boatporn: I like to call it line because it’s on a boat. I’m…
Friday, September 20th, 2013
I like to call it line because it’s on a boat.
I’m sure at least 4 people are going to tell me I’m wrong but I don’t care.
You’re gonna coil that, right?
Coiling the halyard at the first opportunity is a rule I learned early. You’re not done hoisting the sail until the halyard is coiled and ready to run. It was driven home to me during a windy buoy race during LAYC’s 1977 Midwinter Regatta, when I experienced my first (and so far only, thank God) non-practice man overboard drill.
Victoria had just rounded the Point Fermin buoy and the spinnaker had just filled when Dan went over the side. The extra 10 seconds or so it took to douse the spinnaker and turn back upwind for him because the halyard had not yet been coiled probable cost us an extra 150 feet.
An extra 150 feet separating you from a tiny head bobbing in the whitecaps turns out to be a lot.
Don’t wait to coil those halyards. Do it now. It’s a good rule.
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/61764679994.
