Sail handling without winches

[john manning]

I have been crew on two different race yachts (both under 38ft) and all foresail ropes were hauled by hand until the last 5% where a winch was used for trimming. No block and tackle. It needed timing and fast hauling on my part and a helmsman who did not cross the wind too quickly.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by secrabtree

One thing I haven't seen talked about here is safety. When the wind strength increases and one feels it necessary to douse the jib it is usual for a crew member (or the singlehanded skipper) to get on the foredeck to catch and stow the jib. Once the sheet is let loose the jib begins to flail, often quite violently. A block on the clethod.mew becomes a hazard. But with a winch and single part sheet that block's dangerous projectile becomes only the lighter weight clew cringle. Still hurts when hitting the head, but usually doesn't draw blood - as had happened to me a few times when I was trying out the "block on the clew" method. The "block on the clew" method probably would have been ok when I sailed the California coast south of Pt. Conception. But my usual sailing was within San Francisco Bay or on many passages between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Having been ther & done that I can categorically state that this is a good place for a pennant so the block is somewhere back aft of the mast. Actually two pennants, one for each side each with its own tackle. But once I figured out a few things I was able to dispense with blocks and such altogether even when there were no winches available for unimportant things like jib sheets LOL

[opusnz]

If you don't use winches you end up with a lot of extra line and extra blocks. It might be cheaper in the long run to buy a (used) winch. My friend uses a block and tackle for the sails on his schooner. Having all that extra line in the cockpit when you bring in the genoa or raise the mainsail can be a pain in the a$$, especially when tacking. There is more to trip over and the block dragging along the deck makes a lot of noise and can do damage if the sail ends up flogging.

[jalmberg]

Originally Posted by Chris Cringle

Ms. Lau, For 22 years I sailed all over the Pacific and Indian oceans in an 1880s designed 18 ton gaff-rigged ketch. She had no winches. For the main sheet we had a six-part tackle and a three-part tackle for the mizzen. These were way more than enough to handle the sails. For the head sails, jib and staysail, we just used a single part jib sheet/staysail sheet. When we would tack, we would over-trim the headsails and then gently start them until we had the proper trim. If we need to trim in without tacking, we would simply luff-up, trim the sail, and then fall-off. People have been sailing for thousands of years; sheet winches have only been common on yachts for a few decades. Keep It Simple Skipper

The key word here is ‘gaff-rigged’. Gaffers are low-tension rigs that don’t need winches. I’ve sailed on a 46’ pilot cutter that had no winches and didn’t need them. You’d be hard pressed to sail a modern 46’ Bermuda-rigged boat with a huge headsail without them, though, unless you went to a whole lot of trouble.

[billcrowley]

My previous sailboat was a 23' trailer boat with a cutter rig; the largest sail was 115 square feet. There were no winches on board (or needed) to handle sails of that size, either for raising or sheeting - and the same would probably be true for your proposed 24-footer. Our procedure for trimming sails was head up - trim - bear off. Used often, you get accustomed to hitting the proper trim on the first try very quickly. The halyards shouldn't be a problem - but if they are you can easily rig a 2:1 purchase with a truckers' hitch & no extra tackle.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by secrabtree

One thing I haven't seen talked about here is safety. When the wind strength increases and one feels it necessary to douse the jib it is usual for a crew member (or the singlehanded skipper) to get on the foredeck to catch and stow the jib. Once the sheet is let loose the jib begins to flail, often quite violently. A block on the clethod.mew becomes a hazard. But with a winch and single part sheet that block's dangerous projectile becomes only the lighter weight clew cringle. Still hurts when hitting the head, but usually doesn't draw blood - as had happened to me a few times when I was trying out the "block on the clew" method. The "block on the clew" method probably would have been ok when I sailed the California coast south of Pt. Conception. But my usual sailing was within San Francisco Bay or on many passages between Hawaii and San Francisco.

A good work-around is a pennant from the clew, as Growleymonster suggested, and surprisingly, you can dispense with a block on the pennant in favor of a nylon thimble. On the schooner, the thimbles lasted a surprising two or three seasons, and wouldn't ding the paint or the head.

[Sherpa17]

A single winch and well placed crossover block can be handy.

[Pete Chambliss]

On the main - block and tackle gets my vote. On the jib - get the winches, and self tailing if you can. They are around in consignment and used boat equipment stores. It makes grinding the winch a 1 hand job. Worth every penny. Also, Imagine the headache - or worse - of getting hit with any size block.