In the second part of our new 12-part series on Advanced Sailing Techniques, professional sailor Pip Hare coaches you through what to do when you start to broach.
If you sailed a lot solo in dingies this is all automatic for you, on yachts hindered by winches and crew which make super fast reactions sometimes slower unless everybody alert and well trained and all tech well used.
This is a great video. I find that on boats with a larger main sail, releasing the vang lets out enough pressure to derail most broaches. Also, on more severe broaches, the boom will hit the water, tighten the main, counter-effects the release of the main sail and make it harder to get out of the broach. Letting go of the vang, will allow the boom to raise as it hits the water and help recovery. It can also save your boom from snapping where the vang in anchored. The first thing that needs to go is the vang.
Can't wait to try it out. New sailor here and the wife and I experienced some higher winds than expected yesterday in our little 28 footer. Boat felt like was losing control downwind so I put a reef in main for first time and it helped but still happened a few times. We heeled at 30 degrees plus a few times. My solution was to furl the jib so we didn't have to call it a day so we sailed at 2.5 knots the rest of the day. lol...how do that saying go....when in doubt...let it out. I knew my lack of trim skills were the issue.
From my skiff sailing days, I would also say that steering downwind when it first starts healing (before it gets to far) will avoid needing to touch the sails at all.
This vid is a little dated at this point, but things have obviously changed in the 50 years since I raced competitively. Back then we _never_ used a boom vang except when racing downhill; relied strictly on main sheet, and if we approached a broach (which we rarely did in a boat the size of ours) we'd just blow the main sheet and let it luff out. The chief reason for this was that we had a roller-reefing setup on the boom, which made it impossible to rig a permanent kicker or boom vang; we relied on wrapping a thick rubber tensioner around the boom and cinch it down with blocks and leads as our boom vang, and would usually hook it outboard on downwind instead of the mast step. What we _failed_ to do if we were reaching with the chute up was blow the spinnaker sheet; there seemed to be a reflex response among skipper and crew to send the pole forward into the headstay and let the _weather_ sheet out instead of the leeward sheet. This never made sense to me -- of course back then there was no such thing as an asymmetrical spinnaker either, we just had a traditional spinnaker with pole.
The spinnakers reaction force is forward of the keel. This means that the spinnaker is trying to head the boat down, not round it up as in a broach. The mains reaction force is aft of the keel & it is this that is the primary rounding up force. However, when a boat heels, both reaction forces move leeward of the hulls centre of drag. This separation between the opposing forces of sail pressure and hull drag form a force couple that gives the boat weather helm. The more the boat heels, the stronger the weather helm & the less effective the rudder becomes as it starts to produce vertical rather than horizontal steering forces. The rudder becomes a brake, ceasing to provide effective steering. The boat slows down, decreasing the flow velocity over the rudder, but increasing the wind flow velocity over the sails, keeping the boat heeled over. Fluid dynamic forces are proportional to flow velocity squared, F = 1/2 x P x V^2 x S x Cf. This means that small changes in flow velocity have exponentially larger effects on fluid dynamic forces. That's why a broach gets out of control before you can react. There is something you can do though it seems seldom done, except on dinghies & skiffs. That is ease the vang a little when you are off the wind. The aim is to allow the peak to twist off enough so the whole reaction vector nearest the mast head points more forward & therefore does not contribute so much to heeling the boat. The boat will sail more upright & it will be faster as well, because the drive and drag forces will be closed to being aligned, which means less energy wasted by the rudder attempting to hold the boat straight. Similarly, easing the spinnaker flying it as much as possible to the weather side will also ease the healing pressure & rounding up force. If you have a barber hauler on the spinnaker, easing this, letting the clue fly higher eases pressure along the leech & rotates the whole force vector more forward with less heeling. There are limits off course, you don't want the luff flapping & pulling the boat this way & that. The point though is try to reduce the heeling. You certainly don't want the main peak twisted off so much that it pulls the boat over to windward, or causes unstable heeling oscillations. There is a balance in all things right. Anyway, that last thing is more likely DDW rather than on a reach, even a broad one.
I always thought that a broach was when a boat slew around when a following wave attacks it from behind. The boats with large transom and a narrow front angle are the one which suffers from and a centreboard does not always help at all. Broaching occurs when a following wave lifts up the transom due to its large displacement and at the same time the weak bos dig in the water where lateral resistance is met and so the boat heels over and the transom overtakes the bows. With a centreboard the lateral resistance is greater low down in the water while the wave displacement up top will tend to rotate the boat to capsize it. It is related to the broaching that is mentioned in this video but instead of the rotating torque is provided by the leaning of the mast providing a torque to rotate the craft on the surface of the sea, the following wave will produce a more dangerous flip over as happens in high waves. The following wave broach can be avoided if one releases a drogue parachute or anything that may drag the boat or a large rudder which is sensitive to the quick corrections of a good skipper. With a large very high following wave , well one cannot do much as the dynamics of the peak of waves are complex and no boat can handle it so the philosophy is to either stay in harbour or anchor down and be ready to submerge a few times.
Both are right. A broach is when the rudder loses its grip on the water and the boat slews round. This can be caused by too much canvas, and the boat heeling, or by a following wave lifting the stern. A rudder is a sort of foil and if there is not enough of it in the water, or it is too far off the vertical, it stops doing its job. Once that happens, either the wind or the water can push the stern until the boat is sideways on.
Every broach I have been in with spin on a pole was due to waves and an inexperienced helm. This video is just advice for a captain driving a boat over-canvased. When she feels the helm go light she barks a couple orders to ease sail trim. Waves are another story and a bigger more common threat.
@@mikefule330 For the same of completeness: sometimes it is not a case of (a) *OR* (b) , but of (a) *AND* (b) together: a wave which would not of itself cause a broach, coinciding with a squall ditto.
In a gust the apparent wind comes aft, the trimmers should ease to the new apparent wind angle and trim on when the guest has passed and apparent wind moves back forward. Both sails should be trimmed constantly but the spinnaker is critical. As the power comes on you ease to get the windward spinnaker edge projecting and trying to curl. If you don't ease you will heel, lose the rudder and broach. You should also advise what not to do, such as trying to oversteer out of a broach when have already lost the rudder grip on the water will kill the boat speed and any chance of steering out without fully depowering as your mates go by. Sometimes a little luff can depower and reduce heel, keep the boat moving then give a sharp kick away and snap the kite back into shape.
I get the feeling a well-timed "sharp kick" (with the helm) can also sometimes help reattach the flow to the rudder when it is trying to decide whether to stall. But as the name suggests, it has to be short duration, or it will simply initiate a stall.
What if you are sailing solo, say it is night time and you are about to take a short nap and let the boat sail on automatic. Should you drop your main sail? What about the centerboard, should it be fully deployed? I am trying to understand the prevention part.
Only Broached a few times during a race in high wind and max speeds. It didnt seem like we had more than a millisecond before we spun . Secondly , that was a very handsome boat . Does anyone know make and length.
I used to dread broaching mt Enterprise dingy .. the mainsail would get pinned by the water and it was game over . wet wet wet . Ok swim swim swim . never needed the rescue boat which was gleefully anticipating what had become an expected result of my lack of skills. That boat was sooo tippy.
The kicker? Is that another word for the mainsail traveler? I crewed for many years on racing sailboats on San Francisco Bay and never heard the term "kicker". We would let out both sheets when beginning a broach, and sometimes jibed if we were getting near that point anyway..
I sail a lot single handed, down wind I never use the mail, to big, easily damaged and I only have 1 on board. I sail with head sails only I have spares, no broach, no gibe, no worries
This is only a problem with a fin keel and balanced rudder setup. A traditional long keel with the rudder mounted on its after edge simply doesn’t do this, the leeward face of the rudder always has a positive effect. As owner of a 1930 boat I was quite shocked when I first sailed a Jeanneau and found she continually broached in quite moderate winds; something I’d simply never had to think about.
In my opinion there are two ways to broach: to leeward and to windward. The best way to learn how to handle either one is to practice sailing downwind in breezy conditions in a Laser. (I am confident almost no one will follow this advice). The light, fast, exciting, and ridiculously inexpensive Laser will soon teach you what works and what does not. Make the wrong move--even slightly--and you'll be dumped unceremoniously into the drink. Eventually you will be coordinating sheet, helm, and body weight with wind and sea in utter harmony and in heavy air feel an elation like Baryshnikov dancing Swan Lake flawlessly in his prime. Like riding a bicycle, this knowledge will last throughout your sailing career and easily translate to large, heavy boats. You will never obtain this level of mastery in a heavy keel boat, not even a Star. Broaching to weather (AKA the "Death Roll") in big boats or any boat running under a spinnaker in heavy air is usually caused by having the 'chute eased off too far while running dead downwind or nearly so. When the center line of the 'chute is visible to weather of the forestay, you're passing into the Danger Zone. When you can see the leech of the 'chute to weather of the forestay you are courting disaster in a breeze, especially in an IOR boat with her tall rig, big 'chute, maldistribution of volume, and narrow hindquarters. Avoidance is the best tactic. Sail a bit higher, even as little as 8-10 degrees. And keep the 'chute pointed ahead, not to weather. And trim the main a bit, but only a bit. Also, it is very important on any boat larger than a one design to rig a preventer on the boom any time the wind is aft of abeam and stronger than a gentle breeze. Lastly easing the mainsheet if heeling to leeward works only on a reach, not on a run, and I would ease the vang before the sheet. This takes enormous coordination between the helmsman and the man on the vang.
One of the things I've learned racing, is that dead downwind is also not the fastest,. In addition to all the risks, you have no Bernoulli effect. Sailing a little higher makes you overall faster in a distance made good sense.
In the uk vangs control the sprit on a thames sailing barge. So the thing amercans called the vang is called the kicker.. one of those things from the dim and distant past.
The broach is caused by the pull of the spinnaker sheet when,as usual it is lead to the stern. If a barber(barbour?) hauler is rigged the the pull will not be aft of the centre of lateral resistance but precisely on it.
If that line of reasoning was true you could barber haul ahead of the CLR and the boat would bear away instead of rounding up, which is not what happens. A more extreme application of this reasoning would predict that the mainsheet would lift the stern of the boat out of the water when hard on the wind. The mainsheet tension is often a substantial portion of the displacement of the boat. What actually matters is the resultant sail shape, which affects the vector direction at the centre of effort of the sail. The vector (in the case of a free flying sail like spi) is distributed into the boat via all three corners, not just the clew.
Wrong order. Whether people have gained experience or new to the game, the first thing to ease is the spinnaker. If your game is on the main is properly trimmed, therefore the vang is eased. The main trimmer should be busy in keeping the main from too much backwinding as speed increases. When we are racing it goes in that order, even single handing. With an experienced crew, the driver should rarely make adjustments for trim. Feeling the boat, the spinnaker trimmer is responsible for keeping the boat on its feet and the vang trimmer accelerates the boat through the waves. Working as a team, a cadence is maintained through the puffs and waves that realizes increased speed and a smooth ride.
I agree, those broaches were contrived, and very mild, usually when racing downwind, max speed, you are always likely to broach, and the spinnaker sheet has to be "dumped"
So you are saying it is the wrong order because on your boat the vang would already be eased? So in other words you have someone with their "game on" who eases the vang early ie. before easing the spinny JUST LIKE SHE SAID.
So On Your Boat, they Read and Understand little. He stated The *Spinnaker* is Responsible for getting the Vessel upright (on its Feet) Not The VANG trimmer,... That position is for Keeping Speed, and Main Trimmed to Fit... So on his boat TRIMMING the Vang comes AFTER the Spinnaker... *UN-LIKE she said!*
To ease is to let out the sheet to the sail in question so it spills the wind to power down. To turn the boat to leeward is to back off the wind which can result in decreasing heel or boat tilt.
new to sailing,"when in doubt, let it out" . does that work for gusty winds on a tack as well? 12knots with 30 knot gusts. how about recovery after short strong gusts?
It depends on whether you can feather up, want a "lift", or want to hold course and speed. Dump the power out of the sail (it's overpowered) by easing something or steering/ rounding up. Mainsheet if you can spill out the top with twist plus it is usually quick to trim. Ease traveller if you have one; sail keeps the shape, reduces heel and weather helm-- more of a racing technique that keeps you pointed at your desired heading mark. It's an Angle-of-Attack solution.
This is a RACING technique, not, necessarily, a universal sailing technique, as the title suggests The primary reason for having a spinnaker up in this much wind is if you are racing, and really, the ONLY reason to be using a spinnaker. Easing the sheet, alone, on a spinnaker does NOT spill the wind. Thus, it does NOT necessarily help your situation. You are more likely have to have to throw the sheet, or tack, loose completely to have enough effect to prevent a broach. "Kicker" is a slang term for vang, even in Great Britain.
Rick Owens my boat doesn't do a full broach. She just rounds up until beam reach then gets knocked down. Think it's because I got the boat with a weird main which has no reef points. Forked out a fortune for a factory sail which I then found out doesn't fit becuase the mast has been swapped with a non standard mast.
Frankly, at least in the States, the kicker is actually the hydraulic boom-holder-upper thing into which the vang is incorporated, so you're actually releasing the vang which takes off the downward pull of the vang AND allows the kicker to push the boom up
Have you ever sailed a boat downwind in a blow? If the boat heels too much it can overwhelm the rudder. Unless the skipper is a complete novice, the skipper will be trying to bear off, but it doesn't always work. Also, if you bear off too much on a run you may end up broaching to leeward and accidentally jibing which is even worse. I think what Pip has advised is spot on.
McKenzie Keith Thanks, I meant she said nothing about steering technique in the video and an experienced skipper will instinctively use that to avoid trouble before it goes too far. And yes I have helmed many boats downwind, small and large, with and without kites and asymmetrics in winds over 30kts and sea state to match.
@@JettyBuilder it sounds like you have more sailing experience than I do. I guess my take on it is that they chose to make this video topic what to do once you feel a broach starting. Not how to avoid having a broach start using helm techniques. Certainly even skilled skippers and crews sometimes broach. So it is still useful information.
The down haul. The vang thingy yes :) It opens the top of the sail and lets the air out rather holding the boom down and keeping all the pressure on the main.
this is interesting. if a boat is overpowered it is desirable to flatten sails by tensioning the vang. but to avoid a broach release the vang. very interesting
The boom vang mainly controls mainsail twist. Loosening it allows the upper part of the sail to twist so much that the upper part depowers, thereby reducing heeling forces. Flattening the main is mainly achieved by use of the outhaul, cunningham (or halyard) and backstay tension, especially in fractional riggs.
Jadervason As I said, the vang has very little influence on "belly" (camber). It mainly controls leech tension. Easing vang tension will a) open the leech, moving the deepest part of the camber forward, and b) will introduce more twist of the sail over it's height. The latter effect is what helps to reduce heeling, as it decreases the angle of attack in the upper parts of the sail. And angle of attack (not camber, a common misconception) is *the* variable that has the greatest impact on the amount of power ("lift") that any airfoil produces.
subtitles needed for aussi lady....good info though....watch Kevin Costner in the movie Waterworld...muto uses the centerboard as a rudder....trims the sails...and uses his body to gain advantage over the "smokers".
LOL...too late..my favorite movie...have the dialogue memorized....think it might be more realistic of the future than the utopias ...."gills"....human evolution back to the oceans.
@@ericturner2477 In Danish we call it a "nedhal"... meaning "down haul". But often its marked as "Kick" on boats here to be more international. Apparently it's not :/
No, it is the "kicking strap" or Vang. The control that connects from the boom to the mast and controls how much the boom can rise (among other things)
Kicking strap, or kicker (for short) is the term often used in British English. Indeed, I remember being confused the first time I heard it referred to as a "vang". It was first explained to me as the thing that stops the boom "kicking up". I've just looked up "vang" out of interest and it comes from an old word meaning to seize or hold - so a similar idea, I suppose.
Joseph Brook yes at 0.25 apear xp44 but mabye that was a advertaseing,cause the x-yacht that they are sailing is no bigger than a 38 or a 39 foot,just take a look to the photos of a xp44 and you will see,and the xp44 it has two stearing wheels.
Actually they are great for a long trip, especially if you stay on the same tack. If anything, I'd say take it down at night, cause if the sh*t hits the fan, it's a real pain in the dark.
GhostOfJulesVerne Interestingly in Australia, the "kicker", was the sheet pulling the spinnaker pole down to the bow. So what do the English call this sheet then?
Kinda your own terminology....never heard of luids or kickers. Small boats are apt to capsize, that's why Brian of delos recommends large yachts in 50-60ft range for ocean sailing
She also says sails "flap," in the US we would say they are "luffing" rather than "flapping." In sailing it's critical to have our own vocabulary and terminology, and that these terms vary a bit place to place, so that we can feel superior to our land lubber friends. ;-)
We impoverished sailors will keep ocean sailing in our 25 footers, as we cannot afford a 50 - 60 footer. Primrose and Illingworth designed a 25 footer precisely because, in their opinion, ocean racing could be done safely in much smaller boats than the sixty-footers used at the time. Then Illingworth started the Sydney to Hobart race. Sailing ability and boat size are two different things. Cheerio!
I'm sure 50-60 feet is comfortable for living on board with a crew and ocean sailing (like delos does), but I always remember Robin Knox Johnson was the only one to finish, and first solo circumnavigator, in the 1969 the solo non-stop round the world race in a 32-foot (9.8-metre) boat - Suhaili.
Full keel boats can broach, too. There is no sailing reason to prefer a full-keel. It may be more secure in the event of grounding but fin keel boats sail better in every way.
@@AthelstanEngland maybe some slight benefit for tracking, but on the other hand, when sailing in rough conditions, weather helm will likely still be present as the boat rolls from side to side. The authority of a good spade rudder can be very helpful for staying under control. I think comfort motion is much more complicated than full-keel vs fin keel. A fin keel does not necessarily make motion worse. The hull shape is important. If the boat presents a flat surface to the sea when underway it will likely pound. Also wide hulls are more likely to pound. In my opinion, the traditional sailing yacht hull with full keel is an outdated technology. Perhaps 100 years out of date. Since the Valiant 40, at least, people should have recognized this. But a lot of sailors are superstitious and extremely conservative and cling to tradition and passed down ideas which may never have been properly tested and may not be true.
My thinking is that if you are going out in conditions that might provoke a broach, and are going to be involved in managing it you probably should know what the strings are called. The coastguard or RNLI will expect that a person sailing would have some idea of the terminology when they come to the rescue. Even experienced sailors should learn from this. It's good to just have the basics in mind when caught unawares.
i am learning to sail past 5 years ,i work . cannot spend weeks at sea .done 3 courses .got competent crew and shorebased dayskipper . these videos are a waste of time because presenter is a professional sailor . i own my own boat beneteau 36.need training that is understandable to a learner . if you understand the video you probably dont need to watch it
You need to sign up on a racing yacht, they will train you in no time, I understand exactly what is happening. I have sailed for years, but once you have raced on a well crewed yacht, you will learn exponentially. There is no way you can learn much more than the basics from doing shore based courses.
Wonderful ... when you have crew !! We all know what to do when we have crew !! This was sold to us as new info useful to the solo sailor and it is not. Advanced Sailing Techniques ?? I knew this as a 14 year old wayfarer dinghy sailor over fifty years ago!! and get rid of the seventeen million hour long intro to these videos - videos which are NOT what they are purporting to be.
+John Beasley Yachting World is a uk publication, but it does have a strong world wide following. The British accents in this video are not at all strong, if you can't understand these then either you are not trying or you will only be able to understand a very small proportion of the great English language content on the World Wide Web.
+John Beasley OK if you say so, BUT these accents are very mild. If you find these difficult don't try doing business in English outside the USA, if you do it may well not end well.
I had to look up "Kicker". It's what we call the "Vang".
thanks, thats what i was about to do
If you sailed a lot solo in dingies this is all automatic for you, on yachts hindered by winches and crew which make super fast reactions sometimes slower unless everybody alert and well trained and all tech well used.
This is a great video. I find that on boats with a larger main sail, releasing the vang lets out enough pressure to derail most broaches. Also, on more severe broaches, the boom will hit the water, tighten the main, counter-effects the release of the main sail and make it harder to get out of the broach. Letting go of the vang, will allow the boom to raise as it hits the water and help recovery. It can also save your boom from snapping where the vang in anchored. The first thing that needs to go is the vang.
So a kicker is a vang?
@@alan6832 Yes
@@alan6832 yes. By easing the vang you let the boom ride up twisting the top of the sail and letting wind spill out the top.
Can't wait to try it out. New sailor here and the wife and I experienced some higher winds than expected yesterday in our little 28 footer. Boat felt like was losing control downwind so I put a reef in main for first time and it helped but still happened a few times. We heeled at 30 degrees plus a few times. My solution was to furl the jib so we didn't have to call it a day so we sailed at 2.5 knots the rest of the day. lol...how do that saying go....when in doubt...let it out. I knew my lack of trim skills were the issue.
Novice sailor here too. How scarry is it to loose control of steering while boat is leaning 30 plus degrees? Did you think it was going to flip over?
Your boat COOKS! My Pearson Vanguard 33 is like sailing a floating brick and still broaches like a yacht lol
I think she was going to show us how to stop a broach as a solo sailor since that’s how she sails. But anyway, I appreciate the info.
From my skiff sailing days, I would also say that steering downwind when it first starts healing (before it gets to far) will avoid needing to touch the sails at all.
Yeah.. keep the boat under the kite..
Thanks Pip just need a boat and then I can say was taught by a Vendee globe sailor.
Excellent example of why some manufacturers are using twin rudders.
Thank you! And great to see Pip! I've been following her on Instagram, 2022. :)
Pip has got a quiet confidence that is assuring.... Where does she teach, any web sites links? thanks...
She does! I bet she's great at reading bedtime stories to the grandkids.
Why does EVERY sailing video have these long intros?? 37 seconds of nothing until you get to the information. Jesus.
It's may be a way to waste time and get up their 5000 hours to be allowed to monetize the channel - new CZcams rules
That's the Wadsworth constant and it seems to be increasing knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-wadsworth-constant
@@simoncederqvist Wadsworth is kind of like a wad of mucus, its somewhat beneficial but nice to get it out of the way
production value my boy....
I like the music 🤷🏻♂️ wish it was a song it would be great to listen to while sai😂
Aha. Explaing my recent dinghy failures! Good wee video thanks :)
This vid is a little dated at this point, but things have obviously changed in the 50 years since I raced competitively. Back then we _never_ used a boom vang except when racing downhill; relied strictly on main sheet, and if we approached a broach (which we rarely did in a boat the size of ours) we'd just blow the main sheet and let it luff out. The chief reason for this was that we had a roller-reefing setup on the boom, which made it impossible to rig a permanent kicker or boom vang; we relied on wrapping a thick rubber tensioner around the boom and cinch it down with blocks and leads as our boom vang, and would usually hook it outboard on downwind instead of the mast step.
What we _failed_ to do if we were reaching with the chute up was blow the spinnaker sheet; there seemed to be a reflex response among skipper and crew to send the pole forward into the headstay and let the _weather_ sheet out instead of the leeward sheet. This never made sense to me -- of course back then there was no such thing as an asymmetrical spinnaker either, we just had a traditional spinnaker with pole.
beginners in sunfish need to know this too.
The spinnakers reaction force is forward of the keel. This means that the spinnaker is trying to head the boat down, not round it up as in a broach. The mains reaction force is aft of the keel & it is this that is the primary rounding up force. However, when a boat heels, both reaction forces move leeward of the hulls centre of drag. This separation between the opposing forces of sail pressure and hull drag form a force couple that gives the boat weather helm. The more the boat heels, the stronger the weather helm & the less effective the rudder becomes as it starts to produce vertical rather than horizontal steering forces. The rudder becomes a brake, ceasing to provide effective steering. The boat slows down, decreasing the flow velocity over the rudder, but increasing the wind flow velocity over the sails, keeping the boat heeled over. Fluid dynamic forces are proportional to flow velocity squared, F = 1/2 x P x V^2 x S x Cf. This means that small changes in flow velocity have exponentially larger effects on fluid dynamic forces. That's why a broach gets out of control before you can react. There is something you can do though it seems seldom done, except on dinghies & skiffs. That is ease the vang a little when you are off the wind. The aim is to allow the peak to twist off enough so the whole reaction vector nearest the mast head points more forward & therefore does not contribute so much to heeling the boat. The boat will sail more upright & it will be faster as well, because the drive and drag forces will be closed to being aligned, which means less energy wasted by the rudder attempting to hold the boat straight. Similarly, easing the spinnaker flying it as much as possible to the weather side will also ease the healing pressure & rounding up force. If you have a barber hauler on the spinnaker, easing this, letting the clue fly higher eases pressure along the leech & rotates the whole force vector more forward with less heeling. There are limits off course, you don't want the luff flapping & pulling the boat this way & that. The point though is try to reduce the heeling. You certainly don't want the main peak twisted off so much that it pulls the boat over to windward, or causes unstable heeling oscillations. There is a balance in all things right. Anyway, that last thing is more likely DDW rather than on a reach, even a broad one.
This is why here in San Francisco Bay with our very strong winds most serious racing boats have custom extra long rudders
I always thought that a broach was when a boat slew around when a following wave attacks it from behind. The boats with large transom and a narrow front angle are the one which suffers from and a centreboard does not always help at all.
Broaching occurs when a following wave lifts up the transom due to its large displacement and at the same time the weak bos dig in the water where lateral resistance is met and so the boat heels over and the transom overtakes the bows. With a centreboard the lateral resistance is greater low down in the water while the wave displacement up top will tend to rotate the boat to capsize it. It is related to the broaching that is mentioned in this video but instead of the rotating torque is provided by the leaning of the mast providing a torque to rotate the craft on the surface of the sea, the following wave will produce a more dangerous flip over as happens in high waves. The following wave broach can be avoided if one releases a drogue parachute or anything that may drag the boat or a large rudder which is sensitive to the quick corrections of a good skipper.
With a large very high following wave , well one cannot do much as the dynamics of the peak of waves are complex and no boat can handle it so the philosophy is to either stay in harbour or anchor down and be ready to submerge a few times.
Both are right. A broach is when the rudder loses its grip on the water and the boat slews round. This can be caused by too much canvas, and the boat heeling, or by a following wave lifting the stern. A rudder is a sort of foil and if there is not enough of it in the water, or it is too far off the vertical, it stops doing its job. Once that happens, either the wind or the water can push the stern until the boat is sideways on.
Every broach I have been in with spin on a pole was due to waves and an inexperienced helm. This video is just advice for a captain driving a boat over-canvased. When she feels the helm go light she barks a couple orders to ease sail trim. Waves are another story and a bigger more common threat.
@@mikefule330 For the same of completeness: sometimes it is not a case of (a) *OR* (b) , but of (a) *AND* (b) together: a wave which would not of itself cause a broach, coinciding with a squall ditto.
In a gust the apparent wind comes aft, the trimmers should ease to the new apparent wind angle and trim on when the guest has passed and apparent wind moves back forward. Both sails should be trimmed constantly but the spinnaker is critical. As the power comes on you ease to get the windward spinnaker edge projecting and trying to curl. If you don't ease you will heel, lose the rudder and broach. You should also advise what not to do, such as trying to oversteer out of a broach when have already lost the rudder grip on the water will kill the boat speed and any chance of steering out without fully depowering as your mates go by. Sometimes a little luff can depower and reduce heel, keep the boat moving then give a sharp kick away and snap the kite back into shape.
I get the feeling a well-timed "sharp kick" (with the helm) can also sometimes help reattach the flow to the rudder when it is trying to decide whether to stall. But as the name suggests, it has to be short duration, or it will simply initiate a stall.
What if you are sailing solo, say it is night time and you are about to take a short nap and let the boat sail on automatic. Should you drop your main sail? What about the centerboard, should it be fully deployed? I am trying to understand the prevention part.
Great weather for that demo. They're cruising.
Only Broached a few times during a race in high wind and max speeds. It didnt seem like we had more than a millisecond before we spun . Secondly , that was a very handsome boat . Does anyone know make and length.
I used to dread broaching mt Enterprise dingy .. the mainsail would get pinned by the water and it was game over . wet wet wet . Ok swim swim swim . never needed the rescue boat which was gleefully anticipating what had become an expected result of my lack of skills. That boat was sooo tippy.
Another good point for having dual rudders.
The kicker? Is that another word for the mainsail traveler?
I crewed for many years on racing sailboats on San Francisco Bay and never heard the term "kicker".
We would let out both sheets when beginning a broach, and sometimes jibed if we were getting near that point anyway..
when in doubt, let it out!
I got me a rock and roll band? I's a free for all!
Thats what i was thinking so scrolled down to see if anyone posted it ;)
Does that apply to diahorrea?
Very nice video! Thanks!
I sail a lot single handed, down wind I never use the mail, to big, easily damaged and I only have 1 on board. I sail with head sails only I have spares, no broach, no gibe, no worries
bruce sinclair and no speed:)
Beautiful!
Good skippers and deck hands work together without talking about it. Everyone needs to know everyone else’s job.
This is only a problem with a fin keel and balanced rudder setup. A traditional long keel with the rudder mounted on its after edge simply doesn’t do this, the leeward face of the rudder always has a positive effect. As owner of a 1930 boat I was quite shocked when I first sailed a Jeanneau and found she continually broached in quite moderate winds; something I’d simply never had to think about.
In my opinion there are two ways to broach: to leeward and to windward. The best way to learn how to handle either one is to practice sailing downwind in breezy conditions in a Laser. (I am confident almost no one will follow this advice). The light, fast, exciting, and ridiculously inexpensive Laser will soon teach you what works and what does not. Make the wrong move--even slightly--and you'll be dumped unceremoniously into the drink. Eventually you will be coordinating sheet, helm, and body weight with wind and sea in utter harmony and in heavy air feel an elation like Baryshnikov dancing Swan Lake flawlessly in his prime. Like riding a bicycle, this knowledge will last throughout your sailing career and easily translate to large, heavy boats. You will never obtain this level of mastery in a heavy keel boat, not even a Star.
Broaching to weather (AKA the "Death Roll") in big boats or any boat running under a spinnaker in heavy air is usually caused by having the 'chute eased off too far while running dead downwind or nearly so. When the center line of the 'chute is visible to weather of the forestay, you're passing into the Danger Zone. When you can see the leech of the 'chute to weather of the forestay you are courting disaster in a breeze, especially in an IOR boat with her tall rig, big 'chute, maldistribution of volume, and narrow hindquarters. Avoidance is the best tactic. Sail a bit higher, even as little as 8-10 degrees. And keep the 'chute pointed ahead, not to weather. And trim the main a bit, but only a bit. Also, it is very important on any boat larger than a one design to rig a preventer on the boom any time the wind is aft of abeam and stronger than a gentle breeze.
Lastly easing the mainsheet if heeling to leeward works only on a reach, not on a run, and I would ease the vang before the sheet. This takes enormous coordination between the helmsman and the man on the vang.
One of the things I've learned racing, is that dead downwind is also not the fastest,. In addition to all the risks, you have no Bernoulli effect. Sailing a little higher makes you overall faster in a distance made good sense.
In the uk vangs control the sprit on a thames sailing barge. So the thing amercans called the vang is called the kicker.. one of those things from the dim and distant past.
What do you mean when you say kicker? Is that a vang?
The broach is caused by the pull of the spinnaker sheet when,as usual it is lead to the stern. If a barber(barbour?) hauler is rigged the the pull will not be aft of the centre of lateral resistance but precisely on it.
If that line of reasoning was true you could barber haul ahead of the CLR and the boat would bear away instead of rounding up, which is not what happens.
A more extreme application of this reasoning would predict that the mainsheet would lift the stern of the boat out of the water when hard on the wind. The mainsheet tension is often a substantial portion of the displacement of the boat.
What actually matters is the resultant sail shape, which affects the vector direction at the centre of effort of the sail. The vector (in the case of a free flying sail like spi) is distributed into the boat via all three corners, not just the clew.
Good stuff I enjoyed it.
What kind of boat is this? Its really steaming for how small it is!
It's a Danish manufactured "X" boat. Made in Haderslev in the south of Dk. I guess 34f.
@@jrgensenbo2999 Might also be a Dehler.
@@allanrheaume5549 Naah - those 3 blue lines - makes it an X-boat
The X-34 logo is right on the mainsail...
Wrong order.
Whether people have gained experience or new to the game, the first thing to ease is the spinnaker.
If your game is on the main is properly trimmed, therefore the vang is eased.
The main trimmer should be busy in keeping the main from too much backwinding as speed increases.
When we are racing it goes in that order, even single handing.
With an experienced crew, the driver should rarely make adjustments for trim. Feeling the boat, the spinnaker trimmer is responsible for keeping the boat on its feet and the vang trimmer accelerates the boat through the waves.
Working as a team, a cadence is maintained through the puffs and waves that realizes increased speed and a smooth ride.
I agree, those broaches were contrived, and very mild, usually when racing downwind, max speed, you are always likely to broach, and the spinnaker sheet has to be "dumped"
So you are saying it is the wrong order because on your boat the vang would already be eased?
So in other words you have someone with their "game on" who eases the vang early ie. before easing the spinny JUST LIKE SHE SAID.
So On Your Boat, they Read and Understand little. He stated The *Spinnaker* is Responsible for getting the Vessel upright (on its Feet) Not The VANG trimmer,... That position is for Keeping Speed, and Main Trimmed to Fit... So on his boat TRIMMING the Vang comes AFTER the Spinnaker... *UN-LIKE she said!*
😮🤨😒🍿🙃😏😌🤭
for those on the other side of the Atlantic the kicker is the boom vang
I recognise her voice from all those vendee globe live feeds , 👍😃
This is a wind driven broach. I think she needed to explain that wave driven broaches are different.
My thoughts as well. Wave driven broaches aren't benign.
And I always thought this was. Just called rounding up. I allus thought a square run when you heel to windward was a broach. Or maybe I just forgot
When Pip is saying to ease , does this mean to turn the boat leeward ..
To ease is to let out the sheet to the sail in question so it spills the wind to power down.
To turn the boat to leeward is to back off the wind which can result in decreasing heel or boat tilt.
new to sailing,"when in doubt, let it out" . does that work for gusty winds on a tack as well? 12knots with 30 knot gusts. how about recovery after short strong gusts?
It depends on whether you can feather up, want a "lift", or want to hold course and speed. Dump the power out of the sail (it's overpowered) by easing something or steering/ rounding up. Mainsheet if you can spill out the top with twist plus it is usually quick to trim. Ease traveller if you have one; sail keeps the shape, reduces heel and weather helm-- more of a racing technique that keeps you pointed at your desired heading mark. It's an Angle-of-Attack solution.
What is the make and model f the boat that Pip is sailing?
"Ease the kicker"? I thought that meant throw any soccer players overboard.
Had to look it up. We call it a "Boom Vang" in America.
I only equate a kicker around boats as a small outboard. I had to look it up too.
Just wondering why they were using the spinnaker instead of a regular jib given they had so much wind? Just for the demo?
Spinnaker much faster downwind...
Racing yachts carry spinnakers in lots more wind than that. Occasionally in 45 knots true ("chicken" chutes)
This is a RACING technique, not, necessarily, a universal sailing technique, as the title suggests
The primary reason for having a spinnaker up in this much wind is if you are racing, and really, the ONLY reason to be using a spinnaker.
Easing the sheet, alone, on a spinnaker does NOT spill the wind. Thus, it does NOT necessarily help your situation. You are more likely have to have to throw the sheet, or tack, loose completely to have enough effect to prevent a broach.
"Kicker" is a slang term for vang, even in Great Britain.
Rick Owens my boat doesn't do a full broach. She just rounds up until beam reach then gets knocked down. Think it's because I got the boat with a weird main which has no reef points. Forked out a fortune for a factory sail which I then found out doesn't fit becuase the mast has been swapped with a non standard mast.
What boat is that ib vudei?
what's a kicker?
It's the boom vang of a sailboat
she isnt australian. she is english. Aussies call is a boom vang or vang. kicker is england.
Well, kicker does sound more British..."ease the kicker, cheerio" hehe
top of the morning gubna! ease the kicka, pippa!
Frankly, at least in the States, the kicker is actually the hydraulic boom-holder-upper thing into which the vang is incorporated, so you're actually releasing the vang which takes off the downward pull of the vang AND allows the kicker to push the boom up
What boat is this?
She's cool
no comments about steering technique which can help avoid and recover the potential round up by bearing off. same for boat heel, got to keep it flat.
Have you ever sailed a boat downwind in a blow? If the boat heels too much it can overwhelm the rudder. Unless the skipper is a complete novice, the skipper will be trying to bear off, but it doesn't always work. Also, if you bear off too much on a run you may end up broaching to leeward and accidentally jibing which is even worse. I think what Pip has advised is spot on.
McKenzie Keith Thanks, I meant she said nothing about steering technique in the video and an experienced skipper will instinctively use that to avoid trouble before it goes too far.
And yes I have helmed many boats downwind, small and large, with and without kites and asymmetrics in winds over 30kts and sea state to match.
@@JettyBuilder it sounds like you have more sailing experience than I do. I guess my take on it is that they chose to make this video topic what to do once you feel a broach starting. Not how to avoid having a broach start using helm techniques. Certainly even skilled skippers and crews sometimes broach. So it is still useful information.
@@JettyBuilder Right, steer under the mast!
How do you become a professional sailor
I've spent some time around boats, never heard of anything called a kicker? Guessing it's the boom vang or a traveler?
Maybe it is a Euro thing, a few sailors I follow call the line that controls the vang a Kicker. I had to look it up too.
@@kubotaman100 It's what it's called in Britain and some of the Commonwealth countries. Short for "kicking strap"
Skip to 0:40 if you want to skip the BS... skip to 0:59 if you already know what a broach is.
What is a "kicker" in US sailing jargon -- the outhaul? That aluminum boom vang thing? Don't think I've ever sailed with a "kicker."
The down haul. The vang thingy yes :) It opens the top of the sail and lets the air out rather holding the boom down and keeping all the pressure on the main.
The vang
Not normally into music on sailing videos, but, anyone know the music on this one?
this is interesting. if a boat is overpowered it is desirable to flatten sails by tensioning the vang. but to avoid a broach release the vang. very interesting
The boom vang mainly controls mainsail twist. Loosening it allows the upper part of the sail to twist so much that the upper part depowers, thereby reducing heeling forces.
Flattening the main is mainly achieved by use of the outhaul, cunningham (or halyard) and backstay tension, especially in fractional riggs.
woodwind314
it would seem like easing the vang will put more belly in the sail at least until all tension is gone
Jadervason As I said, the vang has very little influence on "belly" (camber). It mainly controls leech tension. Easing vang tension will a) open the leech, moving the deepest part of the camber forward, and b) will introduce more twist of the sail over it's height.
The latter effect is what helps to reduce heeling, as it decreases the angle of attack in the upper parts of the sail. And angle of attack (not camber, a common misconception) is *the* variable that has the greatest impact on the amount of power ("lift") that any airfoil produces.
woodwind314
10-4 thanks for the info
woodwind314
as I was thinking about this earlier it occurred to me that the way you have described it the vang alters the "chord" of the airfoil
Probably most conditions all you need to do is ease that kicker
What is the kicker? The vang?
Yes in British slang.
subtitles needed for aussi lady....good info though....watch Kevin Costner in the movie Waterworld...muto uses the centerboard as a rudder....trims the sails...and uses his body to gain advantage over the "smokers".
+John Rogan she's English. Not Australian.
a non criminal English person....thanks for the clarification.
+John Rogan Yeah, and don't watch Waterworld for ANY reason.
LOL...too late..my favorite movie...have the dialogue memorized....think it might be more realistic of the future than the utopias ...."gills"....human evolution back to the oceans.
What's the kicker, the vang?
yes
What is the kicker?
The adjustable vang between the boom and bottom of mast
Kicker = Boom Vang to Yankees.
KIcking strap to Unamericans.
Allso in spanish is called vang.
what kind of sailboat is it?
X-Yacht
Can the boat capsize if it broaches too much?
Only if broadside wave inverts it but that's just unlucky timing. The weighty keel will right the vessel.
yes
What is a “kicker”? Is that a traveler?
@@ericturner2477 In Danish we call it a "nedhal"... meaning "down haul". But often its marked as "Kick" on boats here to be more international. Apparently it's not :/
Is a kicker the Jib sail? Thought these terms were standardized... go figure
No, it is the "kicking strap" or Vang. The control that connects from the boom to the mast and controls how much the boom can rise (among other things)
170221dn thanks, haven't heard that term for a vang before. Makes more sense in terms of Depowering the main…
Kicking strap, or kicker (for short) is the term often used in British English. Indeed, I remember being confused the first time I heard it referred to as a "vang". It was first explained to me as the thing that stops the boom "kicking up". I've just looked up "vang" out of interest and it comes from an old word meaning to seize or hold - so a similar idea, I suppose.
what kind of boat is that?
X-Yacht 50
At 0:25 you can clearly see Xp44.
its a sail boat.
Joseph Brook yes at 0.25 apear xp44 but mabye that was a advertaseing,cause the x-yacht that they are sailing is no bigger than a 38 or a 39 foot,just take a look to the photos of a xp44 and you will see,and the xp44 it has two stearing wheels.
X 34. They made them from 2007 to 2013
But you didn't broach... Would you take advice on how to change an engine from a guy replacing the headlight? Yeah - he's got the hood open but...
Hi yall
Do Brits ever call the kicker a vang? I bet Germans prefer Vang..."Reduce ze tension on ze vang, Schnell!"
BandB1111111 they tweaked the vang and the rig went bang!!
An Australian here: we call them vangs.
Not really but in dinghies we call the upside down one a GNAV... i.e. where the strut pushes the boom down from above rather than pulls from below.
Have. Crew that does this without being told
37 seconds of nothing until you get to the information.
Friend, avoid spinnakers on a long trip. They are not worth the risk.
Actually they are great for a long trip, especially if you stay on the same tack. If anything, I'd say take it down at night, cause if the sh*t hits the fan, it's a real pain in the dark.
Not at all, the eyes adjust to night sailing, just be cautious, it can be useful to rig a foresail and main, using the spinnaker pole to run downwind.
muy pero muy básico
Kicker = Boom Vang
GhostOfJulesVerne Interestingly in Australia, the "kicker", was the sheet pulling the spinnaker pole down to the bow. So what do the English call this sheet then?
A fore guy.
I have never heard of him...just joking, never heard of "it" before.
Cheers.
agreed. Kicker attached to main, not spinnaker pole. Crikey!
I avoid spinnakers.If I ever wanted that much more s/a for'd I'd build a square sail and keep it close to the deck.
Kinda your own terminology....never heard of luids or kickers.
Small boats are apt to capsize, that's why Brian of delos recommends large yachts in 50-60ft range for ocean sailing
What you heard was her pronunciation of leewards rather than luids and a kicker, or kicking strap is English for a boom vang.
She also says sails "flap," in the US we would say they are "luffing" rather than "flapping." In sailing it's critical to have our own vocabulary and terminology, and that these terms vary a bit place to place, so that we can feel superior to our land lubber friends. ;-)
@@Jim-ei2iv actually i'd say you luff into the wind, flapping sails are everywhere
We impoverished sailors will keep ocean sailing in our 25 footers, as we cannot afford a 50 - 60 footer. Primrose and Illingworth designed a 25 footer precisely because, in their opinion, ocean racing could be done safely in much smaller boats than the sixty-footers used at the time. Then Illingworth started the Sydney to Hobart race.
Sailing ability and boat size are two different things. Cheerio!
I'm sure 50-60 feet is comfortable for living on board with a crew and ocean sailing (like delos does), but I always remember Robin Knox Johnson was the only one to finish, and first solo circumnavigator, in the 1969 the solo non-stop round the world race in a 32-foot (9.8-metre) boat - Suhaili.
No speako australiano
She's English. She was speaking English like English people speak.
Get a boat with a long keel and a keel mounted rudder, and you will avoid most of this foolishness
But you will only go 5 knots. :)
If you do your sailing will be very slow and very boring, just as well get an old motor boat.
Full keel boats can broach, too. There is no sailing reason to prefer a full-keel. It may be more secure in the event of grounding but fin keel boats sail better in every way.
@@mckenziekeith7434 except tracking and comfort motion perhaps....
@@AthelstanEngland maybe some slight benefit for tracking, but on the other hand, when sailing in rough conditions, weather helm will likely still be present as the boat rolls from side to side. The authority of a good spade rudder can be very helpful for staying under control.
I think comfort motion is much more complicated than full-keel vs fin keel. A fin keel does not necessarily make motion worse. The hull shape is important. If the boat presents a flat surface to the sea when underway it will likely pound. Also wide hulls are more likely to pound. In my opinion, the traditional sailing yacht hull with full keel is an outdated technology. Perhaps 100 years out of date. Since the Valiant 40, at least, people should have recognized this. But a lot of sailors are superstitious and extremely conservative and cling to tradition and passed down ideas which may never have been properly tested and may not be true.
I can’t understand her
Yeah, will someone tell these Brits they need to speak english!
1 minute out of 2.5 is title, announcement, agenda… how can you waste that time?!
Can I be your cabin boy ?
Clearly this is not for experienced sailors, so jargon not helpful.
My thinking is that if you are going out in conditions that might provoke a broach, and are going to be involved in managing it you probably should know what the strings are called. The coastguard or RNLI will expect that a person sailing would have some idea of the terminology when they come to the rescue. Even experienced sailors should learn from this. It's good to just have the basics in mind when caught unawares.
Just stop sailing n wait for the wind to cooldown
i am learning to sail past 5 years ,i work . cannot spend weeks at sea .done 3 courses .got competent crew and shorebased dayskipper . these videos are a waste of time because presenter is a professional sailor . i own my own boat beneteau 36.need training that is understandable to a learner . if you understand the video you probably dont need to watch it
You need to sign up on a racing yacht, they will train you in no time, I understand exactly what is happening. I have sailed for years, but once you have raced on a well crewed yacht, you will learn exponentially. There is no way you can learn much more than the basics from doing shore based courses.
@@ladygardener100 Competent crew and day skipper are not shorebased
Wonderful ... when you have crew !! We all know what to do when we have crew !!
This was sold to us as new info useful to the solo sailor and it is not.
Advanced Sailing Techniques ?? I knew this as a 14 year old wayfarer dinghy sailor over fifty years ago!!
and get rid of the seventeen million hour long intro to these videos - videos which are NOT what they are purporting to be.
God, this is just fucking common sense, not some grand epistle!
Is that not true of most instruction. It's not complex but if you are new to the sport it's not intuitive.
You are a twit.
get people who speak American English
Why? Are you more important than the rest of us?
+John Beasley Yachting World is a uk publication, but it does have a strong world wide following. The British accents in this video are not at all strong, if you can't understand these then either you are not trying or you will only be able to understand a very small proportion of the great English language content on the World Wide Web.
xxx
+John Beasley OK if you say so, BUT these accents are very mild. If you find these difficult don't try doing business in English outside the USA, if you do it may well not end well.
whatever.
RELEASE THE SHEETS!!!