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============================= Seamanship =============================

In Jack Coote's book "Total Loss" he describes forty yachting disasters and analyses their casuses. He states that the top three determinants of seaworthiness and survivability are first, the crew; second, the gear; and third, the design of the hull. This says that although the H-28 is famous for her extremely seakindly hull, the more important item for safety is "the nut that holds the wheel" and that it's well worth it to spend a bit of time learning basic seamanship.

Reefing, Anchoring, and Man overboard recovery. These are three basic elements of seamanship which are necessary for safety, but which most people don't know as well as they could or should. These are probably needed about once a year, which is just seldom enough that people don't get enough practice, so they don't have the confidence to use them when they are needed. As a result, people generally find other, less effective ways to cope with the situation.

The best advice is to practice reefing, anchoring, and man overboard at least once a year, preferably in gentle weather. This way you will get experience and work out the bugs in your system. If you've never done it before, then you will be able to learn how under easy conditions.

This month I've a added a page on reefing, with a few photos of Lark under reefed main. Anchoring and man overboard will come in future updates.

============================== Reefing ===============================

Reefing is the best and first example of a little more knowledge making a much safer and more fun day on the water. On windy days, many people give up and motor, or carry too much sail, or an ineffective combination of sail. The afternoon is spent pounding into the waves under power, or under the wrong sailplan, and it's uncomfortable and not a lot of fun. It's also less safe, because the vessel and crew are less able to handle her or get to port quickly and safely if the wind strengthens.

This is really a shame, since the H-28 hull shape and sailplan is one of the easiest, safest, and most comfortable designs to beat to windward in a gale, with the right sail combination. Her beautiful Herreshoff hull shape, with her fine bow, knifes into the waves without pounding, and throws all her spray across the foredeck and coachroof, leaving the cockpit remarkably dry. Her generous beam amidships helps her stand up to the strong winds and carry enough canvas to drive her hull in those conditions.

All that's needed is to configure the right sailplan to drive her hull to windward effectively. As it happens, there is no one "guaranteed one-size-fits-all" combination. The amount of canvas should be appropriate to the amount of breeze (not surprisingly). In winds of say, 20-30 knots, when it has become too windy for full sail, it's tempting to either carry on under full sail and tough it out, or simply drop the main and sail under jib and mizzen. Many people won't reef the main because they feel it's too much trouble, or the reefing gear doesn't work well, or they're out of practice and don't want to risk it. But it's definitely easier and better if you go to the trouble to reef, and here's why:

Carrying on under full sail is not the best. When overcanvassed, the boat heels too much, which makes the sails less efficient and drags more beam through the water, loses speed, and makes more leeway. In a race several years ago, I was a hundred yards behind a Pearson Ensign, beating into 25 knots of fresh breeze, with neither of us gaining on the other. I lashed the helm (I was singlehanding), lowered the main, tucked in one reef, rehoisted the main, and passed the Ensign twenty minutes later!

Dropping the main and sailing along under "jib and jigger" is also not the best. You have about half the sail area, which is not enough to power through the large waves, which tend to slow or stop the boat often. Moreover, the tall narrow sails contribute to heeling, which slows you down as mentioned above. We learned this the hard way ten years ago when beating home in a strong breeze (about 27 knots again). Narragansett Bay is a narrow North-South body of water, so naturally the prevailing winds are either northerlies or southerlies. We were still somewhat new to the boat, so we tried out the "ketch advantage" of simply dropping the main. We sailed along easily under the reduced canvas, but every time we encountered a big wave we would pitch up and down and lose most of our speed. Friends of ours in a 24-foot sloop, also headed home, under a reefed main and a small jib, quickly caught up to us from leeward, went swiftly past us with a friendly wave, and in a matter of minutes were a hundred yards to windward. She got home in half the time it took us.

By far the best solution is to reef the mains'l. You don't have to reef the jib or mizzen until the wind gets stronger, although a small jib helps. See the photos below. The principle reason for the advantage is that the sail area is spread out in a lower, wider shape. The keeps most of the sail area, which is needed to drive the hull through the waves, while reducing the height and leverage it has to heel the boat over, which would slow her. For instance, dropping the main would result in half the sail area and half the heeling force. But one reef in a sail reduces the heeling force much more than it reduces the area, since the sail area is lower down and has less leverage to heel the boat.

When you reef, if you're beating to windward, it's very important to haul the luff and foot of the sail very tight, and trim the jib in tight. This is necessary to point high enough to make good progress to windward. This was shown to us again last October, when we were sailing in company with an another 28 footer. On Saturday we sailed out together in 12-knot moderate breeze, at roughly the same speed. On the way back on Sunday, beating home in a 27-knot strong breeze, we both reefed but they were short-handed and couldn't get their main outhaul or jib sheet tight enough. After an hour they were a half-mile behind us, and they dropped sails and motored into the heavy head seas. We still got home ahead of them.

Note that dropping the main is still the best way of dealing with a sudden squall, when there isn't time to reef and when the winds may go above 40 knots, when reefed main, jib, and mizzen are too much canvas. Dropping the main is also great for maneuvering slowly under good control in a tight harbor or when picking up a mooring.