Sense Abilities

When people start yachting, one thing that often marks those with previous dinghy sailing experience from those coming direct to yachting is their developed sense of being able to read the wind; or wind sense. For dinghy sailors, any failure to trim sails quickly to changing conditions, whether through course alterations or changes in wind strength, can all too easily result in a capsize or a complete loss of speed. This brings a healthy motivation to work at it. With all the additional complexities you have with a yacht (winches, travellers, cars, dependence on other people, the loads etc), people can find managing the basic points of sailing and sail trim requirements, in the early stages, quite overwhelming. This article considers how the senses are a fundamental tool, not only to helping sail well, but also for boat handling in general.

In many ways the use of our senses is common sense, but common sense often needs a push in the right direction just to set things going. And before the dinghy sailors become too comfortable with the early advantage they are likely to have, the other yachting skills, such as anchoring, manoeuvring under power, catering, cooking, passage making and pilotage, navigation, plumbing, electrics and electronics, communications and rigging, first aid, engineering, etc, will likely be equally alien to them as to those coming into yachting directly.

We are all familiar with the idea of judging wind strength (Beaufort Scale) based on observing the waves, the movement of clouds, the bending of trees, the risk of structural damage and, of course, what sails other yachts may be flying. The latter point in particular can help you make a good sail choice, by comparing what’s being carried by others against their course and angle of heel. By observing a yacht in front, when making progress upwind, the impact of wind variations on them can be seen before they hit you, giving time, perhaps, to ease the main, luff slightly, or even reef if you’re looking far enough ahead.

From an original French poster by M Torrvay

As the darker patch of ruffled water approaches, you can usually expect the boat to turn towards the wind (this arises with a little weather helm in your balance, which is a safer set than lee helm). By applying some anticipatory rudder, you can turn that increase in wind into an increase in speed, rather than rounding up into the wind. As that wind passes, easing the wheel / rudder will help preserve the course, ensuring best boat speed at the head of a straight wake.

As with observing the ruffled water surface, the changing feel of the wind on your face can be used in exactly the same way. You will likely feel the change of speed of the wind before the boat has had a chance to respond, giving you time to anticipate the likely response of the boat and therefore apply some steering and counter steering to turn that wind into best boat speed. If manoeuvring in a tight marina, that feel can be critical. When you plan your manoeuvre you will have gauged both the wind and the tidal stream, with the latter likely to be dominant in any decision making, but a sudden increase in wind can move the bow off the wind very quickly, particularly at very slow speeds. Depending on how you are making your approach, this can be a help or a nightmare, especially if insufficient thought has been given to fender positioning.

People often develop close relationships with a yacht they have had for a long time. This can translate into having a very precise feel for the boat and its movement over the waves, which itself means being able to predict the boat’s next move and use rudder to make the movement as smooth as possible and in the best direction. As a skipper, you will develop a feel for when your boat is performing at its best, or coming upright or rolling if the helm loses their sense of feel. When the skipper is below, such movement is often followed by calls from the helm that the wind is shifting. This may be the case ……… sometimes, but I tend to think that people lose concentration more often than the wind changes direction!

Hearing

When judging wind direction, along with wave direction and the wind indicator, you can also use hearing. If you are facing the wind you can hear it in both ears; turn one way or the other, and one ear will be in a wind shadow and silent.

Learning to listen out for sails, fluttering, flapping, and flogging, usually means something has changed and needs attending to. More often than not (because the wind changes less often than people on the helm lose concentration) there has been an unintended course alteration. If the sound of the wind drops, the boat may well have turned away from the wind, if it increases, then towards.

And then there are the sound signals. Not every blast from a merchantman will be directed at you; knowing what the signals mean can give you the confidence to hold your course or the prompt to take some action.

Taste and Smell

Conclusion

This article is not intended to be an exhaustive consideration of the senses; after all, everything we do is guided by them in some way, and loss of a sense is not a bar to sailing. Hopefully, however, it will have provided some food for thought or, at least, added to the common sense we already have to draw on to make our sailing just a little more sensible.