Book of the Week- RYA Sail Trim Handbook for Cruisers

by Rob Tickner on 20 Nov 2010 The RYA Sail Trim Handbook for Cruisers by Rob Gibson is an all-new title and is crammed with useful tips and pointers on one of the fundamentals of good seamanship: sail trim. The book focuses more on the needs of the cruising sailor as opposed to the out-and-out racer. After all, a well-trimmed cruising yacht will be better balanced, easier to handle, and will sail more comfortably.

Sail trim can be bewildering to the novice but the RYA Sail Trim Handbook talks you through the subject in an informative yet entertaining manner. The book is further enhanced by a range of clear, well thought-out illustrations.

Chapters include:
How Sails Work
Jibs & Genoas
Spinnakers
Reefing
Sailing Upwind
Heavy Weather Sailing
Trade Wind Sailing

Ultimately this book will have you itching to get back afloat and tinkering with the trim of your sails.

If something’s worth doing, its worth doing well. That’s a good philosophy for life in general but particularly relevant to trimming sails. Good sail trim and the controls required to achieve it are not just for racing sailors. Sails are the means of obtaining the best performance and, therefore, pride and pleasure from the considerable investment we put into our boats.

It is often said that increasing your speed from five to five and a half knots will save you nearly an hour on a fifty mile passage, thereby offering a better chance of berth when you arrive as well as uncrowded showers and the certainty of a table in your favourite restaurant.

This may be all true, depending on where you are sailing, but for me the most important reason for improving sail trim is to provide comfort rather than boat speed. With the sails correctly trimmed most sailboats will more or less sail themselves, the balance will be improved and the boat will ride more easily through the water. Overall, life on board becomes easier for both crew and gear.

Having said that, I see nothing wrong with an extra hour in the yacht club nor an hour less dodging freighters in mid passage. Fortunately, with the right knowledge and a few simple adjustments to the sails we can enjoy all of these benefits.

If you can't obtain the book at your local marine book supplier, you can obtain it online by doing a search on the RYA shop http://www.rya.org.uk/shop!website and purchasing it there.