If you are inexperienced in using a
gennaker
, choose a fairly quiet day for you first
excursion. A
gennaker
nearly doubles your sail area, and should be treated with a healthy
degree of respect!
For your first hoist you should be sailing downwind on a broad reach, with the wind coming
over the helm’s left shoulder. The crew should sit in the centre of the boat, astride the
daggerboard
case, and hoist the
gennaker
by pulling the
gennaker
halyard
from the right-
hand
halyard
block
.
The
gennaker
halyard
pulls the bowsprit out at the same time – when the
gennaker
is
hoisted, you are ready to go. The crew, or the helm if sailing singlehanded, should now
pull gently on the leeward
gennaker
sheet until the
gennaker
has filled.
Gennaker
s may
be effectively used from a close reach to a broad reach so, to get downwind, one should
become adept at gybing. It is not possible to tack with the
gennaker
hoisted. For the best
effect, the
gennaker
sheet should always be eased as far as possible, so that the luff is just
on the point of curling.
4.5 - Sailing Downwind and Gybing
4.6 - Using the
Gennaker
When sailing downwind, both sails should be let out as far as possible. Single- handed
sailors should adopt a relaxing, reclined pose astride the thwart area, leaning back against
the side deck. To gybe, pull the
tiller
towards you and, as the boat starts to turn, step across
the cockpit facing forward. Once the boat has completed the turn, bring the
tiller
back into
the centre before sitting down on the new side, with the
tiller
extension behind your back.
Often, the
boom
will not want to come across until you have nearly completed the gybe, so
it often pays to give the
mainsheet
a tweak to encourage the
boom
over at the moment that
you want it to come! Once you are settled, swap the
mainsheet
and the
tiller
extension into
the new hands.
Top Tip
Be aware that the
boom
can come across with some force during a gybe (intentional
or not!) so mind your head and watch for unintentional gybes.
