Cleating off the main sheet.

[Jan Williamson]

The friend I had sailing with me yesterday mentioned that I needed a cleat for the main sheet, I've read about not cleating the main. Any reason not to cleat sailing up wind?

[capt jake]

I have a cleat on both sides, their intent was for mooring. i find them handy to run the main sheet 'around' but I never cleat it off. I don't know about your winds, but ours are rather fickle. A gust can come up and I need to release it. It just creates a little more friction on the line and I find it handy.

When I tack I move the line to the other side (leeward).

Don't cleat it off!!!!

[Jan Williamson]

Well that is where I need practice. I don't think I let out the main enough at times, when the gusts hit us. The wind was definately fickle. But at least we could see it coming. I need some weekender lessons :?

[capt jake]

I need some weekender lessons

That make two of us.!!

I am only speaking from the 6 or so time I have been out. I was hoping on a few more and who knows?

Stump hated it when I let out the main!! Of course we were out in a SCA with gusts to 25kts. :) :shock: I felt safer, water is very cold here; 20 minutes in it, you've had it.

[Jan Williamson]

So when you let out the main, in a gust the boat didn't heel as much?

[capt jake]

Yup! Also handling the rudder and steer into the wind.

either or, depending.

[Jan Williamson]

That's where I think my brother was having some fun. He was at the helm when we did most of the severe heeling. Toe rails underwater. He kept saying "keep the main sheeted in" :?

[capt jake]

He kept saying "keep the main sheeted in"

I think he needs to be out on the hiking straps! :) He was messin' with you!

Or!

I think Stump and you brother would get along fine!

[Frank Hagan]

Letting the main out will spill a lot of wind, so that's a good technique to use to reduce heeling. Also, steering closer to the wind ... when you try to sail upwind, the boat will slow down. In fact, in a sloop with a bit of "weatherhelm", if you let go of the tiller the boat will head directly into the wind and stop. Sounds nice, but the sails flap around like crazy and make all sorts of racket. But it is good to remember when you need a brief break. Head towards the wind, and you slow down. Head directly into the wind, and you stop.

The Weekender is an unballasted boat, so you don't cleat the main sheet (well, some people do, but I've always felt that its much safer not to cleat it). If you are holding the main sheet in your hand and a gust hits you, you can release the sheet easily. If its cleated down it can delay releasing it.

You can use a quick release cleat located somewhere amidships ... sometimes they are on the boom itself on dinghys, or on the floor, or the middle of the transom. When the gust hits you jerk the line, it comes uncleated, and you let out the main sail.

My Potter 19 has a cam cleat located amidships on the transom, and its very easy to jerk it up and release it. With the ballast on that boat, I've never been in a position where I had to (yet). On my Weekender, I don't cleat the main sheet.

"Pure sailing" is in a dinghy. There's a feeling I get when I have the tiller in one hand and the main sheet in the other ... its a kind of equilibrium, a moment of Zen, or what have you. The forces of nature meet right in my chest, between tiller and main sheet, water and wind ... Sheesh! I need to get out sailing my Weekender again!

[ken connors]

dont cleat your main, please. i was out just yesterday with my wife and daughter, sailing vey nicely at a fairly steady 10-12 kts. we got hit with a wicked gust that sent us WAY over. i just flung the mainsheet overboard to spill the wind while my wife, who had the tiller, smartly turned us into the wind. that was on a vacationer. im pretty sure if my mainsheet was cleated my mast would have snapped or we would have capsized. im sure a weekender would have even less reaction time. please dont cleat your main. 8)

[Stump]

Soooo, Jan,

When you get up in these parts is your brother coming too? :wink:

capt jake, just because we were the only sailboat out there, (until that production boat came down the Sound) you act like it wasn't great sailing weather!! I had a wonderful time!! sca's are soooo over rated :wink:

And really, there was only that one time, ok, maybe two, that the wind really slammed us and you seemed to have everything well in hand on those occasions. Never felt like there was any danger of going over!!!

Of course, I will not be "finishing" the interior of my boat until I've had a couple of sails, I find thing dry out faster when they aren't covered up with things like carpet.

[Jan Williamson]

The interior of my boat isn't finished yet either ????

[Stump]

Smart lady

[Dave Ruedel]

Don't hard cleat off the main. I have cam cleats I use on the sheet line, but still keep the line in hand for a quick release to spill air in case of a sudden gust. Tying the sheet off will result in swimming exercises sooner or later - usually sooner.

[Jan Williamson]

No main sheet cleats on my boat

I have forwarded this thread to my "crew" They were accustomed to a larger ballasted boat.

I do have 100 lbs of sand bags in the forepeak, and two batteries. I know that helped stablize the boat.

I have regained my confidence now after the great descriptions and warnings...thanks

Frank, Ray.. I could picture what you were describing, and now I want that boat back on the water I need pratice

[Phil Gowans]

I set up this main sheet cleat about 4 years ago and I admit it I cleat the main almost every time I have ALOHA out. I also have not had any problems because I cleated the main. The cleat is in a very accessible location. It is easy to release the sheet, just a slight tug and the sheet is under my control. I also only use the cleat when practicable. I don't use it in strong, variable or gusty conditions - at least not for very long. I seldom ever use it on anything approaching a run. When singlehanding it is nice to set a hand free and not have the sail go wherever it wants. Believe it or not the cleat leaves me much more in control.

I bring this up because just this last weekend, I found another good use for this cleat. I love sailing with my lapper. Even in strong winds the boat is better to sail with it. However singlehanding it is just more trouble to tack, because I can't use the clubfoot. I seem to need more than 2 hands (4 might be nice). In the past I would start my tack and inevitably I would end up letting go of not only the wheel, but often the main sheet in order to loosen the taut jib sheet and set the other. Sometimes I would be holding all three sheets and trying to do this in any controlled fashion would not be possible. The proverbial one-armed paperhanger comes to mind. My tacks were often a bit ineffectual. After settling down I would seldom be on the course I was after. ANYWAY, I found that while beating if right before my tack I would cleat the main, start my turn and care for the jib, I could let the wheel go and my turn would pretty much take care of itself. With the main cleated I found the boat was usually soon on the desired course and the wheel would be pretty much where I wanted it too. All in all a much more controlled tack and more efficient also. A cleated main while heading into the wind is not going to ever be a problem.

I think most new sailors would be benefited by having ditched a boat once and a while. Granted I'm not about to deliberately do so with ALOHA, with an electrical system onboard and usually a cell phone, digital camera, keys, and lots of loose odds and ends to float away or sink. I think there is good reason the Boy Scouts require a small boat sailor to be able to capsize and right his boat, or for that matter they should be able to swamp and maneuver a canoe. This all builds confidence in the boat handler and teaches one what to do under such circumstances. If you have never capsized a sailboat, I seriously believe that you should. If you don't want to do so with your weekender (and I wouldn't), you might want to consider renting a small boat that you can try it with.

[Jan Williamson]

Does ditching a sailboard count The main thing I wanted to know is was it standard sail trim practice. The whole time we were sailing I was hanging on to that main sheet for life :oops: But now I know better, thanks. I hope to get enough experience and the boat rigged right to single hand soon Then at least having one on the boom but easy to release would come in real handy.

[Knut]

I had in principle the same arrangement as Phil, with a cleat on the underside of the boom just behind the block. I used a normal straight jam-cleat and the sheet tail would jam sufficiently that it could hang straight down from the cleat by the friction in the cleat. Advantage being that for a quick release I only had to give it a very small tug in almost any direction with a down-component and the sheet was immediately free.

There are lots of situations and conditions where this arrangement is good and safe. During a few hours of sailing I can promise that there will be many necessary tasks to perform that are easier to execute if you do not have permanently one hand on the wheel and one on the main sheet. Like scratching your back, drinking water, finding your sunglasses :roll: and handling your sandwhiches.

[CLIPPER]

My present boat is 18'sprit rigged open day sailer. I use a cam cleat P & S to sheet off the main and jib sheets. The main is 100 sq ft. I devised a turning block on the cleat made from scrap brass tubeing and copper wire as bearings on a brass tube race. It is all mounted on a "pin" that goes into a thole pin hole as shown. This whole arrangement is easy to dump wind and sheet in again as needed.

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[Jan Williamson]

Knut, and I had just such an occation Sat. with the sandwiches and everything

Clipper, Great shots, pretty boat too Thanks