Tip #1: Boat Balance & Steering with the Sails

[@MOVENautic]

This is the most straightforward, easy to understand description of balancing a boat I have ever seen.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

That's a huge complement, thank you! Stoked that it's been helpful!

[@MondoRockable]

Excellent description on where the sails need to be with respect to the 'points of sail' - close hauled, reach, run. Terrific instructions. ⛵

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Mahalo!

[@BenjaminEAlexander]

I spent hours on Sunday trying to sail a beam reach with a tight sheet because I’d tangled everything, and this is a good explanation of why it was so miserable.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Keep practicing! It gets more fun the more things start to click!

[@headshedwisdom]

The best kiss ( keep it simple stupid) explaination of how to balance a sailing vessel I have ever watched....well done sir. Having circumnavigated easterly and westerly single handed I learned this after a lot of experience and you are so very very correct.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thank you so much for watching and leaving the comment. We learned a long time ago that clarity = kindness. We make these complex topics as simple and easy to understand as possible.

[@vincentrogers946]

Brilliant explantations - clear & precise with great examples.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

We appreciate it!

[@jabberwockytdi8901]

I'm consistently amazed how many " sailors" don't get this , I recently saw a comment on a sailing video in YT that the owner of the boat in the video had weather helm on a close reach in a decent breeze as they had "too much Genoa out" when the heel angle was OK and they clearly needed to reduce the power from the main - reef/ease sheet .

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Interesting. It definitely can be challenging to keep everything balanced, lots of factors at play. But we'd have to agree, we see a decent amount of misunderstanding about the topic, especially from larger keelboat sailors.

[@Tdawg90]

one of the best (best maybe) I've come across, explanations of this. The beginning illustration with the square rigs really hits it home

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

♥Mahalo!

[@yesimeanyes]

A great and helpful explanation. Really easy to understand!

[@denise2169]

Love your visual analogy with the balance! Thanks! I’ll subscribe because this is the best explanation I’ve seen of how sail position is so important!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks so much! Happy to share the love.

[@roryryan2k]

Brilliant video, thanks. looking forward to getting out on the water, lashing the rudder and trying to steer with the sails..

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks for watching, and good luck!

[@markrickel1632]

Great job. Wind surfing teaches you this quickly. If you haven’t sailed a board then lock off the wheel one day and do this. It greatly increases your seamanship skills and means you aren’t as SOL with a steering or rudder failure.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks for the love! I wouldn't say I'm great on a windsurfer, but I can get around, and you're totally right! You get a strong sense right away of how what you're doing with the sail affects everything else.

[@MacBjorn]

Great class on sail steering and how the pressure works on the boat

[@sophiethewestie]

Thanks for making this very easy-to-understand sailing theory video!! Best I've seen so far!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thank you so much!

[@sadiaabbasi88]

Beautiful explanation. Please keep on updating the videos they are extremely informative

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thank you! 😃

[@peterbooth2804]

Sorry about this, but what a brilliant instructor. Seems to be a natural, explains it all in simple terms using great examples. He has answered questions that I had been thinking about sych as how to steer should orcas rip my rudder off or I lose it through other means. Thank you.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Hope they never do! 😅 Thanks for the comment.

[@williamstreet4304]

This was a great description of boat balance. With a little over 7,000 NM of passage making on heavy, medium-sized boats this year, I like to think of the sails as providing a general course and the rudder fine-tuning or reacting to the wave action and wind changes. Under autopilot, I watch the wheel. If it's near centered - with a bit of weather helm - the sails are fairly balanced. If it's far off center, I need to balance the sails. Another thing I learned was to feel for the response of the boat. If a gust hits the boat, it should primarily accelerate rather than heel. If you feel the boat heeling heavily and being sluggish in acceleration, the sails are over-trimmed creating more side force than forward power. A brief story. I worked and sailed with a British man who had been highly ranked as a young sailor. He had a photograph in his office of a sailboat with its dagger board on the crest of a wave, mast pointed down, about to crash onto a rocky shore. A figure was jumping clear of the boat. When questioned, he said that it was one of his best days sailing. A storm caught him about 25 NM off the west coast of Britain. The rudder broke off in the storm. He had sailed back to shore using sail and weight balance. A photographer who was capturing the storm took that photo as he brought the boat ashore in heavy seas and storm conditions. It is great to be able to control a boat when some things break.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks so much for the comment and for sharing personal experience and that story! Loved what you said about watching the wheel. We've had some experience on a larger boat and once had a new sailor ask why the "center point" of the wheel was marked. Among other things, we explained the same thing you pointed out: it helps you see how much the rudder is turned and fighting to keep you on course. For this boat, we never wanted the center point past the 1 or 2 o'clock position. Cheers!

[@argentosebastian]

Great video. It's exactly what I'm trying to learn. From what I heard also is important to shift your weight (port/starboard). I haven't figured out how that works yet.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Yes! Because of the curved shape of most hulls, if you intentionally tip the boat to the right, the boat will want to turn to the left, and vice versa.

[@kailohre9336]

Comment from Norway! Great video - tried to steer my 39 fot sailboat by sail only he other day. I had limited success. Now I will try again and do think I will do better!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Exciting! Keep us posted and good luck.

[@stevephillips3300]

Great explanation 👍

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thank you!

[@kimsam3869]

정말 이해하기 쉽게 설명해주시네요. 감사합니다 ~

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

시청 해주셔서 감사합니다

[@AtlanticFun]

Great info, keep it coming.😊

[@clairecelestin8437]

This was fantastic for me. I had a lot of "aha!" moments. Thank you for sharing your insight!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks so much Claire! We love that we can help get people more comfortable and confident out on the water!

[@genglandoh]

You are a great teacher. Thank you for this video

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thanks, and absolutely!

[@epicnavigator]

Hello captain, Great video and great way of explaining things!

[@WindedVoyage]

My autopilot quit at the beginning of a 3 day solo passage. I was able to balance my boat and keep it on course for the 3 day journey from Cape Verde Islands to Senegal, West Africa. My helm was held by bungee cords to keep the rudder steady. Since that experience, I can regularly sail and steer without the autopilot.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Sounds challenging, but awesome what you accomplished.

[@MonoJaviX]

Thanks for sharing, this was a great video!! Very easy to understand and remember.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Absolutely! Thanks for commenting!

[@music-jj2pl]

Excellent example with the scale. I am practicing this as soon as I can by pulling my rudder out also. I always like having backups in this case what happens if i lose my rudder.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Awesome, and good luck! It's not easy so it may take some time. Trying to put a rudder in a moving boat is notoriously difficult without assistance, so a better option may be to lash your rudder in the center!

[@music-jj2pl]

@@sailinghickamharbor260 Oh i can do that too. But its a kick up rudder though I've never put it down while underway. Thanks.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Ah! That would definitely make it easier to manage. @@music-jj2pl

[@천대진-g7n]

Thank you for your easy explaination about the balance between ths sail and rudder.

[@marcsoucy5696]

Wow, Great explanation!! 🤯

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Thank you!

[@theduhec]

Brilliant explanation! Thank you!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Much appreciated!

[@eshvartz]

Got to admit, a youtube video with a dull colored whiteboard is not an attractive click but your explaining and examples are really good. Thank you!

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

We appreciate ya giving the video a chance 😂

[@tylercarder581]

I hope you do more of these videos. New to sailing and definitely need this.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

We have more on the horizon!

[@heavenlyliquid]

Thank you! This is awesome.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Absolutely! Glad it helped.

[@paulthew2]

Fantastic explanation.

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Many thanks! 🤙

[@StartVisit]

omg, i have so much trouble on 40ft Cat in high winds because have no idea about balancing, boat always want to turn i have to use one engine to compensate 😮 thanks for basic explanation

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Happy to help! And yes! Sounds like you need to either trim your sails more efficiently or depower your sails through outhaul, Cunningham, vang, backstay, traveler, etc. Good luck moving forward!

[@nicolascadieux2769]

Nice explanation…

[@johnsmall9729]

As a newbie to sailing, thank you for explaining the concept of steering with the sails. But what do you use the rudder for?

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

You use both the rudder and sails to steer the boat in a balanced way! Sometimes, conditions depending, you can steer a boat with just one or the other, but sometimes you can't. Keeping everything working together is the best and most efficient way to go from point A to B!

[@robertcain3426]

I'm not sure if you mention, or not, that this is the major difference between a fast sailor and a slow sailor in a race. The rudder fighting the incorrectly balanced sails leads to drag, slowing the boats potential. Great video, btw. Cheers

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

@@robertcain3426 Wise words!

[@peterkadelbach7010]

What happens with an adjustable center board/swing keel? I’m guessing in its most forward position it will go up wind better. When would I want to angle it up and towards the stern?

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Great question, and you're spot on. IF it's adjustable, having it as down/forward as possible will help the boat grip the water and counterbalance the sail, helping you to point upwind more efficiently. Pulling it up while sailing is boat-dependent. For most dinghies though, we often will tell people they can pull up their dagerboard a few inches. Resist the urge to pull it up TOO much, as this will make the boat less stable. Sailing the boat fast downwind on a run (or any point of sail) is the product of doing lots of little things right, you gain advantages inch by inch. Don't expect this one adjustment to translate into any major speed boost, but it will help a bit!

[@omarkn4371]

Very helpful!!

[@beorbeorian150]

I don’t get why the boat would sail into the wind if sails are sheeted in? Would seem the lift would be down wind.

[@beorbeorian150]

Looks like you explained that at about 10:05. Thanks!

[@Deebz270]

Good advice, perhaps more so, if one were to lose the rudder...

[@danyoung02]

“As long as the wind is steady”

[@sailinghickamharbor260]

Which is laughable, right? 😂 Always lots of variables to consider.