Home / Seamanship / Sailing manoeuvres and deck work
Manoeuvres are agreements, not tricks
A manoeuvre rarely fails on skill. It fails because two people on board had different ideas about what happens next. So every manoeuvre starts with the words and only then with the hands.
Tacking and gybing
The call is "Ready about?" and, after the answer, "Lee oh!". The point is not the formality but that everyone on board knows which movement follows which word. In a gybe the main crosses with the wind aft: sheet in under control, never let it slam across.
Reefing in good time
The rule of thumb: the first time you think about it, it is time. A reef taken calmly costs five minutes. The same reef an hour later costs nerves, and sometimes a sail.
Heaving to
Backed jib, helm to windward, main eased: the boat comes almost to a stop and lies quietly. For a meal, for a reef, for a think, and as the first thing to do when something goes wrong on deck.
Man overboard
First press the MOB button on the plotter and post a lookout who does nothing but keep watching. Then sail the drill you have practised. Which drill matters less than that the crew knows it.
Sail trim
Sheet, traveller, twist in the mainsail, cunningham, backstay. Trim is not only speed: a well trimmed boat heels less, holds her course better and puts less load into rig and fittings.
Getting ready for sea
Before letting go, lash everything down, close hatches and seacocks, check the bilge, stow loose gear below. What lies around in force three flies in force six.
What this has to do with insurance
On an older boat the rig is the most expensive single item after the hull, and it is where providers differ most sharply. Some exclude damage to mast, boom, standing and running rigging together with any consequential loss. Check that one line before you set two premiums side by side: in a real loss it decides more money than the difference in premium does.
