The jib is set flying. This
means it has to be run up, and down, fast, or it flops
over the side and becomes a sea anchor. We've found it's easier
to have it sheeted hard in before raising or lowering, as having
a temporary flag blowing straight out is preferable to a sea anchor!
Shock cord and hooks along the
bowsprit help immensely in pinning it down. As with a real schooner,
the foredeck and sprit are the most lethal parts of the boat,
and you've got to be just about on them to get the jib in.
(An alternative is to let the
jib tack rope right off, bodily pull the whole jibclub, sheet,
tack etc into the cockpit, then lower on the halyard. All right
in theory--in practice, the whole lot falls over the side too
frequently. And when successful, the fore cockpit becomes very
slithery with mountains of sail all over the floor boards.)
The jib luff must be tight,
not saggy. Our solution is to swig the halliard tight, then tie
a truckie's hitch in the tack rope and pull it tighter still.
A sagging luff will stop you going well to windward, in fact
it can stop you going to windward...;..
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