see it clearly

How to Sail a Boat

The wind has four different effects on a sailboat, which must be understood by the amateur sailor before he can begin to see why his boat performs differently under different conditions of wind and sailing course.

The wind drives the boat ahead-most important of all; it also drives it laterally or, to speak in a nautical term, causes it to "make leeway"; it heels the boat over, and lastly, turns it around, according to the balance of her sails, distribution of weight, and what is known as the "center of lateral resistance." The proper handling of sails and rudder is what enables the sailor to so utilize these effects of the wind that he may sail his boat in any direction.

The propelling effect is the one most utilized, and it is for this reason that every boat is constructed to offer the least resistance to its forward movement with as little friction as possible.

Leeway is one effect to be avoided, and for this purpose boats are given either deep, stationary keels or centerboards, or some other device for providing an extensive lateral surface below the water.

Heeling and the stability of a boat go hand in hand. The boat must be prevented from capsizing, and this is done either by putting lead or iron on the keel, or carrying ballast in the hull in order to lower the center of gravity, or by building a broad and shallow boat such as the cat boat, which is very stiff in a breeze and does not heel readily, but when a certain point has been reached, is apt to capsize quickly in the hands of an unskillful sailor.

The fourth effect is that of turning the boat around. This is done when the center of effort on the sails does not come on a line with the center of lateral resistance. This is always the case in a poorly balanced boat. A well-balanced boat requires very little movement of the rudder to hold to a course.

Any novice can understand how a sailing boat can travel with the wind, but why it should go forward when the sails are close hauled is a question of dynamics which we will not try to explain in this short article. An easily understood explanation of why boats go ahead instead of sideways can be made by taking a V-shaped block of wood and pressing it between the thumb and forefinger. If sufficient force is used it shoots forward quickly. The thumb may be likened to the wind and the forefinger to the water on the opposite side of the boat. The pressure caused by the wind pushing the boat against the water on the opposite side causes the boat to go forward.

The center of effort and center of lateral resistance must be understood in the handling of a sailboat. The center of effort is the center of the total sail area. If, for example, this comes forward of the center of lateral resistance when the boat is sailing with the wind abeam, then the side pressure on the sails will turn the boat's bow in the direction toward which the wind is blowing, or away from the wind, and a boat doing this is said to carry a "lee helm."

On the other hand, if the center of lateral resistance is farther forward than the center of effort, the wind will swing the boat in the direction in which it is blowing, thus throwing the bow up into the wind. A boat doing this is said to carry a weather helm. Every sailing boat should be so rigged as to carry a little weather helm, as, if struck by a squall under those conditions, it will luff quickly up into the wind and so be in safety, while if the lee helm is carried, the boat will fall off before the wind, presenting a broadside to wind and wave which is very apt to cause it to capsize.

Too much weather helm is also to be avoided, as it makes it necessary to keep the rudder over at a sharp angle and retards the progress of the boat.

To reduce weather helm, move the ballast aft or shorten the after canvas, or increase the forward canvas by setting a larger jib. If a boat carries a lee helm, shift the ballast forward or reduce the area of the head canvas.

In considering the action of the rudder, the amateur sailor should bear in mind that as the boat is turned by the rudder, it swings as on a pivot. The water, pressing against one side of the rudder, pushes the stern of the boat away from that side.

The pivot or turning point is always well forward of the center. This is a fact that should be remembered when steering close to a boat or other object. Don't delay turning out of the way too long, or the very act of turning your boat will throw the stern over sufficiently to cause the collision you are trying to avoid.

Running before the wind may look like the ideal course to the amateur sailor, but a little experience cures him of that belief. Steering is difficult when running with the wind aft, especially in rough water, and there is danger of the sail gybing over when least expected. Except on smooth water it is better to haul the boat up so as to have the wind on the quarter, and after following that course for some distance, to "take the other track", gybe over so as to bring the wind on the other quarter. The proper location or direction of the boom, or, in a nautical term, how the sail should be trimmed is of supreme importance. The wind on the quarter, the wind abaft the beam, the wind abeam or directly at right angles with the boat, and the wind forward of the beam.are what are known as favorable winds, the sheet being hauled in such proportion as to give the best results. These positions all refer to a boat when it is what is termed "sailing free."

To sail "close hauled" means to bring the boat up as close into the wind as possible and still keep it on its course, with the wind filling the sail so as to drive it forward. A properly built boat will lie within four or four and a half points of the wind, while some, especially those built on racing models, will do even better than this. Figure 6 shows about the proper location of the boom when sailing close hauled. The wind striking the sail at this angle will drive the boat forward and maintain a reasonable degree of speed, while to haul it closer would increase the leeway until, if the sail were hauled parallel with the keel, the only progress made would be to leeward. Most boats will sail closer to the wind in smooth water than in a rough sea.

When sailing close hauled, it is necessary to hold the boat on a course that will just nicely keep the sail filled with wind. This point can be ascertained by putting the helm slowly to the leeward. As soon as the sail begins to shake near the head, you have reached a point where it is not drawing as much as it should, and, if the helm is kept down, the sail will begin to flap in the wind and the boat will lose headway. A little practice will enable an amateur skipper to see the beginning of this "tremble" in the sail, and at the first symptoms he must reverse the helm until the wind fills the sails fairly.