Page 68 - br-june-2020

June 2020 June 2020

Most 'offshore' skippers, when BereConnect Emergency Fund
asked by an enquiring novice
The fund has made 4 loans so far, and has contributed over £450 to the food
of the purpose of this still- bank. If you need a loan please don’t hesitate to contact
folded (and likely unused) sail,
will usually reply with a bereconnect@outlook.com for help and advice.
comment linked to "the need
to claw off a lee shore in a BereConnect Buddy Scheme
gale" (see footnote). it may
well serve that purpose if you If you are feeling cut off and need a friendly voice to chat to, call Liz on 01929
are unfortunate enough to 471878 or 07956 914075 to join the Buddy Scheme.
allow yourself to get into that
'pickle' but as most sailors are I should also mention here, the ‘Give What You Can; Take What You Need’ food
sufficiently prudent to give exchange box which is outside the school, and was initiated by the school staff,
themselves sufficient ‘sea- which is very well used and much appreciated.
room’, it is rarely put to the test.
Finally, outside the scope of BereConnect, but, I know, greatly appreciated by all
My plea is to ask you give this valuable piece of 'canvas' a chance to of us in Bere, I must thank the Surgery for their excellent work in adapting to the
demonstrate how useful a sail it can be in other circumstances. situation and continuing to provide a magnificent service, the Moorse families
and the village shop team, Amanda and Kevin Crocker at Rye Hill Farm and
Most fatal accidents on yachts are “boom-related" and occur when sailing Janette and the team at the Post Office for all their efforts on our behalf at this
downwind. as occurred in the 1990 ‘round the island’ race. (this statement ignores difficult time.
the even greater number who perish whilst paddling out to their moored craft
after an over-indulged evening ashore!). Ian Ventham, 471480
Downwind sailing in bad weather with a mainsail up - reefed or otherwise - is
potentially dangerous. Steering in big following seas requires a degree of skill that
few have the time or opportunity to acquire, so the risk of an accidental gybe
(the extended mainsail boom sweeping across the deck like a scythe), induced
by the lift of a following sea, is very real. The use of a rope ”preventer" - which
rarely has the correct lead or tension to prevent a gybe - also creates a false
sense of security. This leads to a dangerous lowering of concentration and adds
to the chance of a gybe situation developing. this begs the question, " as the
mainsail steals a lot of wind from the jib and is inherently dangerous on a
downwind reach in big seas, why have the mainsail up at all?”

It is safer to have the vessel 'pulled' downwind by the jib than 'pushed' downwind
by the mainsail, as the mainsail has its 'centre of effort' outside the ship's rail and is £
trying to rotate the yacht around its keel into a dangerous broach*, which will
make a capsize a distinct possibility. Time to break out the storm trysail.
This is the sequence of deploying the storm trysail to allow it to 'earns its rations'.
Take the mainsail down, stowed tight on the boom, with the boom lashed on the
coachroof as low as possible.
Hoist the trysail (up its own track on the mast if possible) with the 'foot' of the sail
at least 1 metre (yard) above the boom.

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