WYC Sailing Guide
Introduction
This sailing guide was developed to support folks with no prior sailing experience participate in the Washington Yacht Club.
This guide contains the relevant material that will be tested on the Single and Double-Handed rating exams. It is recommended that you review these materials prior to attending any lessons!
The Washington Yacht Club has a PDF version of our Sailing Guide (available here). Please note, this guide had recently been updated and adapted for the new website, however the core content remains the same.
Comprehensive introduction to sailing posted by Josh Post (unaffiliated with WYC; available here).
Learn knots that are key to sailing here! Pay special attention to the Figure 8, Bowline, and Cleat Hitch.
Sailing Guide Chapters
Basic Concepts
On an extremely basic level, all sailboats function more or less the same. They can sail towards the direction that the wind is coming from (upwind), away from this direction (downwind), or across the wind (reaching).
A sailboat that primarily uses the weight of its crew to stay upright.
The left side of the boat when looking forward.
The right side of the boat when looking forward.
The side of an object that the wind is blowing onto. This can describe the position of objects in relation to the wind direction and each other, where the windward object is the one closer to the wind.
The side of an object opposite to the side that the wind is blowing onto. This can describe the position of objects in relation to the wind direction and each other, where the leeward object is the one farther from the wind.
How to Sit in a Dinghy
– Sit on the opposite side of the sail(s). The boat leans away from the wind (as it is being pushed by the wind), and your weight will keep the boat more level.
– Sit with hips facing the middle of the boat (perpendicular to the direction of travel).
– Hold the tiller extension/hiking stick with your back (aft) hand.
– Hold the main sheet with your front hand.
Parts of a Sailboat
Provided below is a labeled diagram of an FJ (one of the more frequently used double-handed boats in the club), which serves as a great example for learning the parts of a sailboat. You don’t need to memorize all these terms immediately, but keep referring back to this page when you can’t remember what part is which!
1) Rudder – It steers the boat
2) Tiller – It is a stick attached to the rudder to move it
3) Hiking Stick (aka Tiller Extension) – A stick that attaches to the tiller. It is what you hold on to and move side to side to turn the boat.
4) Centerboard – A large board that goes through the hull
5) Mast – A large metal pole that holds up the sails
6) Boom – A metal pole that attaches to the mast
7) Main Sail – The large sail
8) Jib Sail – The smaller sail in front
9) Main Halyard – The line that hoists (pulls up) and holds the main sail
10) Jib Halyard – The line that hoists (pulls up) holds the jib sail.
11) Outhaul – A line that pulls & holds the main sail along the length of the boom
12) Main Sheet – A line that goes from the boom to the middle of the boat. It is used by the sailor to control the main sail.
13) Boom Vang – A line that attaches between the mast and the boom. It holds the down boom at the right height.
14) Downhaul – A line that keeps the main sail tight along the mast
15) Jib Sheets – Lines that attach to the jib in order for the sailor to control them.
16) Battens – Hard sticks sewn into the sail to help the sail keep a nice shape
17) Hull – The body of the boat. It is typically made of fiberglass
18) Forestay – A metal wire that attaches to the front of the boat. It helps keep the mast upright.
19) Shroud – A metal wire that attaches to the side of the boat. It helps to keep the mast upright
20) Main Head – The top part of the main sail
21) Main Luff – The front edge of the main sail, the part of the main sail that attaches to the mast
22) Main Tack – The front corner of the main sail
23) Main Foot – The bottom part of the main sail
24) Clew – The back corner of the main sail
25) Main Leech – The back edge of the main sail
26) Jib Head – The top part of the jib sail
27) Jib Luff – The front edge of the jib sail
28) Jib Tack – The front corner of the jib sail
29) Jib Leech – The back edge of the jib sail
How Sailboats Work
Sails are controlled by ‘trimming‘ them, or adjusting the tension on a line known as a ‘sheet‘ that is attached to the sail. Pulling the sheet in, or ‘sheeting in‘ rotates the sail towards the centerline of the boat (closer to you). Letting the sheet out, or ‘sheeting out’ lets the sail rotate away from the centerline of the boat (away from you).
Correct sail trim orients the sail at an angle relative to the wind that most effectively drives the boat forward. Getting the correct trim can be tricky because the wind direction is never perfectly constant, and learning to compensate for changes in direction takes practice. Trimming sails properly depends on whether or not you’re sailing upwind or downwind.
Steering & Points of Sail
Before diving into how to turn a dinghy, let’s highlight a few core principles of steering:
- Dinghies respond dramatically to small movements of the tiller. Start turns by gradually pushing or pulling the tiller away from the centerline (center of the boat). Stop turns by returning the tiller to the center line.
- Pushing the tiller in one direction will cause the boat to turn towards the opposite direction.
- The dinghy has to be moving forward (or backwards!) before it will be able to turn. You must maintain effective sail trim throughout the turn by sheeting the sail in or out as you turn. If you don’t maintain proper sail trim throughout the turn your boat will slow down or stop moving.
How it works:
When you’re sailing upwind, the sail(s) is acting like an airplane wing in combination with the daggerboard or centerboard to drive the boat forward. In order for a sail to work like a wing, it must maintain a relatively consistent shape to allow air to flow smoothly from the front edge of the sail to the back.
Trimming the sails:
Let the sail out (‘sheet out‘) until the sail is luffing (flapping in the wind like a flag), and then gradually sheet back in until the sail develops a nice, smooth curved shape. We describe sails in this ideal state as “on the verge of luffing”.
Turning upwind:
Heading up refers to turning the bow towards the wind direction (upwind). Any time you push the tiller towards the sail (and away from yourself), your boat will begin to head upwind. This is also known as bearing up, pointing up, or turning higher.
As you head up, you will need to sheet in to maintain effective sail trim because turning upwind will change the angle at which the wind starts flowing over the sail.
How it works: (Same as Upwind)
When you’re sailing perpendicular or “across the wind”, the sail(s) is acting like an airplane wing in combination with the daggerboard or centerboard to drive the boat forward. In order for a sail to work like a wing, it must maintain a relatively consistent shape to allow air to flow smoothly from the front edge of the sail to the back.
Trimming the sails: (Same as Upwind)
Let the sail out (‘sheet out‘) until the sail is luffing (flapping in the wind like a flag), and then gradually sheet back in until the sail develops a nice, smooth curved shape. We describe sails in this ideal state as “on the verge of luffing”.
How it works:
When you’re sailing downwind, the sail(s) is simply being pushed by the wind, which in turn pushes the boat downwind.
Trimming the sails:
Trimming sails downwind is a little trickier. Because the sail is acting like a bag to ‘catch’ the wind and push the boat along, going downwind your sail will almost never be luffing.
Ideally, the sail should be oriented perpendicular to the direction of the wind. This exposes the maximum amount of sail area to be ‘pushed’ by the wind.
Turning downwind:
Falling off is the opposite of heading up. It refers to turning away from the wind (downwind). Any time you pull the tiller away from the sail (and towards yourself), your boat will begin to fall off. This is also known as bearing away, pointing down, or turning lower.
As you fall off, you will need to sheet out to maintain effective sail trim because turning downwind will change the angle at which the wind pushes on the sail.
Points of Sail
Sailors commonly describe their current course or “heading” in relation to the current wind direction. Various course angles relative to the wind direction are given different names, known as the points of sail. It’s important to understand these terms so that you’ll understand what how your sails should look depending on where the wind is–notice how the sails are pulled in tighter the more your bow points towards the wind (upwind).
In the below illustration you’ll notice duplicates (or mirrors) of each point of sail. Confusingly, the ‘side’ of the wind that a boat is on is also known as a “tack.”
A boat is on a ‘starboard tack’ when the wind first hits the starboard (right) side of the boat before hitting the sail/boom on the port (left) side.
A boat is on a ‘port tack’ when the wind first hits the port (left) side of the boat before hitting the sail/boom on the starboard (right) side.
Sailboats cannot sail directly upwind. If a boat is pointed too far upwind, it will not move forward no matter how you trim your sails. The arc in which boats are pointed too far upwind is called the No Go Zone. A significant part of learning how to sail upwind is recognizing when you are pointed in the No Go Zone, and understanding how to get out of it.
How to Sail Upwind
While sailboats can sail upwind, they cannot sail directly into the wind. Presuming you want to sail to a point (perhaps to a dock) directly upwind from you, instead you must sail a ‘zig-zag’ course to get there. This is known as beating.
A sailboat sailing upwind changes direction by performing a tack (yes, there are two different definitions for the same word), a maneuver where the bow of the boat rotates through the wind direction, causing the boat to go from pointing diagonally upwind with the wind on one side of the boat to the other side of the boat.
How to Perform a Tack
- Initiate a gradual turn towards the wind by gently pushing the tiller away from you (towards the sail) using the tiller extension/hiking stick.
- While the boat is turning, stand up on the ‘old side’ and step across the boat without letting go of either the mainsheet or tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Once the sail(s) switches sides (aka tacks), sit down on the ‘new side’ opposite the sail(s).
- Center the tiller immediately to stop the boat from turning and re-establish a straight course, looking forwards to ensure that you’re now traveling in a straight line.
- Slide your sheet-holding hand aft along the mainsheet to reach the tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Once you’ve grabbed the tiller extension/hiking stick with your ‘old’ sheet hand, let go of it with your ‘old’ tiller hand.
- At this point your ‘old’ sheet hand becomes the ‘new’ tiller hand, and it will be holding both the sheet and tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Grab the sheet with your ‘old’ tiller hand.
- Make sure your sail(s) is trimmed correctly and adjust if necessary.
How to Sail Downwind
While sailboats can sail pointed directly downwind, this is not recommended because a shift in wind direction could cause the sail(s) unexpectedly switch sides (known as flying gybe).
Instead, sailors typically progress downwind by following a zig-zag course, similar to how they would progress upwind, except with gentler ‘zags’:
However instead of tacking at each change in course, the sailor executes a maneuver known as a gybe (also spelled ‘jibe’), where the stern (back end) passes through the wind direction.
How to Perform a Gybe
- Initiate a turn away from the wind by pulling the tiller towards you (away from the sail) using the tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Aggressively sheet in an armful’s worth of mainsheet.
- While turning, stand up on the ‘old side’ and step across the boat without letting go of either the mainsheet or tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Once the sail(s) switches sides (aka gybes), sit down on the ‘new side’ opposite the sail(s) and sheet out by easing out an armful’s worth of mainsheet.
- Center the tiller immediately to stop the boat from turning and re-establish a straight course, looking forwards to ensure that you’re now traveling in a straight line.
- Slide your sheet-holding hand aft (towards the back) along the mainsheet to reach the tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Once you’ve grabbed the tiller extension/hiking stick with your ‘old’ sheet hand, let go of it with your ‘old’ tiller hand.
- At this point your ‘old’ sheet hand becomes the ‘new’ tiller hand, and it will be holding both the sheet and tiller extension/hiking stick.
- Grab the sheet with your ‘old’ tiller hand.Make sure your sail(s) is trimmed correctly and adjust if necessary.
Speed Control & Docking
Believe it or not getting a sailboat to move forward isn’t intuitive or easy your first time out. Here are some tips:
- Check your sail trim before moving the tiller. Remember, your boat can’t turn unless it’s moving forward, so keep the tiller centered until you begin moving forward.
- Sailors commonly stop moving unintentionally when they get stuck in the No Go Zone. If you’re stuck in the No Go Zone try:
- Pushing or pulling the sails against or towards the wind. This will cause the boat to rotate out of the No Go Zone.
- Paddling with the rudder by smoothly moving the tiller side to side (known as “Sculling“). You may have to push the tiller harder or more frequently to one side in order to rotate the boat.
- Once you think you’re out of the No Go Zone, center the tiller and adjust your sail trim.
Stopping in a sailboat is not like stopping on a car or bike. There are two ways of stopping:
- Point the bow upwind.
- Point the boat perpendicular to the wind direction and sheet out until your sails begin luffing (flapping).
- You cannot stop while going downwind (except by capsizing).
There are a few ways to control your speed in a sailboat. Usually sailors use a combination of these methods:
- Going upwind or across the wind, you can control your speed by sheeting out until your sail(s) begins to luff momentarily, and then sheeting back in to the correct sail trim. Remember, when your sail(s) luffs your boat will slow down because the sail has stopped driving the boat forward.
- Going downwind, sheeting in too far can help slow you down a bit. But you won’t be able to slow down dramatically or stop.
Docking is the same as stopping, except you usually have less room to stop, and you should try not to hit the dock:
- Approach the dock going upwind so that you can sheet out to luff your sails completely and stop.
- Begin sheeting out to luff your sails before you’re right next to the dock–the boat will have considerable momentum and it will take some time to drift to a stop.
- Have the boat be parallel to the dock when you are stopping. Do not ram the dock with the bow (front) of the boat!
Capsize Recovery
Single-Handed Recovery
Double-Handed Recovery
Capsizing is a normal part of dinghy sailing and demonstrating proficiency in capsize recovery is required to earn a rating:
- Try not to entangle yourself in lines, straps, etc as the boat capsizes.
- Try not to fall onto the sail, spars, or rigging on your way to the water. This will prevent damage to the boat, and more importantly, you.
- Uncleat the sheets if applicable.
- Once the boat begins capsizing, resist the urge to put weight on top of it. If applicable, tell your crew to keep their weight off the boat. Remaining in or on the boat while capsized may cause it to turtle (turn completely upsidedown), making it more difficult to recover and possibly trapping you underneath.
- Once in the water, move to the daggerboard or centerboard by pulling yourself around the boat. Do NOT let go and swim around; on a windy day a capsized boat can sail away from you faster than you can swim.
- If the bow is pointed downwind, rotate the boat to point it upwind before trying to right it.
- Pull down on the end of the daggerboard or centerboard and then transfer more weight to it by pulling yourself on top.
- As the boat begins to right itself, grab the gunwhale (side of the boat) to continue pulling it upright.
- Pull yourself in as the boat rights itself, or after it has righted.
- Ensure that the sheets are eased and grab the tiller to keep it centered.
Rules of the Road
The Rules of the Road are international practices designed to avoid collisions. The basic idea of all the rules is that the boat which is least maneuverable has right of way. Boats that do NOT have Right-of-Way must steer to avoid collisions with boats which do have Right-Of-Way.
The most important Right-Of-Way rules:
- People in the water (swimmers, kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, etc.) have right of way over sailboats and motorboats.
- Sailboats have right of way over motorboats.
- A motorboat is restricted by draft (it is so big it must stay in the channel, such as the huge sand barge) has right of way over sail boats.
- A boat on starboard tack has right of way over a boat on port tack.
- A boat that is leeward has right of way over a boat to windward.
- A boat which is being overtaken by another boat has right of way.
Additional considerations:
- A boat which is tacking or jibing must keep clear of other boats.
- Seaplanes on the water do not have right of way (they are powerboats, according to the law) but common sense says a seaplane just after taking off or just before landing has limited ability to avoid you.
Safe Sailing
We make our best effort in our lessons to provide a safe learning environment for all our members. During a lesson or while signed out to sail supervised, we try our best to keep an eye out for you. However, once you earn a rating you can sail unsupervised, which means you should keep in mind the following:
- When sailing unsupervised you alone are responsible for your own safety. You should not expect rescue if you run into trouble.
- Do not attempt to swim to shore if your boat is rendered unsailable for any reason. STAY WITH THE BOAT. It is much easier to find a boat on the water than it is to find a person.
- Use your judgment: do not go sailing or return to the docks immediately if you are in doubt of your ability to self-rescue.
- Check the WYC Sail Locker door for “No Novice”, “Skipper Only”, and “Hazardous Weather” signs.
- Regardless of signs posted, you are responsible for assessing the current weather and checking forecasts to ensure that your rating is appropriate for the conditions.
- It can take a long time to sail back to the docks–plan for the fact that sunset and darkness happen quickly and you cannot be out after dark in WYC dinghies.
- Be prepared: Wear your PFD and appropriate clothing (or wetsuit/drysuit) and understand the forecast. Consider other safety gear, such as a safety knife, helmet, waterproof marine VHF.
- Know where and when you can sail with your ratings.
- Call 911.
- Notify your instructor immediately.
The rescue motor boats may be used by anyone in case of an emergency.
Know and follow the WYC rules:
- The WYC By-Laws enumerate the rules that govern the club.
- Suspensions are rare, but not impossible. You can be suspended by a chief. Please follow the rules and have a respectful attitude toward other members.
- However, you are not required to wear them unless you are under the age of 18 or cannot swim.
- In accordance with the law, you must carry one PFD of the appropriate size and type for each person onboard any WYC boat.
- Wearing a PFD can help prevent hypothermia (see “Hypothermia”).
- Be sure your PFD is secured correctly, as it will quickly become useless if you fall into the water with the straps undone.
- Cold water conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air.
- The effects of cold-water immersion and hypothermia can occur in water below 77 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Union Bay and Lake Washington is often colder than 77 degrees:
- Summer (June 15th – October 15th): temperatures range from 55 to 70 degrees F. Expected time till exhaustion/unconsciousness is ~1-7 hours.
- Winter (October 15th – June 15th): temperatures range from 40 to 55 degrees F. Expected time before exhaustion/unconsciousness is 3-10 minutes.
- Prevention:
- Wear a wetsuit.
- Wear a lifejacket or PFD.
- Avoid the use of alcohol or other substances before entering the water.
- Exit the water when you are feeling tired and/or cold.
- Pack a towel and an extra pair of dry clothes to change into.
- Hypothermia Signs and Symptoms:
- Mild (shivering, cold hands and feet, numbness, loss of dexterity, pain from cold)
- Severe (shivering decreases or stops, confusion, clumsiness, slurred speech, irrational and/or irritable behavior–victim may deny feeling cold and resist help, semiconsciousness or unconsciousness, increased muscular rigidity).
- If you notice any of the signs and symptoms mentioned, take action immediately:
- Get the individual out of the water and into a warm room/shelter.
- Take off wet clothing, and warm the center of the individual’s body.
- Seek proper medical attention. If the individual is unconscious and without a pulse, call 911 and perform CPR.
- More information on Hypothermia:
When the wind is blowing onto a shore or dock, it’s known as a lee shore. Sailing near lee shores can be dangerous because if you capsize or lose control and end up pinned against the lee shore by the wind, it can be considerably difficult to sail away from it.
When you are sailing downwind with the boom on the windward side you are ‘sailing by the lee.’ This is dangerous because it can lead to accidental jibes thereby putting the boat and the crew at risk of damage by an out-of-control boom.
Your First Sail
You’re now ready for your first sail. Reading this page will help you learn the most from your first sail.
Sailing on a dinghy for the first time is like any new experience. Some aspects of it will be exhilarating or exciting, and some will be uncomfortable and confusing. Everyone learns differently so make sure to ask your instructor or officers (in person or by email) if you have questions, but we’ll try to give you a good idea of what to expect.
Bring:
- A water bottle (preferably one you’re not attached to if you plan on taking it sailing).
- Snacks if it’s a half-day lesson, and a full lunch and snacks if it’s a full-day lesson/sail.
- Changes of clothes and a towel.
- Sunscreen in the summer–the water reflects sunlight making burns more likely.
Appropriate Clothing:
- (Summer) Wear quick-drying clothes (synthetic or wool) that are comfortable when wet (i.e. not denim).
- (Summer) Bring a light jacket (it’s often colder than you think on the water).
- (Rest of Year) Wear synthetic or wool layers under a rain jacket and rain pants. A hat will significantly increase your warmth, and gloves help too.
- (Winter) Wear a wetsuit. Club wetsuits can be checked out through an instructor or the Ratings Examiner for member use during classes and Supervised Sailing.
- Sailing: required from November 1st through April 30th.
- Windsurfing: required from September 15th through June 15th.
We are located by the Waterfront Activities Center (WAC) behind Husky Stadium. Before you make the trip down, here are a few things to consider:
- You can just leave stuff while sailing in the WYC Sail Locker, or rent lockers in the WAC when they are open, but we do not recommend bringing valuables.
- When the WAC is open they have restrooms as well as free hot showers upstairs.
Checking out a boat:
- Access WYC’s online Dinghy Checkout Form (not required if you are in a lesson).
- Log in to the Dinghy Checkout Form using your WYC Member ID # and password.
- Click “Check out a boat” in the top left corner.
- Check the winds and weather are safe and appropriate for your WYC ratings.
- Fill out the form with the following information:
- Boat being checked out and your relevant WYC rating.
- Sailing destination, departure time, and estimated return time.
- Crew. Guests must complete a WYC waiver before sailing!
- Submit the form, grab lifejackets, and go sailing!
Setting up the Boat:
- Do NOT raise the mainsail while the boat is on the dock. The boat will move and cause damage to the hull.
- If you are temporarily leaving your boat, make sure it is tied to the dock with the mainsail down. If the mainsail is up the boat will try to sail away and strain against the rope.
- Most sails you will use will be made of dacron (all the white sails). Dacron sails may be put away wet. Lay them out on the wooden docks so you can roll or fold them.
- If you got them from the locker rolled up (usually sails for FJs), then roll them back up when you are done.
- If you got them folded (Laser sails), then you’ll fold them when you are done. When you are folding sails, don’t fold the battens (the hard sticks sewn in) or the clear windows.
- Complete your Dinghy Checkout:
- Return to the Dinghy Checkout Form. Scroll down to your previously submitted checkout form.
- Click “Check In” (so WYC can confirm you made it back ok).
- Submit a WYC Damage Report if there was any damage to the boat. (The damage report link will also be provided after clicking “Check In”).
- Bring back any equipment you took out of the sail locker.
- Make sure you shut the Sail Locker door.