Cruising World - June 2018

O

BAA

D

4

2 0 1 82 0 1 8

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS and TECHNIQUES

HANDS-ON SAILOR

june/july 2018

cruisingworld.com

71

C

R

U

IS

IN

G

WORLD•HA

N

D

S

• O
  NNNN
  SSS
  A
  LLL
  RRR
  EE••
  HHSSILBAAAATTTS

DDDDDEEE

(^9991)
7
4

SEAMANSHIP

I

n monohull sailing, when

you leave too much sail

up in a building breeze the

signs are clear: The rail is

underwater, the dishes are on

the fl oor, Grandma is terri-

fi ed. The boat is dealing with

excess energy by trying to

lever a 5-ton lead weight out of

the water; in other words, it’s

heeling, spilling breeze, slow-

ing down and rounding up.

Multihulls don’t behave

that way. When you overpow-

er a cat, it can only accelerate,

dig a hole in the water or bust

gear. No-heel sailing has a lot

of advantages, but one draw-

back is the temptation to sail

badly. You might easily go sail-

ing with breakfast dishes on

the table and postpone reefi ng

until you’ve cleaned things up.

In the meantime, the breeze

is on, the boat’s impossible to

steer and you shred a sail. One

key to safe catamaran sailing

is to learn when — and how —

to reduce sail.

The best place to learn how

to tuck in a reef is at the dock.

Pick a morning with zero wind,

and hoist. Practice reefi ng and

un-reefi ng till you can do it in

less than three minutes, blind-

folded. If something jams or

snags, stop. Find the source,

fi gure out the cause and fi x it.

Look for inherent weak spots,

chafe areas and jammed lines

or sail slides. Study the whole

system in slow motion and

imagine how it will behave in

howling wind, thrashing seas or

on pitch-dark nights.

With the main down and

fl aked on the boom, go to the

mast and haul up the main hal-

yard, hoisting the sail as far as

you can with two hands and no

winch. Let it drop. Repeat and

get a feel for the amount of fric-

1 REEFING MADNESS

5

Heat Attack

PAGE 82

4

Cuba Rules

PAGE 80

3

All Cooked Up

PAGE 78

2

Made for Multihulls

PAGE 76

JUNE/JULY 2018

Learn to tame a cat’s big main in calm conditions so you’ll be ready when the wind dogs howl.

BY DON MARGRAF

Cruising catamarans don’t

heel, so sails can become

overpowered, making steer-

ing diffi cult. The antidote:

Practice reefi ng main and

jib before the wind builds.

BILLY BLACK

1

Reefing Madness

PAGE 71