Chapter 2 - Learning To Sale

What does it take to sail? The main ingredients are a sailboat, a mild breeze on a suitable body of water, and a little desire. Sailing is by no means difficult, and if you can tell which way the wind is blowing, you can learn the fundamentals in a very short time. Actually, on your very first day out you should be able to sail well enough to enjoy the panorama of water, wind, and sky that is part of the fun of sailing.

The quickest and easiest method of learning to sail is to take a formal course. Such courses in sailing are developing in various places all over the United States and Canada. Even public funds are being allocated for this purpose in many cities and communities. The following organizations may be able to advise you of any local classes in sailing: YMCA or YWCA, Coast Guard Auxiliary, local Power Squadron, Chamber of Commerce, local marine dealers, and local yacht or boat clubs. The cost of such courses varies from nothing to several dollars an hour.

Although certainly desirable, formal sailing courses are not necessary. Many people prevail upon a friend or neighbor who has a sailboat and trade their services at spring fitting-out time for instructions in sailing.

While it's not the fastest or best way, the most lasting method of learning to sail is by the seat of your pants in a boat, developing your sensibilities by trial and error. But before you shove off on your first sail, you should know the basic theory of what makes a sailboat go and the various points of sailing in relation to course and wind direction.
 
What Makes A Sailboat Go?
 
It may sound easy to explain why a sailboat goes. It is blown by the wind, just as your hat goes sailing down the street on a windy day. But the person who is to learn the art of sailing can't stop there. He must have a little idea of the theory so that he'll be better able to understand why he must handle sails and rudder in certain ways to obtain the desired results. If we were simply to accept the analogy of the hat, we would not be able to account for the fact that a boat can sail in a great many directions other than the one toward which the wind is blowing. Actually, a sailboat can go in any direction except directly into the wind. In such a case, we must tack the boat or angle it into the wind.
The illustration here shows the basic sailing positions or points. When the boom is positioned directly above where the stern and the side meet, and the wind is coming about 45 degrees either side of the bow, you're in a close-hauled (or beating, or pointing, or tacking) position. When the boom is let out a little farther and the wind comes more directly at right angles, you are reaching; and as the wind comes across the side closer to the stern, you're on a broad reach. Then when the wind comes over your stern, and your boom is almost at right angles to the boat, out on either side, you are running or sailing downwind. As you can see, the points or positions of sailing are governed by wind direction and the trim of the sail (location of the boom). The closer the boat has to sail to the wind the closer the boom is brought to the centerline of the craft. The more the course of the boat approaches a run dead before the wind, the farther the boom is eased off away from the centerline. More on the subject of the points of sailing will be covered in Chapter 4.

The basic sailing positions or points.

Principle of sailing close to the wind "beating."   The boat moves forward squeezed by wind and water, much as a melon seed is shot from between the fingers.

Many people believe that the pushing effect of the wind on the sail makes a boat go, and they're partly correct. There is, however, another force at work; it's the same force that provides the lift for an airplane wing. By this we mean that the force of the air striking the windward side of a sail is but a small fraction of the total force; like a wing, most of the force is developed by the leeward (away from the wind) side the upper side in the case of a wing. In other words, some of the wind engages the sail and exerts a pushing force upon it. Other air currents slip past the sail, which creates an area of reduced pressure, or suction, on the other side. This suction pulls the sail forward. (It has been said that this pulling force contributes as much as three-fourths of the driving force when close-hauled.) Both the pushing and pulling forces of the wind combine to make your sail work. Just as an airplane wing loses its lifting action when the angle of the wing with the wind becomes too great, so does a boat lose its driving force when its angle with the wind becomes too great. While the wind gives the drive to the sail area, the centerboard or keel tends to resist any side pressure, with the result that the boat moves forward.

Even those not given to aero-dynamic speculations as a pastime may wonder how come a sailboat goes toward the wind at all. It is something like a watermelon seed being squeezed between thumb and forefinger. The pressure of the wind on the sail above, and the pressure of the water on keel or centerboard below, are the two forces that squeeze the boat ahead.

The principal function of the working jib, besides furnishing additional drive in itself, is to guide the wind around the leeward side of the mainsail. This guidance of the wind is called the slot effect and greatly improves the performance and speed of a boat by increasing the suction, pulling effect.

When running before the wind, push-pull forces are almost exactly opposite to those when sailing close-hauled. In other words, the push on the windward side of the sail contributes about three-fourths of the driving force, while the remaining fourth comes from the suction or pull on the leeward side. The wind hits the sail nearly broadside, then pushes out in both directions causing a turbulent mass of air that keeps moving ahead of the craft and extending forward from two to six boat lengths. When running or broad-reaching, the working jib has little driving force, since it's blanketed by the mainsail. To supplant the inefficient jib, the spinnaker was invented and perfected for use when running or broad-reaching. It noticeably increases the speed of the boat. (See Chapter 4 for further details on the use of the spinnaker.)

So much for the simple principles of the aerodynamics of sailing. As you read further, other applications of these principles will be discussed. Now let's take a look into the physical act of setting the sails and getting underway. In the next chapter we'll pretend that the boat you're going to sail is a small sloop, but the techniques in general hold good for those sailing a catboat.

Sailing instructions ashore. Instructor shows the sailing points with a model boat.

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