Bart Senior wrote:
Your 35' sloop is bare headed--the one jib you have is
at the sailmakers for repairs. You are sailing today with
main alone.


Must be somebody else's boat, but OK I sail OPB's a lot.


You are directly head to wind, in irons, stopped dead
in the water.

For 1 point

Which side do you back the main to sail off on a port
tack?


It depends. What is the keel configuration? Where is the
mast stepped fore/aft? Relatively few boats will fall off to
the same side the sail is backed, but some definitely will.


Walt wrote:
Sheesh, doesn't anybody here know how to sail backwards?


Yep


Push the boom out to starboard. Center the tiller. Wait for the boat
to start moving backwards.

Most boats will begin to fall off to port (ie onto port
tack) with the boom backed to starboard. You can have the
helm at any position and the forces on the rig & hull & keel
will produce this effect.


.... Move the tiller slightly to starboard (not
too much or you'll stop the boat by using the rudder as a brake.) The
boat will start backing around presenting the port side to the wind.
Once you've turned enough that you're on a close reach heading, trim in
the main, center the tiller and start saiing forward.


What if the boat gets stuck in irons again? Why might it do
this?



What else do you need to do?

Learn not to get stuck in irons when sailing under main alone?


What techniques would you recommend for tacking to avoid
getting stuck in irons?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King