Quote:
Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe
It doesn't sound like roll tacking to me. In a roll tack, regardless of the size of the boat the crew stay to leeward for a moment, main sheet is dumped a bit just at the moment of the tack and then hauled in again on the other tack as the crew rushes over to the new weather side. Having crew centered achieves nothing in particular. Hauling the main in might give you more weather helm, helping you to get through the tack, or it might just stall the sail. Releasing the tiller with lots of way on might bring you through a tack, or it might leave you in irons.
Writing something like that in a book, as though it's a standard technique that can be applied to every boat (and especially in a way that suggests anyone who actually uses their rudder to turn the boat is doing it wrong) is either downright irresponsible or not nearly qualified to be writing a book on the subject.
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They are qualified to write the book. Read it.
The section we are discussing is clearly focused on small boats ("Starting Sailing") and dinghies. For example, they talk about the boat heeling when the helmsman moves. They believe strongly that all sailors should learn in small boats, an opinion I agree with. Thus, the focus is on
small boat techniques.
Yes, they do mean to tighten the main sheet just a tick as the tack starts on many boats. This increases weather
helm and helps start the turn. They are not describing an aggressive roll turn, where the crew stay to leeward, but rather the beginners version of this.
It is a description for beginners. In the next PP it describes how flapping
sails can be agitating. So let's not nit pick.
Ideally, the rate of turn is slower at the beginning and increases as the boat slows. With a
wheel, it takes a few seconds to move the rudder, so this is often self-regulating. With a tiller, yes, you should take you time moving the tiller, so that the tiller angle matches the rate of turn and the rudder never stalls (always slow). Yes, each boat is different, and the rate of turn varies with boat speed and conditions. At high speed, for example, I move the tiller less than a slow speed turn. There is also little point in turning the boat faster than the crew can get the jib across and sheeted in.