Sail - July 2018

SAIL MAGAZINE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

DICKEVERITT.COM

Taming

the Gybe

By Dick Everitt

A

An accidental gybe can be very danger-

ous—an old friend of mine was killed by the

boom slamming across. The whole crew

must therefore be warned about the pos-

sibilities of being hit by flying lines or a

rogue traveller whizzing across the track. A

bad gybe can also damage the sail, track

ends or gooseneck. It can even bring down

the entire mast.

B

There are several designs of boom

brake that add friction and slow the boom

crossing the boat.

C

A preventer is a line led forward to stop

the main gybing. Rigging it via a snatch

block means it can be adjusted from the

cockpit. Using a nylon line means it stretch-

es if you dip the boom in the water. Be-

ware: moving a kicking strap to the rail can

cause the boom to break.

D

When a boat gybes, the offset force of

the sail and the heeled underwater shape

of the hull can turn the boat. In extremis, it

can go sideways or even broach.

E

Be careful steering downwind: watch

the wind indicators or, better still, feel the

breeze on the back of your neck. If the end

of the boom starts to lift, steer to wind-

ward. An aide-memoire is “tiller toward or

wheel away” from the boom. A controlled

gybe can be done in different ways, but a

common approach is to...

F

Secure the mainsheet traveller so that it

doesn’t slam across, then pull in the kicking

strap to keep the boom down.

G

Haul in the mainsheet. When the boom

end is roughly on the quarter, start to steer

through the gybe.

H

When the boom is amidships, some

skippers release the mainsheet and let the

friction in the blocks slow the boom down

as the sheet runs free. Others prefer to pull

the main amidships, so that the sail stalls,

and then let it out under more control. To

prevent a broach (as in D) it might be nec-

essary to “catch” the turn by steering the

other way slightly.

Dick Everitt has sailed thousands of miles

in various parts of the world. He has been

an illustrator, journalist and engineer for

more than 40 years

B

C

D

E

A

G

H

F

ON DECK SKETCHBOOK