Student
Kenneth Sherwood
Indiana, PA, USA
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Skipper Level II
Status: Sailor
Qualified days: 26
Posted 2024, Oct 01 04:36
I'm not sure this follows for me: "Adjust the jib lead car forward if the top inner telltales stall."
The way I think about this, if the upper telltales stall, doesn't that mean the upper leach is hooking in, curved too tight? Don't I want to ove the jib car aft, to allow a little twist up top with the same sheet tension?
Student
Michael Kamfonas
Devon, PA, USA
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Qualified Crew Member Level I
Status: Big Time Sailor
Qualified days: 14
Posted 2024, Oct 09 19:46
The third step depends on the upper telltales. If they are fluttering on the leeward side of the sail, we ease the mainsheet to allow the boom to rise and cause the top of the sail to twist. If they fluttered on the windward side, we tighten the mainsheet to bring down the boom and consequently tighten the leech.
Since the Vang holds the boom down to a certain level, would easing the sheet also require us to loosen the Vang to achieve adequate lifting of the boom to cause the twist? If so, would it be desirable to tighten the vang when we tighten the sheet?
Student
Dragan Karajovic
Toronto, ON, Canada
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Crew Level 0
Status: Sailor
Qualified days: 7
Posted 2025, Feb 16 20:46
I wish this paragraph was written in a more understanding way.
Figure 1.2-1 Animation of a Car Moving in Wind
Just one thing to note which you'll use later on in this sailing course. Observe that the true wind is always coming more from the back end of the car. It's the same on a boat. When you're moving along and point to where the apparent wind is coming from, the real true wind will be coming from further towards the back of the boat. As a general (really general) rule of thumb (unless you're going downwind), if you point about 15 degrees back from the apparent wind - that's about (double about) the direction of the true wind. The true wind is said to be "Aft" of the apparent wind.
Student
Dorian Swerdlow
White Plains, NY, USA
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Captain Level IV
Status: Really Big Time Sailor
Qualified days: 169
Posted 2025, Mar 05 22:09
I'm not convinced that reefing the jib will always decrease weather helm as stated in the text. The jib's COE does move forward, but it also gets smaller and is less able to counter the COE of main. Imagine rolling up the jib all the way. There would be no force at all to counter the main. At some point when rolling up the jib, the weather helm would increase. I suppose partially furling a large genoa could decrease weather helm, because the part of the sail that disappears was pretty far aft to begin with.
Student
Dorian Swerdlow
White Plains, NY, USA
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Captain Level IV
Status: Really Big Time Sailor
Qualified days: 169
Posted 2025, Mar 05 22:13
The text says to fasten the reefing ties (in the middle of the mainsail) around the boom. With a loose-footed mainsail, the reefing ties should just bundle up the loose sailcloth without going around the boom. This is because the part of the sail with the reefing ties has limited reinforcement and is not designed to take the stress of holding the sail to the boom.
Student
Dorian Swerdlow
White Plains, NY, USA
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Captain Level IV
Status: Really Big Time Sailor
Qualified days: 169
Posted 2025, Mar 06 15:41
The combined lift to windward of the hull, keel, and rudder must equal the force to leeward from the wind. You know the forces are balanced because the boat is not accelerating or decelerating sideways (although it will be slipping slightly sideways at a constant speed to leeward -- that's leeway).
With a little bit of weather helm, the extra lift generated by the rudder (to keep the boat on course) will reduce the lift needed from the keel by an equal amount. Therefore, the little bit of drag on the rudder is somewhat offset by reduced drag on the keel.
However, if the boat experiences lee helm, then the lift generated by the rudder (to keep the boat on course) is in the opposite direction from the lift generated by the keel. Therefore, the keel will have to generate more lift to balance the leeward push of the wind. This will increase overall drag and slow the boat. Even though the lift from the rudder and keel are in opposite directions, the drag is the same direction -- backwards!
