DANGEROUS UNCONTROLLED JIBES! The sailors in these illustrations have forgotten to sheet in the mainsail, resulting in an uncontrolled jibe. The force of the boom rapidly swinging across the cockpit can break rigging or hit a crew member. In illustrations positions 2 and 3, it is still possible to avoid the uncontrolled jibe if the driver heads up to the original course. The key thing to do if the uncontrolled jibe occurs 4 is to quickly duck under the boom’s path. The alert sailor should shout out a warning, “Duck!”


WHAM ! ! !


Once the mainsail starts to cross the sailboat, ducking under the boom is the priority. Steer the sailboat straight ahead to prevent it from turning suddenly up wind or turning downwind into another uncontrolled jibe.


4


Pay attention to: Softening of mainsail’s leech


WIND curling around mainsail’s leech


“Sailing by the Lee” The stern has crossed


through the wind, the jib has


crossed, but the mainsail is still out with the wind starting to curl around its backside.


The sailboat is sailing by the lee. Your mainsail leech will start to go soft. This will signal that you are sailing by the lee and that you’re about to have an uncontrolled jibe.


2 3 WIND


Dead Downwind Wind is directly from astern (behind you), and the jib is collapsing and starting to cross the sailboat. These are the warning signs of an impending jibe. The mainsail has not been sheeted in to the middle of the sailboat.


To prevent the jibe from happening, head up by pushing the tiller toward the boom until the jib fills with wind again, and hold that course while sheeting in the mainsail.


Turning Away


From the Wind The sailboat begins the jibe by bearing away.


1 Table of Contents 58


Chapter 5 | Upwind to Downwind: Intermediate Sailing Skills


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