Sail Trim

I've heard that you can steer a boat with just the sails. But I don't know too many sailors who take their boat out without a rudder.

Sails can be used in two ways. Either like a kite or a wing. When the wind is behind a boat, the sails catch the wind and the boat is pushed downwind. As a boat turns into the wind, the sails change from kites to wings. The wind produces lift which propels the boat. Sailboats can even sail towards the wind. Although catamarans in general, and mine in particular, don't do this very well.

The sails, as I was trying to use them today, were like a kite. I wanted them to catch the wind and pull me. Unfortunately, with the amount of wind and waves today, I was having a tough time keeping on that point of sail. The boat kept turning into the wind, and when it did, my sails were converted from kites to wings.

A few times, the wings caught the wind and turned the boat all the way into the wind. This is called being in irons. The sails are then no longer a wing. They are more like a wind vane. They luff, keeping the boat pointed into the wind and making no forward progress.

The problem was that I had the mainsail in tighter than I should have. I had it in relatively tight because I live in fear of the accidental jibe. A jibe is when the wind catches the back of the mainsail and swings the boom across the boat. An unplanned jibe can be quite violent, and has been known to dismast a boat or two.

I let the sails further out and no longer had as much of a steering problem. If the sails turned into wings, they did so for a shorter period of time, and produced less lift. I was now able to turn the boat back on course, and no longer went into irons.

I got a lesson in sail trim today, courtesy of the sea. Did a lot of distance, just not really in one particular direction.