Presented by VETUS MAXWELL Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Winch Wisdom Many of today’s boats—mine included—don’t have enough cleats on the cockpit coamings to secure all the sheets when they come off the winches. This is natural enough given the rise of the ...read more
One of my favorite parts of a charter is the checkout. I know, weird. But that’s the time I learn the boat that will be my charge, my baby and possibly my headache for the next week or two. I get right down into the bilge, engine room and anchor locker, because I have people ...read more
At its most basic, a “snubber” is a short length of non-stretchy cordage attached to the anchor chain and to a strong point on a yacht, with the aim of taking the load off the windlass or to stop the chain rattling on the bow roller. A windlass is not designed to take snatch ...read more
Vang Power A boom vang helps to control mainsail shape after the limits of the traveler have been reached. Without a vang, the boom will lift as the mainsheet is eased, opening the leech, and the top of the sail will twist off to leeward, spilling the wind. If you are sailing ...read more
I was originally drawn to sailing not by the pull of the water but by the pull of land, land beyond my horizon. The idea that one could step aboard a boat, hoist a triangle of canvas like a hitchhiker’s thumb and catch a ride on a passing wind to an exotic island, to a foreign ...read more
