IX.BEATING TO WINDWARD.

There is an old nautical truism to the effect that a haystack will sail well to leeward, but that it takes a correctly-modeled vessel to beat to windward. It is easy to comprehend how a straw hat thrown into a pond on its northerly edge will, under the influence of a brisk breeze from the north, make a fast passage to the southerly bank. It is more difficult to understand how the same straw hat, if put into the water at the southerly end of the pond, might be so manœuvred as to make a passage to the northern extremity of the sheet of water, though the wind continued to pipe from the north. This was, no doubt, a tough nut for the early navigators to crack, and the problem may have taken centuries to solve.

Diagram No. 1.Sailing under Varying Conditionsof Wind.

The paddle was naturally the first means of propelling a rude craft through the water, and the ingenious savage (probably an indolent rascal) who discovered that a bough of a tree, or the skin of a beast extended to a favoring breeze, would produce the same effect as constant and laborious plying of paddles, was presumably hailed as a benefactor by his tribe. But this device, artful no doubt in its inception, was only of avail while the wind blew towards the quarter in which the destination of the enterprising voyager lay. If the wind drew ahead, or dropped, the skin or leafy bough was no longer of use as a labor-saving contrivance, and the wearisome paddle was necessarily resumed.

The primitive square sail of antiquity embodies the same principle as that governing the motion through the water of the modern full rigged ship, which is admirably adapted for efficient beating to windward, or sailing against the wind. Superiority in this branch of sailing is the crucial test of every vessel whose propelling power is derived from canvas, and the shipbuilders and sailmakers of all seafaring nations have vied with each other for centuries to secure the desired perfection.

Beating to windward may be described as the method by which a vessel forces her way by a series of angles in the direction from which the wind is blowing. Some vessels will sail closer to the wind than others. That is to say,with their sails full they will head a point or more nearer to the direction from which the wind comes than vessels of different rig.

Diagram No. 2.Running Before the Wind.

Broadly speaking, an ordinary fore-and-aft rigged yacht with the wind due north, will head northwest on the starboard tack, and northeast on the port tack. That is, she will head up within four points of the wind. Some will do better than this by a good half point. The famous old sloopMaria, owned by Commodore J. C. Stevens, founder of the New York Yacht Club, is said to have sailed within three points and a half of the wind, and I am informedthatConstitution, in her races this year, achieved a similar remarkable feat.

A square-rigger, because the sails cannot be trimmed to form so sharp an angle to the breeze as a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, rarely sails closer than six points of the wind. Consequently, she has to make more tacks and consume a longer time in accomplishing a similar distance in the teeth of the breeze than a vessel driven by fore-and-aft canvas. It is possible to make my meaning clearer by means of simple diagrams, and to these I refer the reader.

Diagram No. 3.Gybing.

A vessel is said to be close-hauled when the sheets are trimmed flat aft and the boat is headed as near to the wind as the sails will permit without their luffs shaking. When a vessel is so trimmed, she is said to be sailing "full and bye," which means as close to the wind as the craft will point with the sails bellying out and full of wind. Ifa vessel is sailed so close to the wind that the sails quiver, the pressure is diminished and speed is decreased. Thus the art of beating to windward successfully consists in keeping the boat's sails full, while her head should not be permitted to "fall off" for an instant. This requires a watchful eye and an artistic touch. To become an adept, one should have plenty of practice.

Diagram No. 4.Close Hauled on Port Tack.

A boat is on the starboard tack when the main boom is over the port quarter and the port jib sheet is hauled aft. Thewind is then on the starboard bow. The conditions are reversed when the craft goes on the port tack. In diagram No. 1, four conditions of sailing are shown, the figures representing a boat sailing with the wind astern, on the quarter, abeam, and close hauled. It will be observed how the main boom is trimmed to meet the varied changes of wind or course.

Diagram No. 5,Close Hauled on Starboard Tack.

Diagram No. 2 shows a racing yacht running before the wind with all her balloons expanded to the breeze. The spinnaker set to starboard not only adds greatly to her speed, but it also makes the steering easier, as it counteracts the pressure of the huge mainsail and club topsail on the port side, thus causing a nicely-adjusted balance. The balloon jibtopsail catches every stray breath ofair that is spilled out of the spinnaker, and it also has considerable possibilities as a steering sail, in addition to its splendid pulling power. For a vessel, however finely balanced and carefully steered, owing to various conditions of breeze and sea, has a tendency to yaw and fly up in the wind. Thus a strong puff or a heavy sea striking the boat may make her swerve from her course in an effort to broach to. Then the jibtopsail does good service as, when it gets full of wind, it pays the head of the boat off the wind, and materially assists the helmsman in steadying the vessel on her course.

Diagram No. 6.Dead Beat to Windward.

It may be remarked that steering a yacht under these conditions, in a strong and puffy breeze with a lumpy, following sea, calls for the best work of the ablest helmsman. A boat will generally develop an inclination to broach to, which means to fly up in the wind. Sometimes, however, the notion may strike her to run off the wind somuch as to bring the wind on the other quarter, causing her to gybe. This would mean disaster, probably a broken boom and a topmast snapped off short like a pipe-stem, with other incidental perils.

Diagram No. 3 shows the manœuvre of gybing, which is to keep the vessel away from the wind until it comes astern, and then on the opposite quarter to which it has been blowing. Fig. 1 shows a boat sailing before the wind with the main boom over to starboard. Fig. 2 shows the operation of luffing to get in the main sheet. Fig. 3 shows the boom over on the port quarter, and the operation complete, except trimming sail for the course to be steered.

It may be remarked that gybing a racing yacht "all standing" in a strong wind requires consummate skill and care. A cool hand at the helm is the prime requisite, but smart handling of the main sheet is of scarcely less importance. The topmast preventer backstays should be attended to by live men. When a vessel is not racing, gybing in heavy weather may be accomplished without the slightest risk; the topsail may be clewed up and the peak of the mainsail lowered, and with ordinary attention the manœuvre is easily performed.

Diagrams Nos. 4 and 5 show the same racing yacht close hauled on the port and starboard tack. The spinnaker and balloon jibtopsail are taken in. A small jibtopsail takes the place of the flyingkite. This sail, however, is only carried in light winds, as it has a tendency, when a breeze blows, to make a craft sag off to leeward.

Diagram No. 6 shows a boat beating out of a bay with the wind dead in her teeth, a regular "nose-ender" or "muzzler." She starts out from her anchorage on the port tack, stands in as close to the shore as is prudent, goes about on the starboard tack, stands out far enough to weather the point of land, then tacks again, and on the port tack fetches the open sea.

Diagram No. 7 illustrates a contingency frequently met with in beating to windward, when a vessel can sail nearer her intended course on one tack than another. Thus suppose her course is East by South and the wind SE, she would head up East on one tack (the long leg) and South on the other (the short leg).

Diagram No. 8 depicts the manœuvre of tacking that is the method of "going into stays," or shifting from one tack to the other. Fig. 1 shows a boat steering "full and bye" on the starboard tack. It becomes necessary to go about. "Helm's a-lee!" cries the man at the tiller, at the same time easing the helm down to leeward and causing the boat's head to fly up in the wind. The jib sheet is let go at the cry "Helm's a-lee!" decreasing the pressure forward and making the boat, if well balanced, spin round. A modern racer turns on her heel so smartly that the men have all they can do to trim the head sheetsdown before she is full on the other tack. Some of the old style craft, however, hang in the wind, and it sometimes becomes necessary to pay her head off by trimming down on the port jib sheet and by shoving the main boom over on the starboard quarter (Fig. 3). Soon she fills on the port tack, and goes dancing merrily along, as shown in Fig. 4.

In beating to windward in a strong breeze and a heavy sea leeway must be considered.

Leeway may be defined as the angle between the line of the vessel's apparent course and the line she actually makes good through the water. In other and untechnical words, it is the drift that the ship makes sideways through the water because of the force of the wind and the heave of the sea, both factors causing the craft to slide bodily off to leeward.

This crab-like motion is due to a variety of causes, to the shape of the craft, to her trim, and to the amount of sail carried, and its quality and sit. Boats deficient in the element of lateral resistance, such as a shallow craft with the centerboard hoisted, will drift off to leeward at a surprising rate. A deep boat of good design and fair sail-carrying capacity will, on the other hand, if her canvas is well cut and skillfully trimmed, make little or no leeway. In fact, she may, under favorable circumstances, eat up into the wind and fetch as high as she points.

Diagram No. 7.A Long Leg and a Short Leg.

Leeway is always a dead loss, and to counteract it is always the aim of the practical seaman and navigator. Captain Lecky, in his admirable work, "Wrinkles in Practical Navigation," puts the case clearly, and his advice should be followed whenever feasible. He says: "Suppose a vessel on a wind heading NW by N, under short canvas and looking up within three points of her port, which, accordingly, bears north; but, owing to its blowing hard, she is making 2-1/2 points leeway. Clearly this vessel is onlymaking gooda NW by W1/2W course, which is 5-1/2 points from the direction of port. Let her speed under these conditions be, say, four knots per hour. Now, if the yards are checked in a point or so, and the vessel be kept off NW by W, she will slip away much faster through the water, and probably will make not more than half a point leeway. This keeps the coursemade goodexactly the same as before, with the advantage of increased speed. Therefore, if you can possibly avoid it, do not allow your vessel tosag to leeward by jamming her up in the wind. Keep your wake right astern, unless it be found from the bearing of the port that the coursemade goodis actually taking the vessel away from it, in which case it is obvious that the less the speed the better."

This excellent counsel applies to every kind of sailing vessel, whether square-rigger or fore-and-after, whether used for business or pleasure. It is of no avail to pinch a boat for the purpose of keeping her bowsprit pointed for her destination, when it is obvious that she will only fetch a point several miles to leeward. Keep the sails clean full and the boat will make better weather of it, as well as greater speed. It may frequently be necessary to "luff and shake it out of her" when struck by a hard squall, or, by the aid of a "fisherman's luff," to clear an object without tacking, but a good rule is to keep a sailing craft moving through the water and not permit her to pitch and rear end on to the sea.

Diagram No. 8.The Manœuvre of Tacking.

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