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Fewer Fouled Sheets

by Sail Staff, Posted August 25, 2008
Fewer Fouled SheetsIf there is a topping-lift bridle on your spinnaker pole, there's a good chance—depending on how the spinnaker-pole uphaul is rigged—that the bridle could foul either the jib or spinnaker sheet. This happens often enough that foredeck crews on many raceboats—especially in one-design fleets—have changed their pole lifts to minimize the chance of fouling. Here's how
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Foulies Free

by Kimball Livingston, Posted August 22, 2008
Racing or cruising, Mexico's Bahía de Banderas is drawing in more and more of the West Coast action

Bahía de Banderas is a foulies-free environment. That's almost enough to know, and I walked off the plane without a plan. If I had a plan, something could go wrong. But I was on pilgrimage, sure enough. This sunny bight on mainland Mexico is emerging as the


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The Thirsty Fishermen

by Sail Staff, Posted August 22, 2008
You’re sailing off the coast of Haiti and come across a wrecked boat with people on board. Do you think “pirates” or “rescue”?By Jan Hein

One night, at a gathering in the cockpit of a friend’s boat, someone posed a question: “If you came across a small fishing boat miles offshore and the people on board needed water, would you give it to them?” Compassion vied with


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In the Ditch

by Sail Staff, Posted August 22, 2008
Even if you aren't going offshore, you should carry a ditch bag that you can grab quickly in case there's a problem. Ours is the kind used by sea kayakers to keep their gear dry, and we store it underneath the dodger when we're sailing so we can check the bag's contents and test the handheld VHF.

A quick-release buckle that wraps around a grabrail on the cabintop holds one end of the bag. A


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Handy Coil

by Sail Staff, Posted August 22, 2008
Making up the tail end of a halyard or furling line in a standard coil almost always guarantees a foul-up if you need to free the line in a hurry. Certainly you will waste valuable time untangling the coil and making sure it is free to run. By making a long coil and then wrapping the top of the coil over a lifeline or grabrail before tucking it back through itself, you'll make sure the line stays
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