Wichita eagle., 1889-06-16
the paeasantesto Of all sails-a beat to wind

rorrue paeasantest Of all sails-a beat to wind
ward
You are now on the ssarboard tack, sails
trimmed to port tmany yachtsmen who ought
to know better get this mixed up and are
close hauled If the wind b down the river
and you are beating up. you go as close to
shore as the depth of water viii justify and
get ready TO go about On the port tack
The order is Ready about" or "Stand by
for stays according to the sweet viii of the
skipper" The jib sheet man then gets down
to leeward, where the Jb sheet is made fast,
the foremost hand goes forward TO clear up
and the main sheet man looks out TO see that
that the main sheet does not foul as it comes
over, or to take in little slack when the
strain is off if the skipper wants the u,ainsal
any fatter
When you see that each one is at his post
keep the boat away trihe 10 give her good
Roadway going around, then sing out Hard
a-lee," and down helm Not hard down right
away, however, for that gives the boat an
unnecessary drag with the rudder across her
stern; give her the helm gradually as she loses
Roadway and comes into the wind The man
at the lib sheets must not let them go by the
run, as is too often done, but slack off on
until he begins to draw away on the other.
This viii prevent the jib from flying away
out. and will also enable the boat to keep
her Roadway much better, very important
thing in this maneuver, both for safety and
for speed
In fact, right here it may be said that a
person who has charge Of a boat, large or
small, cannot have too firmly impressed upon
ing through the water. Most accidents come,
as will be explained more in detail in a later
article, from the loss OF Roadway. The rud-
der has no power over boat standing still,
though it has the most perfect control Of a
boat going ahead, and the faster she goes the
more control the rudder has.
Then care must be exercised in filling away,
both by the helmsman and the jib sheet man,
not to allow the boat to pay off TOO far when
the jib has first been trimmed. If she goes
of too far and viii not Immediately mind
the helm to steady her, ease up on the jib
sheet and trim down again when she has
gathered way sufficient TO give helmsman
control.
After having made number of stretches
in this way, suppose that you conclude you
want 10 go straight across the river. The
beam wind, which, as the name signifies, is
a wind blowing directly across the course Of
the yacht You will pull up your center
board some very fat boats need little
board with beam wind and start" i. G.,
slack out your main and jib sheets. If the
wind is light your main boom should go out
TO an angle of about forty degrees to the
keel, if fresh it must come in considerably
H. It'll - +rt-,, 70 bort
the same angle, though this must be de-
ter1nined largely by how the boat steers; if
she carries too hard a helm the jib shorld be
fattened to keep her off; if she carries it
alec it must be slackened or the mainsail fiat
tened in some to give her the right helm. A
yacht should always carry a weather helm,
except. possibly, in the highest kind Of
weather.
You want to go straight down the river
for a while Stick OUT your main sheet
until your main boom is out to your rigging.
Then be sure you ''steer steady' a perfectly
straight course down the river, for If you do
not you are liable to perform a very Tub
berly act-aIlow your mainsail TO gybe with
out being ready for it.
GYBISG.
This is delicate maneuver and is often at
lended, through lSIlOItAuce VI CdreltasuesS,
with disagreeable results 1t consists-in
sloop-of changing the mainsal from one
side to the other while the yacht is before
the wind. The man at the helm must hold
his course straight down the river, while the
mainsheet man, REINFORCED by the jibsheet
man, hauls in the mainsheet. He does this
handsomely until the mainboom is In to
about the same place where if is trimmed
for full and bye"
Then the man who is helping him catches
turn, the helmsman puts his helm up slightly,
the boats head swings slowly to starboard,
the wind catches the mainsal on the star
board side and throws it across the stern.
But it cannot go far nor get much Roadway
TO rip things up, which 1t sometimes does,
because it has been hauled in so short, and
because of the turn ON the cleat. Then
having perfect control Of both boat and sail,