5 life-saving skills for sailing a cruising dinghy.

This is episode 2 of a series on the basics of dinghy cruising.

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[MikStorer]

Thankyou for putting this video together. It will help a lot of people.

A couple of tricks that may make your boat sail a lot better.

Reduce the tension on the permanent forestay - still enough to support the mast reliably. Then take up the tension on the jib halyard so the luff wire is tight.

There's a lot of sag in the jib luff which a racing sailor would say reduces pointing. But more importantly for a cruising dinghy a loose jib luff means the jib collapses prematurely when luffing and then on bearing away fills with a bang. There is a big feeling of sudden power on and off rather that the feeling being progressive - making the boat feel more tricky than it actually is. There will be a big calming effect and a boost in upwind performance. There is a neat trick used on racing dinghies to stop the permanent forestay flopping around by using a piece of shockcord as well as the normal shackle or lashing at the bottom of the permanant forestay to take up the slack if wanted. But there is no great hard in having the permanent forestay move around a bit.

A second observation is that the jib block for the sheets is too far forward making the bottom of the jib very baggy and the top too flat. A rough idea of the correct position forward and back is for the jib sheet coming up to the clew should be pointing at the middle of the jib luff. Usually very slightly further forward than this is ideal. Because the foot is so curved from the sheet block being too far forward the bottom of the sail will also excascerbate the sudden on/off/on/off power in the jib.

[davidrichardson]

As a "newbie" I found this video interesting after limited sailing experience in bigger boats learning to sail a dingy so much more sensitive and less forgiving also a little harder on my old body but great fun. A bit like the difference from a Sports Motorcycle compared to a scooter both can be enjoyed depending on the situation.

[cooperhunsberger]

your doing amazing you just went up 1000 subscribers.

[advasivediamond]

More top tips pls. Thanks for sharing.

[aloysiusjones]

Great tips. I loved it. I have subscribed. 🇦🇺👍🍺🍺

[garymalm]

Very practice stuff.
Never knew the Mathew Flinder's dinghy was that small.

[markthomasson]

No1.
Buoyancy (bags) sufficient that you can bail her out if swamped.
(I guess she would normally have these if actually cruising)

[huntsail]

Beautiful boat, enjoyed the commentary and sailing video. Great job!

[steffenbjoern]

Examples / Displays / Sketches (regarding cmg-calculation) might help a newbie to understand what you're talking about. The rest of us has already been taught by learning and by experience.

[pauljnolan]

You badly need new sails. You'll be surprised how greatly they increase your pleasure with your boat and sailing her.