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PRACTICAL SEAMANSHIP

Chris Beeson is an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore with 40,000 coastal and ocean miles logged on a variety of sailing yachts

Coming

onto a

windward

berth solo

36 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com MARCH 2016

W

hen Yachtmaster

Instructor and

YM reader Colm

Cleary wrote in

explaining how you

can rig a stern slip and power off

a tight leeward berth using the

engine (‘Spronging off’ against

the wind Aug 15), we got quite a

response. Some readers tried it

and were impressed that such

a simple technique worked so

well, others wondered why we

hadn’t heard of a stern rope or

seen it used in that way.

We’ve showed how to use a stern rope to leave

a leeward berth, Chris Beeson reports on an

easy way to moor alongside a windward berth

One YM reader, David Vasey,

wrote in to say it was almost the

same procedure, in reverse, that

he’d seen Dutch sailors use to

come alongside when the wind

is blowing off the berth (Letters,

November 2015). We made a

mental note to give it a whirl the

next time we were on the coast

and we’re happy to say it works

like a charm.

The problem this technique

addresses is that, with a

windward berth, it can be diffi cult

to make your usual approach

WIND WIND

as the bow keeps getting blown

off the berth before you have a

chance to get a bow line onto the

pontoon. However, your boat will

sit very happily with her stern into

the wind, and this method allows

you to creep up to the pontoon

with the wind right over the

transom, drop a bight of line over

a cleat, then use the power of the

engine and the propwash on the

rudder to force the boat into the

wind and onto the berth. Once

Using the engine to beat the wind

Engage forward with the helm hard over and, with enough revs, the

bow will inch onto the pontoon. Once alongside, leave her in forward,

tie off the tiller, step onto the pontoon and secure the bow line

Once you’ve checked the wind angle, you’ll know which side ‘to’ the

boat will be. Put a big fender on the nearside quarter, rig a bight of

stern line, approach astern and drop the bight over a cleat

GRAPHICS: MAXINE HEATH

alongside, lash the tiller over, with

the engine still in forward gear,

step onto the pontoon and secure

your bow line.

Getting ready

In terms of preparation, you’ll

need a big fender on the nearside

quarter and a stern rope rigged

as a bight, or loop, again on the

nearside. Rig a bow line forward

and lead it back along the

lifelines so you can grab it from

the pontoon, and you’re ready to

come alongside. W

With the bight dropped onto a cleat,

Kieran engages forward gear, puts the

helm hard over and lets physics do the rest