gybing tricks?

Krycek

Member
So, I've been hearing a lot from some of my frostbite fleet guys about little tricks that help the gybe initiate. I got the whole basic deal down (pull in mainsheet, sail by the lee, jerk the sheet, duck, etc....), but I am interested in any tricks out there. One guy told me that if you make a quick tiller movement to leeward that it helps initiate the gybe? I've tried it for the last few weeks and all it seems to do is make me gybe about 1/2 a boatlength late. Any ideas on what i'm doing wrong? Other wise tips are also more than welcome.....:D :D :D
 
haha well... you gota snap the main in while it is coming around.. or else it will get caught around the transom... i've capsized too many times doing that.
 
You don't, depends on how much you can roll the boat. If you roll it enough you don't need to snap it =P
Snapping it has it's dissadvatage too, if you get it wrong the main can loop around the boom and then you're seriously screwed.
 
Yea... my roll gybe is decent at best.. I tend to have an issue with rolling too much in breeze and then I deathroll. In light breeze, my roll gybe is pretty nice. Getting the main caught around the boom can seriously wreck your day...:eek:

So, no one knows of any rudder tricks to help the leach of the sail crossover the lee?
 
The rudder trick works for me. In big air I am not thinking about roll jibing, I am just trying to get the sail to the other side. As I start bearing off I wiggle the tiller by briefly heading up and then bearing off again. This will usually get the boom to swing across. The wiggle of the tiller is for just a brief moment and should be practiced several times before it becomes routine.
 
When I've nailed gybes in a blow I have some windward heel on the way in so when I apply some rudder the boat spins like a top, it also means you can get across the boat before the sail comes across.
Because the boat is spinning so fast the boom won't come across until you snap the rudder straight again then it whips across and off you go.

In my opinion a nailed gybe in a big blow is the most exhilarating part of sailing!
 
cbyc_radial_sailor said:
you gota snap the main in while it is coming around.. or else it will get caught around the transom...

Novice question, sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "snapping the main"?? This happened to me each time I gybed on Saturday, the mainsheet getting stuck on the transom, super annoying. I don't know why this was happing? Light conditions btw...
 
keep some tension on your mainsheet during the gybe. even a quick snap on it, while not putting too much on it that you affect the action of the gybe. this will not allow that loose loop to hook onto the transom. it's only gonna be effective in light conditions, any kind of steady blow should allow for smoother gybes. you're also " snapping the main" by your body weight torqueing the boat and forcing the main over onto that new gybe.
 
When I've nailed gybes in a blow I have some windward heel on the way in so when I apply some rudder the boat spins like a top, it also means you can get across the boat before the sail comes across.
Because the boat is spinning so fast the boom won't come across until you snap the rudder straight again then it whips across and off you go.

In my opinion a nailed gybe in a big blow is the most exhilarating part of sailing!

...this is what the rooster guy describes in his downwind video...i've tried it in heavy winds and it works really well. Definitely takes a lot of practice and only works in pretty heavy winds but it's really safe once you get the hang of it.
 
Here at Thornbury we sail some pretty weird courses, like having a gybe mark in 30 knots, with the nearest land about 20 yards to leeward! When its blowing, I find it best to just set up early (no twists in mainsheet, board below the boom etc), then simply pull the boat hard to windward (I use the toestrap), flick the mainsheet in, cross the boat, and get sailing again. try to avoid using the tiller, as any drag back there helps to stop the boat, which loads the boom up, and usually causes most capsizes.

I normally sail downwind with very little kicker on, and sail by the lee whenever possible, but for those of you who dont have a death wish...

If you can get to it, ease the kicker a bit first, lots more than you think you should... that way you can easily tell when the boom is about to cross, as the lower leech will flick inside out just before the boom starts to move. The only comment I'll make about that tho, is, sheet in a bit before the kicker is released, and dont instantly ease the sheet back out all the way, or you could roll in to windward.

The mainsheet geting caught around the transom is more of a problem in light winds, when the boom comes over slowly, and the mainsheet falls into the water. The water drags it back, and thats how it gets caught. also turning a big circle with the boom out too far can do the same thing.
In light winds, the easy way to prevent it is to gybe facing backwards, and use the back end of the mainsheet to swing the boom over. This is very effective if you are sailing by the lee, as you can still end up sailing by the lee on the other tack, with no rudder movement. Again, roll the boat to steer!
 
Also, a lighter mainsheet helps. Just tried a new one today and it helped bigtime! However, it was a LOT harder to grip,but it was a lot better on not getting caught up.
 
haha well... you gota snap the main in while it is coming around.. or else it will get caught around the transom... i've capsized too many times doing that.
Also, a lighter mainsheet helps. Just tried a new one today and it helped bigtime! However, it was a LOT harder to grip,but it was a lot better on not getting caught up.
Having just started in a new boat with a thinner mainsheet, I've found that snapping the main in too much will loop the main sheet round the end of the boom. You have to be a lot more careful with thinner/lighter main sheets. Not something that ever happened to me with the heavier/thicker main sheet.


(And I totally agree about it being a lot harder to grip).


Ian
 

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