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It is not enough to know the name of all the gaits to know how to navigate, even if it is a useful prerequisite to communicate well. The easiest pace to feel is undoubtedly the close one, and there are some benchmarks for that . But how can we know if our boat has a carrying capacity? Here are some elements that will be useful to the beginner, but not only!
Let's put our senses to work
To know if your boat is downwind, on the beam or on the beam, there are a few simple guidelines:
- The boat is rather flat
- We feel the wind much less than upwind and we have a feeling of warmth
- Our boat moves with the waves and we can even try to "surf" them
- The bar is rather soft and easily manipulated
- We can always rely on instruments: wind vane, electronicâeuros¦
Thus, to know if you are going upwind or downwind, you only need to know some of this information, and thus quickly determine your pace. It is always faster to rely on your senses first. Think of looking at the boatâ??s balance, feeling the helm, feeling the windâ?¦ rather than looking at the instruments. They will rather confirm and refine your analysis in a second time.
An exercise to master the carrying gaits
In light winds, you can try an exercise that will allow you to better know the limit of your mainsail before it gybes and passes to the other side: drop the clew of its front sail.
When you are on the beam and slowly lowering, your mainsail will uncoil more and more of your headsail, blocking the wind until it "drops its clew". This is a good visual cue to let you know you're close to gybing. Once the clew begins to fall, luff up again to return to the main and re-inflate your headsail. You can then repeat the exercise until you can predict the clew drop of your headsail as well as possible!
Don't hesitate to try this exercise on your next trip to the sea!
