Yachts & Yachting – April 2018

GYBES

in so that the sail fills smoothly. In

lighter winds this usually involves the

foredeck crew physically dragging

the sheet aft along the side deck.

INSIDE GYBES

Inside gybes are predominately a

light to medium air manoeuvre;

remember you’re likely to be turning

the boat through a large angle.

The timing of the steering is important

with an inside gybe: don’t bring the

stern of the boat through the wind

until the clew of the sail has been

pulled to windward of the forestay.

After that you can bring the boat

smartly through dead downwind

and onto the new course. Delay

gybing the main for as long as

possible to give the kite clear wind.

OUTSIDE GYBES

The clew of the kite should be

downwind of its luff before the stern

of the boat is turned through the

wind – the sail will (momentarily) flap

ahead of the boat. Outside gybes are

not so easy in lighter breezes – there

simply isn’t enough apparent wind

to overcome the drag on the sheets

and blow the sail ahead of the boat.

In some cases outside gybes may

involve turning the boat through less

than 40 degrees, but timing the turn

is still critical. In heavy weather and

planing conditions the boat will be

turned through larger angles, helping to

keep boat speed up, giving easier control

and reducing apparent wind. However, in

a breeze don’t head up too high after the

manoeuvre as doing so risks a broach.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Mistakes invariably stem from: lack of

preparation; ineffective communication;

steering errors; timing errors.

One problem that stems from lack

of preparation is the working sheet not

being free to run out smoothly. The

trimmer confirming the line is ready to

go is a crucial part of the comms before

the manoeuvre is initiated. The new sheet

needs to come on as quickly as possible,

pulling in by hand before a final winch.

Roles

1. HELM
   Accurate steering makes for easy gybes,
   but it’s easy to get distracted, which then
   makes the manoeuvre more difficult
   for the rest of the team. This also risks
   wrapping the sail, especially when
   offshore in a quartering sea. If there’s a
   hold up don’t keep sailing close to a dead
   downwind course – head back up to
   bring the apparent wind further forward
   to stop the sail collapsing prematurely.
   Aim for a smooth turn, watching
   carefully both the changing wind
   angle and the point at which the clew
   is pulled around the forestay, before
   bringing the stern through the wind and
   completing the turn. If there’s a snag,
   don’t keep turning the boat irrespective
   of what’s happening to the sail – as with
   a symmetric spinnaker, match the turn
   to what’s happening with the sail.


2. SPINNAKER TRIMMERS
   Good coordination is important here, so
   that the new sheet is being tailed from
   the moment the old one is released. It
   sounds simple, but when there’s a lot
   going on it’s easy to get distracted.


3. BOW/MAST
   While the foredeck team has a much
   less complex job than when gybing

KEELBOAT PLAYBOOK^ GYBES

If there is a snag, don’t keep

turning the boat... Match the turn to

what’s happening with the sail

April 2018 Yachts & Yachting 53