From: guido@blink.att.com (Guido Bertocci)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Sailing into a slip
Date: 6 Oct 92 15:31:51 GMT
Organization: AT&T

jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes) writes:

>   Why not drop sails on the way in? Because the Tornado has an amazing main
>halyard: basically the halyard leads to a ring which has a shackle beneath it
>that attaches to the sail. You hoist as might be expected, and the ring hooks
>over a little prong that sticks out aft at the masthead. You release the
>tension on the halyard, and your sail stays up. How do you get it down? Pull
>really hard on the halyard, lifting up the ring, and then rotate the mast about
>80 degrees (Tornado masts rotate on a ball at their step). This sometimes moves
>the prong out of the ring, allowing you to drop the sail. Sometimes it doesn't,
>and you get to try again. And again... Not something you'd like to count on in
>a critical moment. You *can* drop the main far away, in open water, and then
>sail in under jib alone. But you can't drop the jib easily, either. Did I
>mention the zipper luff on the jib? It's not a roller, it's not hanked
>on---it's *zipped* around the forestay. What a loony design! But it *does* 
>give a smooth entry for the sail. 

Maybe you could try taking your main down the same way a Star did.
On a fairly windy day a Star was coming rapidly downwind on a broad reach
and was weaving between anchored boats to get to the dock.
The skipper was a relative novice and proceeded to accidently jibe
while trying to avoid an anchored boat.  The crew failed to get
the new runner on quickly while at the same time the 
boat heeled after the jibe.  The mast just knicked the shroud of the
anchored boat.  Needless to say the entire Star mast came down
with the main.  With most of the rig in the water, the Star slowed down
nicely and drifted slowly into the dock for a perfect landing.  
(For Tom, this happened at West River a few years ago).

However, if you are coming into a dock where you will end up head to wind I
strongly recommend against dropping your sails particularly if there
is a significant breeze.  (We are talking about dinghies without motors).
If you end up a little short you have no way of regaining control.
(You could try sculling or paddling like mad).  The only time I
drop the main before docking is if I'm landing on a lee shore or ramp
and I will have to stand in the water while the crew gets the dolly.
Even in very crowded landings on windy days I'll keep the main
up until I've made contact with the dock or the crew is standing
in the water holding the boat.  I will have the halyard ready to
drop the main quickly.  With the main up and the jib rolled
an FD is fairly easy to hold in place by trimming slightly to
get steerage way and then pointing back up and then letting the boat
drift backwards.  While going backwards you turn to fall back onto
a tack and repeat the process.  If necessary you can alternate tacks
so you stay almost completely in place.  This works fairly easily
in even 25-30 knots even though the main will make quite a racket
when luffing.  Pulling up the centerboard about 1/3 will help balance the
boat and make it easier to get out of irons.
After races you often have a lot of boats trying to get out of the 
water at the same time so it is important to know how to stand 
still while waiting your turn.

This will generally not work on bigger boats since they will slip
a lot sideways before regaining speed and control. Big boats also tend
to back down rather poorly.
Newsgroups: rec.boats