HANDS-ON SAILORjune/july 2018cruisingworld.com73so. Every boat is different, and
no rule fi ts every situation,
but take it on faith that these
are ballpark fi gures. Pick your
own numbers, but be conser-
vative, watch the wind speedo
(hopefully it’s been calibrated)
and stick to your rules till you
know your boat well.
Do you put in the fi rst reef
at 18 knots true or apparent?
Great question. Most cats pick
up a lot of speed when they
head downwind. This exagger-
ates the difference between
true-and apparent-wind speed.
You’ll especially notice this
if you have set a gennaker
or spinnaker and the wind is
building. If you head up even a
few degrees on these sails, the
apparent-wind speed builds so
fast you might have a shredded
sail quicker than you can say
“snap fi ll.”
Write your reefi ng-guide
checklist with true-wind speed
in mind, and make a note to
clearly understand how your
boat’s speed and heading af-
fect apparent-wind speed and
angle. Then make a note on
the dashboard for downwind
drivers: “Steer down in a puff.”
The deeper downwind angle
you sail, the less the apparent
wind. And vice versa.
Most catamarans have
shrouds placed far aft, and no
backstay. That means the boom
cannot swing out as far as on
typical monohulls, and there-
fore the jibe angle is smaller.
The boat has a narrower range
of downwind sailing angles. For
this reason, and a few other
architectural ones, cat sailors
don’t often sail dead down-
wind, at least not with the main
up. It’s a big sail, with lots of
roach in the leech; long, heavy
battens; and, on many boats, a
traveler that’s 10 or more feet
long. When you jibe one of
these accidentally in 25 knots,
it’s like lifting a cat by the tail:
You discover new things that
can’t be learned any other way.
A lot of good sailors will
say you can’t reef that big sail
when it’s loaded on a run. But
something about turning into
a huge following sea is a mo-
tivator to try. When you turn
into the wind to reef, and start
taking big waves on the beam,even though you know that in
theory your boat was designed
not to capsize, all your senses
will scream, “We’re going over!”
So before you get caught
out in 20-foot seas with too
much canvas up, it’s best to
learn how to reef the big main
while sailing hard, downwind.DOWNWIND BASICS
You can work out the basic
moves and hardware at the
dock. But to feel the pressure,
the friction you’re up against
when sailing on a run, it’s good
to have a long stretch of wide,
fl at water and at least 15 knots
of steady breeze.
If you have the luxury of
crew, this is the time to put
your best downwind driver at
the wheel. If you are cruising
alone, or with a mate, your au-
topilot is your best friend and
the most important piece of
gear on the boat. Most auto-
pilots have a wind function;
instead of a magnetic head-
ing, they will steer to an ap-
parent- wind direction. This is
where you learn to use it, adjust
it and trust it. The boat has to
maintain a rock-solid wind an-
gle, and you need to be able to
tweak it a few degrees, up or
down, and trust it won’t lurch
into a round-down wild jibe.
Before you punch the au-
topilot into duty, set your
heading and sail trim on a
deep downwind angle that’s
balanced and easy to steer.
If you’re struggling, zigging
off and zagging back, fi ght-
ing a heavy wheel, the pilot
will struggle too. Eventually
something will break. If your
heading swings too far, the
autopilot may give up trying
to hold course and eventual-
ly switch itself off. (There’s a
Catch-22 to all this: If you’re
overpowered and out of bal-
ance, it’s hard to safely reef be-
cause it’s hard to hold course.
But this is when you need
that reef the most. Practice in
lighter breeze and work up to
the big stuff. And learn to reef
sooner rather than later.)
Even in lighter wind, with
the main sheeted out and trav-
eler down, there’s plenty of
friction on the mainsail’s luff
cars. The sail likely won’t comeThe reef line tensions the foot of the sail by pulling the
leech down and aft (top). The reef line shouldn’t be tied to
the boom but should wrap around it and be passed though
a loop at its end, made with a bowline (center). Mark the
main halyard with a piece of thread or tape at the fi rst reef
point to make shortening sail easier (bottom).
DON MARGRAF