THERE IS
an old nautical truism to the effect that a
haystack will sail well to leeward, but that it takes
a correctly modeled vessel to beat to windward. It is
easy to comprehend how a straw hat thrown into a pond
on its northerly edge will, under the influence of a
brisk breeze from the north, make a fast passage to
the southerly bank. It is more difficult to understand
how the same straw hat, if put into the water at the
southerly end of the pond, might be so maneuvered as
to make a passage to the northern extremity of the
sheet of water, though the wind continued to pipe from
the north. This was, no doubt, a tough nut for the
early navigators to crack, and the problem may have
taken centuries to solve.
The paddle was naturally the first means of
propelling a rude craft through the water, and the
ingenious savage (probably an indolent rascal) who
discovered that a bough of a tree, or the skin of a
beast extended to a favoring breeze, would produce the
same effect as constant and laborious plying of
paddles, was presumably hailed as a benefactor by his
tribe. But this device, artful no doubt in its
inception, was only of avail while the wind blew
towards the quarter in which the destination of the
enterprising voyager lay. If the wind drew ahead, or
dropped, the skin or leafy bough was no longer of use
as a labor-saving contrivance, and the wearisome
paddle was necessarily resumed.
The primitive square sail of antiquity embodies the
same principle as that governing the motion through
the water of the modem full-rigged ship, which is
admirably adapted for efficient beating to windward,
or sailing against the wind. Superiority in this
branch of sailing is the crucial test of every vessel
whose propelling power is derived from canvas, and the
shipbuilders and sailmakers of all seafaring nations
have vied with each other for centuries to secure the
desired perfection.
Beating to windward may be described as the method
by which a vessel forces her way by a series of angles
in the direction from which the wind is blowing. Some
vessels will sail closer to the wind than others. That
is to say, with their sails full, they will head a
point or more nearer to the direction from which the
wind comes than vessels of different rig.
Broadly speaking, an ordinary fore-and-aft rigged
yacht with the wind due north, will head northwest on
the starboard tack, and northeast on the port tack.
That is, she will head up within four points of the
wind. Some will do better than this by a good half
point. The famous old sloop Maria, owned by
Commodore J.C. Stevens, founder of the New York Yacht
Club, is said to have sailed within three points and a
half of the wind, and I am informed that Constitution,
in her races in 1903, achieved a similar remarkable
feat.
A square-rigger, because the sails cannot be
trimmed to form so sharp an angle to the breeze as a
fore-and-aft rigged vessel, rarely sails closer than
six points off the wind. Consequently, she has to make
more tacks and consume a longer time in accomplishing
a similar distance in the teeth of the breeze than a
vessel driven by fore-and-aft canvas. It is possible
to make my meaning clearer by means of simple
diagrams, and to these I refer the reader.
A vessel is said to be close-hauled when the sheets
are trimmed flat aft and the boat is headed as near to
the wind as the sails will permit without their luffs
shaking. When a vessel is so trimmed, she is said to
be sailing "full and bye," which means as close to the
wind as the craft will point with the sails bellying
out and full of wind. If a vessel is sailed so close
to the wind that the sails quiver, the pressure is
diminished and speed is decreased. Thus the art of
beating to windward successfully consists in keeping
the boat's sails full, while her head should not be
permitted to "fall off" for an instant. This requires
a watchful eye and an artistic touch. To become an
adept, one should have plenty of practice.
Diagram No.1.
Sailing
A boat is on the starboard tack when the main boom
is over the port quarter and the port jib sheet is
hauled aft. The wind is then on the starboard bow. The
conditions are reversed when the craft goes on the
port tack. In Diagram No.1, four conditions of
sailing are shown, the figures representing a boat
sailing with the wind astern, on the quarter, abeam,
and close hauled. It will be observed how the main
boom is trimmed to meet the varied changes of wind or
course.
Diagram No.2.
Running Before the Wind.
Diagram No.2 shows a racing yacht running
before the wind with all her balloons expanded to the
breeze. The spinnaker set to starboard not only adds
greatly to her speed, but it also makes the steering
easier, as it counteracts the pressure of the huge
mainsail and club topsail on the port side, thus
causing a nicely-adjusted balance. The balloon jib
topsail catches every stray breath of air that is
spilled out of the spinnaker, and it also has
considerable possibilities as a steering sail, in
addition to its splendid pulling power. For a vessel,
however finely balanced and carefully steered, owing
to various conditions of breeze and sea, has a
tendency to yaw and fly up in the wind. Thus a strong
puff or a heavy sea striking the boat may make her
swerve from her course in an effort to broach to. Then
the jib topsail does good service as, when it gets
full of wind, it pays the head of the boat off the
wind, and materially assists the helmsman in steadying
the vessel on her course.
It may be remarked that steering a yacht under
these conditions, in a strong and puffy breeze with a
lumpy, following sea, calls for the best work of the
ablest helmsman. A boat will generally inclination to
broach to, which means to fly up in the wind.
Sometimes, however, the notion may strike her to run
off the wind so much as to bring the wind on the other
quarter, causing her to gybe. This would mean
disaster, probably a broken boom and a topmast snapped
off short like a pipe-stem, with other incidental
perils.
Diagram No.3 shows the maneuver of gybing,
which is to keep the vessel away from the wind until
it comes astern, and then on the opposite quarter to
which it has been blowing. Fig.1 shows a boat
sailing before the wind with the main boom over to
starboard. Fig.2 shows the operation of luffing
to get in the main sheet. Fig.3 shows the boom
over on the port quarter, and the operation complete,
except trimming sail for the course to be steered.
Diagram No.3.
Gybing
It may be remarked that gybing a
racing yacht "all standing" in a strong wind requires
consummate skill and care. A cool hand at the helm is
the prime requisite, but smart handling of the main
sheet is of scarcely less importance. The topmast
preventer backstays should be attended to by live men.
When a vessel is not racing, gybing in heavy weather
may be accomplished without the slightest risk ; the
topsail may be clewed up and the peak of the mainsail
lowered, and with ordinary attention the maneuver is
easily performed.
Diagram No.4.
Close Hauled on Port Tack.
Diagrams Nos. 4 and 5 show the same
racing yacht close hauled on the port and starboard
tack. The spinnaker and balloon jib topsail are taken
in. A small jib topsail takes the place of the flying
kite. This sail, however, is only carried in light
winds, as it has a tendency, when a breeze blows, to
make a craft sag off to leeward.
Diagram No.5
Close Hauled on Starboard Tack.
Diagram No.6 shows a boat beating out of a
bay with the wind dead in her teeth, a regular
"nose-ender" or "muzzler." She starts out from her
anchorage on the port tack, stands in as close to the
shore as is prudent, goes about on the starboard tack,
stands out far enough to weather the point of land,
then tacks again, and on the port tack fetches the
open sea.
Diagram No.6
Dead Beat to Windward
Diagram No.7 illustrates a contingency
frequently met with in beating to windward, when a
vessel can sail nearer her intended course on one tack
than another. Thus suppose her course is East by South
and the wind SE, she would head up East on one tack
(the long leg) and South on the other (the short
leg).
Diagram No.7.
A Long Leg and a Short Leg.
Diagram No.8 depicts the maneuver of tacking
that is the method of "going into stays," or shifting
from one tack to the other.
Fig.1 shows a boat steering "full and bye"
on the starboard tack. It becomes necessary to go
about. "Helm's a-lee!" cries the man at the tiller, at
the same time easing the helm down to leeward and
causing the boat's head to fly up in the wind. The jib
sheet is let go at the cry "Helm's a-lee!" decreasing
the pressure forward and making the boat, if well
balanced, spin round. A modern racer turns on her heel
so smartly that the men have all they can do to trim
the head sheets down before she is full on the other
tack. Some of the old style craft, however, hang in
the wind, and it sometimes becomes necessary to pay
her head off by trimming down on the port jib sheet
and by shoving the main boom over on the starboard
quarter (Fig.3). Soon she fills on the port
tack, and goes dancing merrily along, as shown in
Fig.4.
Diagram No.8.
Tacking
In beating to windward in a strong breeze and a
heavy sea leeway must be considered.
Leeway may be defined as the angle between the line
of the vessel's apparent course and the line she
actually makes good through the water. In other and
untechnical words, it is the drift that the ship makes
sideways through the water because of the force of the
wind and the heave of the sea, both factors causing
the craft to slide bodily off to leeward.
This crab-like motion is due to a variety of
causes, to the shape of the craft, to her trim, and to
the amount of sail carried, and its quality and sit.
Boats deficient in the element of lateral resistance,
such as a shallow craft with the centerboard hoisted,
will drift off to leeward at a surprising rate. A deep
boat of good design and fair sail-carrying capacity
will, on the other hand, if her canvas is well cut and
skillfully trimmed, make little or no leeway. In fact
she may, under favorable circumstances, eat up into
the wind and fetch as high as she points.
Leeway is always a dead loss, and to counteract it
is always the aim of the practical seaman and
navigator. Captain Lecky, in his admirable work,
"Wrinkles in Practical Navigation" puts the case
clearly, and his advice should be followed whenever
feasible. He says:
"Suppose a vessel on a wind heading NW by
N, under short canvas and looking up within three
points of her port, which, accordingly, bears
north; but, owing to its blowing hard, she is
making 2 1/2 points leeway. Clearly this vessel is
only making good a NW by W1/2W course, which is
5-1/2 points from the direction of port. Let her
speed under these conditions be, say, four knots
per hour. Now, if the yards are checked in a point
or so, and the vessel be kept off NW by W, she will
slip away much faster through the water, and
probably will make not more than half a point
leeway. This keeps the course made good exactly the
same as before, with the advantage of increased
speed. Therefore, if you can possibly avoid it, do
not allow your vessel to sag to leeward by jamming
her up in the wind. Keep your wake right astern,
unless it be found from the bearing of the port
that the course made good is actually taking the
vessel away from it, in which case it is obvious
that the less the speed the better."
This excellent counsel applies to every kind of
sailing vessel, whether square rigger or
fore-and-after, whether used for business or pleasure.
It is of no avail to pinch a boat for the purpose of
keeping her bowsprit pointed for her destination, when
it is obvious that she will only fetch a point several
miles to leeward. Keep the sails clean full and the
boat will make better weather of it as well as greater
speed. It may frequently be necessary to "luff and
shake it out of her" when struck by a hard squall, or,
by the aid of a "fisherman's luff," to clear an object
without tacking, but a good rule is to keep a sailing
craft moving through the water and not permit her to
pitch and rear end on to the sea.
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