Sailing in light winds

When tacking in light winds with a NAUTICAT you may have to help her turn by releasing the genoa only when you have gained the new tack. I.e., do not loosen the genoa sheet before the turn, but after. The wind on the “back” side of the genoa will make the bow fall downwind, and thus make the yacht turn faster.

We advise all NAUTICAT owners, who do not own very much previous sailing experience, to try all the sails in light winds first, and learn how everything works.

Sailing in fresh winds

A NAUTICAT is at her best at fresher winds. In such conditions she can compete with regular sailing yachts, if skippered skillfully. Finding the right sail balance is even more important now. The yacht will probably steer upwind, wherefore the mizzen often can be lowered, being more or less superfluous at this stage. In the following we shall give you some advice on how to reduce the fore sails of the main, and how to reduce the sails in fresh winds.

Reducing the sails

Normally, start with lowering the mizzen. Then you can either reduce the fore sails of the main, depending on whether the yacht steers up- or downwind. As a rule, one foresail is enough when the mizzen is down.

Reefing

If your NAUTICAT has roller reefing, reduce the main by rolling in three or more turns. Remove the kicking strap from its slot, first.

If she is equipped with slab reefing, make it a habit always to have the reefing lines applied in the reefing mechanism (see the Selden drawing).

Reef as follows:

loosen the main sheet to eliminate wind pressure in the sail
loosen the kicking strap
tighten the boom lift if loose
slacken the main halyard until you can hook the first reefing eyelet on the gooseneck reefing hook
re-tighten the main halyard until the eyelet won’t come off the hook

Tighten the reefing line

The boom is prevented from falling down on the deck by the boom lift. Tighten the reefing line either by hand or using the reefing winch on the boom.

When the reefing line is fastened to its cleat on the boom, you can tighten the main halyard a bit more if necessary, and adjust the belly by slackening or tightening the reefing line. Re-tighten the kicking strap, but not as hard as under full sails. Sheet the main, and gather up the superfluous sail area to the boom using odd line ends through the holes in the sails. Unless it flutters it can also be left hanging freely.

Should the wind increase, change the foresail to a smaller one, then take in one more reef in the main, then change foresails again until the storm jib.

Cruising under sails and power simultaneously

When cruising under power the mizzen is useful as a stabilizer in heavy seas. Sheet it rather tight. If, however, it steers the yacht upwind, lower it and hoist the main (if necessary, reefed) for the same purpose. As a rule, the sails must be tightened a bit more when motorsailing.

A NAUTICAT will behave smoothly in heavy weather if you run the engine at about 1400 revs and use the main with two reefs as a stabilizer. Alternatively, you can use the mizzen and jib or storm jib together. On the schooner, the midship staysail is a good stabilizer. Remember, that the storm jib, as a last resort, can also be hoisted midships, if it tends to pull the bow downwind.

Spinnaker equipment

The spinnaker can be used in lighter winds coming from any direction.

Sailing under sails and power simultaneously

TIGHTEN THE REEFING LINE