.

“It’s believed the keel snapped on the boat the men were on, causing it to overturn,” LifeFlight said in a media release. Police said a 62-year-old man and 27-year-old man were taken to Bundaberg Hospital where they remained in stable condition. The boat is Runaway, a Sayer 11 .

They said the body of the 65-year-old man was found shortly after 2pm. Police said all three men were from Yeppoon. There is a thread here .

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Mississippi river and sailboats?

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Tried searching but the results were all over the place. What experiences have people had sailing a boat on any part of the Mississippi river? I'm actually located on the St. croix river which seperates MN and WI and it dumps into the Mississippi. Used to go on the St. Croix alot in a '23 foot cruiser I had and sometimes a bit into the M. river (dodged a few barge groups) but I can't help but wonder if its even possible to easily navigate a sailboat on any of the rivers up here? Experiences farther south or on other rivers would also be useful to hear about. I wonder how easily a boat sails upriver too. I would be looking at a boat with a swing keel or if it were fixed a short shoal keel like on an oday 22 i was just looking at so depth really isnt a issue and know better than to play in the spring floods and other basic river issues.  

I sailed on the Illinois River when I lived in Central Illinois. Very limited depth and really was stuck with daysailing. Depends on the area that you are located but I would guess this is pretty standard for midwest sailing. I was lucky in that there was regular sailboat races and fleets in Illinois. Draft is about 3 ft maximum which will really limit your boat choices. I would recommend on seeing if there are any scheduled races and stick with what ever class of boat being raced. This should help protect re-sale value and get you out on the water. If you have an interest in getting more experience, I would recommend getting certified and renting a bareboat. Just a thought.  

Lake Pepin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia My fave marina on Lake Pepin Hansen's Harbor, harbor, marina, lake city, minnesota,dock space,boat storage, boat rentals, marine diesel service parts, towing Guy  

I had forgotten about Pepin, bout an hour south by car and so out of my normal aquatic stomping grounds due to the piles of locks and dams here. Not outside of a day trip with a trailer though. Dunno about the Mississippi in its entirety up here but its fairly deep most places that I know of. The St. croix is extremely deep for a river. I'd only want a shallower keel to get in close to shore for the night or for beaches. I wonder if a larger boat with a decent motor rather than a tiny outboard wouldnt be more prudent as I see long motor commutes in my future thanks to river traffic and currents. At least the wind on the St. Croix is notorious for blowing up the river valley from the south during the summer, really helps upstream passages, sometimes a little too much with the waves in the long valley. Plus there is ample room to tack without obstructing traffic or getting into oncoming boats. The local yuppies do their regatta thing and play ring around the rosie in Lake St. Croix just south of the I-94 bridge but it seems to be a random mishmash of boats going in circles. I do see a few brands more common than others here though. In all honesty I'm looking for more of a cheap basic weekender than a sailboat for racing but I've done the motor thing and was never in a hurry to get anywhere so why not sail.  

The Mississippi is a lousy river for sailing IMHO. The current is pretty strong, there's way too much traffic on it...etc..  

Though I haven't cruised/sailed it, I would second that. The volume of water moving is enormous, ergo strong current... and if you read Mark Twain, it's famous for treacherous eddys, whirlpools, and shifting sandbars. Even though we live in a modern age, the river won't be tamed. I have sat on the levy and watched whole tree trunks sail by.  

Try sailing out of Fort Madison, Iowa.  

I had a friend who sailed his Com-Pac 23 from Atchison, Kansas to Biloxi. His comments agree with the others that a strong current is the worst part. He was not able to do any sailing until he reached the Gulf. It was all motoring. (a new 15hp Nissan outboard and a few oil changes along the way) The traffic on the VHF from the river boats was all about "The little tiny sailboat" going down the river. He never had any close calls with them and they seemed to respect giving him room as anybody else. I don't think it was really that fun, more of a challenge to do it than anything else.  

I have sailed just above the Alton Locks above St. Louis a number of times. You just have to leave the boat at the dock at times after rains, and spring floods. When you can sail you spend all day going north, and in minutes you're back at the dock....... i2f  

I'm contemplating taking my Catalina 27 up river from the gulf to Shreveport, LA. Has anyone attempted this?  

Mississippi cruise Hi guys, new to your site here. I have been looking for info on a M R cruise (only term i could come up with), and i was trying to find any records for the trip to new orleans from say Minnisota or off the ohio, illinois etc. I realize that the views would not be as favorable as offshore, or even on a nice clean lake, but any info i could get from ya'll would help. My original plans were to buy a boat on one of the Great lakes and float down to New orleans, then take the icw into galveston/houston area. So, seeing these are old subject matter on these post hopfully someone could give me info on current speed, wind varibles, draft as far north as possible, traffic, etc. is there a current record of time and distances? Anything, and oh yeah, retired so time is not the big factor, but average day of distance(s). Thanks for any info. Oh, looking at a macgreagor 26 x, m, or s for the trip, becuase of shallow draft.  

Came down to Burlington Iowa from Wabash MN twice. First time I thought we could sail, but quickly realized it was far from practical. We came down the second time just because we enjoyed the first trip so much. Except for Lake Pepin, for us, the upper Mississippi was a one way boating adventure, but trailered home.  

miss cruise Yeah, kinda of figured the barge traffic would be heavy, lived in memphis, and new orleans, but i bet it gets really tight on old man river. Found a article of a guy that came all the way down from minnisota to galveston on a canoe, 101 days, had to be an experience. Thanks for any input guys, and will still be collectimg info before i even decide on this cruise. What do you guys think about the 26m mac greagor, with the 50 hp motor, do you think it will handle the current, i mean it has to be better than a 5hp or 9hp, any input appreciated. Ha, i could pull a skier the whole way maybe, ha, just joking on th skier, but that's a lot of motor that comes standard to that boat.  

Lake Pepin May 4 2011 We just retired & will be putting our 25' Pacific Seacraft in at Lake Pepin May 4th. We've packed up, sold everything and will be living aboard. We plan to sail down the Mississippi, cut over on the Ohio to Kentucky Lake and then down the Tenn Tom & out into the Gulf. Hope for the Bahamas next winter. So we will keep up with this post & add our experiences as we go. We are very new at all of this. Susie  

Susie - What a great adventure !! Please keep us posted and may you always enjoy your travels. Jealous Jurgy  

Mississippi river Susan and Bob, you guys are an inspiration, not only are you coming down the old man, you are headed to the carib also. I wish ya'll the best and hope that you get to fly a lot of different port flags for entry. Will be following your log for info, and admiration. Ray  

Guttenburg on the Mississippi I day sailed for about 5 years out of Guttenburg on the Mississippi. The winds can be flukey. I always sailed north when the winds were out of the south. We had a lot of fun on the Mississippi motoring into backwater areas with a Catalina 22, swing keel. The swing keel made it great for nudging up onto the sandbars. Sailing is more challenging, but it is a hellava lot of fun.  

I`ve lived and worked on the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans all my life. You dont need to worry about sailing when you get down here, a log in the current will probably run about 20 knots!! LOL barge and ship traffic will be a serious stress inducer. I wouldnt even consider running at night unless you have radar. I thought about buying a houseboat from Ill. a while back and making the trip but it didnt materialise. It would be fun if you plan accordingly. Good luck! Johnny  

thanks johnny, well, looks like i still have time to plan with whats going on on the river now, i'd like to make the trip fast, but i bet you can hit 30 kts backward, then port side, then starboard and back to aft again real fast. a very large colorado river. goes to show what the strongest element is. no matter if it's blue or brown.  

Herezjohnny... Sounds like it gets pretty treacherous down around New Orleans. We won't be going that way, but will likely be checking out the area by coming over in the gulf from Mobile. Hope you get the houseboat sometime to fulfill that dream. Go for it. SusanBob  

Didnt mean to scare you guys! Come on down. You can cut through the Industrial Canal in N.O. and pop out in lake Ponchartrain. Then you can stop by and have a cold one with me! My boat is at the corner of the Idustrial and the lake. SusanBob, I`m over the house boat dream. I`m on a 36 Morgan getting my stuff together with a plan of jumping off in two years.  

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Nautical Terms Relating to Sails, Rigs and Sailing.

Nautical terminology is confusing for not-so-salty boatbuilders and sailors. Here is the result of my research on sail terminology

If you plan to do any reading on sails and sailing you will need to know these sail terms or at least where to find the meanings. HERE!

If you want me to add another word, just send me an email and I'll add it. I'm hoping here to include the most important terms used to describe sails and sailing and to make it easier for folks who are trying to read and are getting bogged down with the terminology.

The drawings are mine, I'm not a terrific illustrator. Add a new word.

Many beginning boat builders and not so novice find sail terminology confusing, you are not alone.

Test your knowledge with my Sail Quiz

Sail words defined.

I try to be accurate and check my information, but mistakes happen. I don't pretend to be complete either.

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Adventure sailing is right outside your door. Plan a customizable sailing trek that takes you up the East Coast, through the Great Lakes and back down to the Gulf on your sailboat of choice.

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A Beginner's Guide to Sailing a Sailboat

Key Information for Beginners and Sailors

There are many ways to learn to sail:

• You can just jump in a boat with a friend and try to learn from experience
• You can sign up for a formal course at a sailing school
• You can buy or borrow a small sailboat and do it all on your own

No matter which way works best for you, it helps to understand the boat and what's involved in sailing first before you're out on the water, where suddenly you might get into trouble.

The Basic Steps of Sailing

Sailing involves both specific knowledge and skills. The following are the basic steps of learning to sail- as much as you can learn while not actually on a boat. You don't have to follow this order; skip ahead if you already know some of the basics. If you're mostly new to sailing, you might want to proceed through these steps like chapters in a manual.

• Understand Basic Sailing Terms. To get into sailing, you have to understand the words that are used to talk about the sailboat and the skills used to sail. Start here with a review of basic sailing terms. Don't worry about memorizing everything as many of these terms and concepts will become clearer as you read on about how to do it.
• Learn the Parts of the Boat. Before you go on the boat, it's helpful to know the words used in different parts of the boat. Even if you have an instructor, he or she won't say "Grab that rope over there and pull it," but instead will say "Haul in the jib sheet!" Review the basic boat terms you'll need to know.
• Start an Online Course. Now you're ready to learn more about what all those parts of the boat are used for. Here you can start an online learn-to-sail course by learning more about the parts of the boat along with a lot of photos, so you'll see what to do.
• Rig the Boat. Read to go sailing now? Hold it a minute- you have to rig the boat first by putting on sails and making other preparations. Here again are a lot of photos of what to do on a typical small sailboat used by beginners.
• Review Basic Sailing Techniques. OK, now you have the boat ready- so what do you do now to make it go? Manage the sails to go in the direction you want by learning basic sailing techniques.
• Discover How to Maneuver. Sailing in a set direction is reasonably easy, but eventually, you'll have to change direction. That often involves tacking and gybing. Take a moment to learn what's involved in these critical maneuvers.
• Recover From a Capsize. Now you've got the basics down. But did anyone ever tell you that small sailboats often tip over if the wind is gusting? Be prepared and carefully see how to recover from a capsize .
• Dock or Anchor the Boat. Now you're out there sailing and you've got the boat under control. Learn how to go faster, dock or anchor the boat and use some of the equipment you've ignored so far. Take a look at some of these additional sailing skills.
• Practice Tying Knots.  For thousands of years, sailors have used times where it is cold or raining by doing things like tying knots. Knots are important on a sailboat and you will need to learn at least some basic sailing knots to sail at all.
• Sail Safely. At this point, plus practice on the water, you're good to go. However, it's good to remember that water is a dangerous place. Learn the basics about sailing safety. Staying safe makes it easier to keep having fun out there.

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Wally Just Launched Its First 110-Foot Sailing Yacht

The new wallywind110 hit the water on june 1, with the second hull to follow soon., rachel cormack.

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Wally Yachts is entering a new sailing era.

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Founded by Italian entrepreneur Luca Bassani in 1994, Wally initially specialized in sailing boats but has since expanded into building high-tech motor yachts . The new wallywind110, which was fittingly launched on the yard’s 30th anniversary, honors that sailing legacy yet is thoroughly modern in design.

Measuring 100 feet from sheer bow to open stern, the newcomer features a sleek carbon hull, a low-profile coachroof, twin rudders, and a telescopic keel. Showcasing naval architecture German firm Judel/Vrolijk & Co, the first hull is finished in a bright metallic paint that changes color depending on the light.

Wally’s in-house design team worked with Italian firm Santa Maria Magnolfi to create an exterior and interior with a spacious feel. The team decided to relocate all the technical equipment to the stern in order to create a large, 860-square-foot cockpit comparable to that of a sailing superyacht of 197 feet or more. The interior layout includes multiple entertaining areas, an open-plan salon, a full-beam owner’s cabin, three guest cabins, an office, and accommodation for five crew.

The second wallywind110 is already under construction, with delivery expected soon.

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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Coast Guard, Navy track Russian ships on ‘long-distance missions’ sailing near Florida en route to Cuba

W ASHINGTON – A flotilla of Russian warships passed within hailing distance of Florida’s eastern coastline Tuesday, with the US Navy and Coast Guard following close behind, according to open-source maritime and air tracking information.

The Coast Guard Cutter Stone, Navy guided-missile destroyers USS Truxtun and USS Donald Cook, and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec sailed after four Russian vessels reportedly headed to Cuba, according to online maritime trackers including VesselFinder.

A Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was also spotted in the region.

The Russian flotilla , which includes the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, tanker Akademik Pashin, rescue tug Nikolai Chiker and nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, is expected to make a port visit to Havana Wednesday through Monday.

The group left Severomorsk, Russia in May with plans to spend several months performing “long-distance missions” across the world “to show the flag and ensure a naval presence in operationally important areas of the far ocean zone,” according to Russian state media agency Tass.

Moscow’s presence so close to US shores comes as representatives of nearly 100 countries across the world prepare to attend this weekend’s Ukraine Peace Summit in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the United States in lieu of President Biden.

The meeting – to which Russia was not invited – was arranged by the Swiss and Ukrainian governments with the intention to develop a pathway to end the war in Ukraine.

The Navy and Coast Guard did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

However, the Navy’s 2nd Fleet, which covers the Atlantic Ocean, announced Thursday on X that the Truxton as well as the Coast Guard and Canadian ships were conducting “joint ops in the Atlantic.”