How to set a sailboat to hold a course, or using the wind to steer.

People often ask me how I can sail the Flying Scot singlehanded when it is windy. One thing that helps sailing alone is being able to set your boat to sail a reach by itself. Many sailboat designs are capable of sailing themselves, the Flying Scot and the Catalina 22 are just two that come to mind. There are models that just can't do it without an autopilot. Even done correctly, a loss of windspeed can allow the boat to turn downwind and jibe! A large shift in wind direction can also cause a jibe! It is STRONGLY ADVISABLE to stay near the tiller and be AWARE of what is happening at all times. The wind is usually shifting back and forth, so for a sailboat to sail herself, she must be able to turn is EITHER direction, by herself. If the wind shifts to the head of the boat, a "header", she will need to bear off. If the wind shifts to the side of the boat, a "lift", she will need to head up, turn more towards the new wind direction. Most monohulls have some "weather helm", a tendency to head up into the wind. In these boats, we normally have the tiller a bit to windward to counteract the weather helm, and therefore travel in a straight line. The pressure the boat puts on the tiller changes with the wind direction and speed, if we tie the tiller down with some ability for it to move this pressure will steer the boat. With an increase in wind or a lift, the boat will heal to leeward. This heal will put more of the hull's leeward side in the water and lifts the windward side out, causing the boat to want to turn upwind, or "round up". This turn pushes the rudder to windward, and the tiller to leeward, and the boat heads up. As it turns into the wind, the sail will start to luff, and the boat will heal less, releasing the pressure on the tiller. The tiller will then return to it's neutral position. This takes care of the boat being able to turn upwind, but she must also be able to turn downwind. If we set the tiller slightly to windward, the boat will want to bear off. When we get a header, the sail will luff or even flap. The boat will heal less or perhaps not at all. If the sail loses all it's power, the slightly to windward rudder can turn the boat downwind. This turn puts power back into the sail, healing the boat and stopping the turn. The boat uses an increase in power to head up, and a loss of power to bear off. The requires enough windspeed to stop the boat bearing off, about 10 mph in the Flying Scot. It is always subject to fail with a change in windspeed or a large windshift, so I don't do it with the sail in. Where you have your sail makes a difference, the Scot does this best without the jib and with the centerboard all the way down. In the video the wind was blowing about 10 mph, gusting to 15, and we wanted to eat lunch. It's a rather long video, so I cut most of it out, but you can watch behind the boat at the landscape and see her move the tiller and make a few turns. You need the Flash plugin to see the video, click the play button, maybe twice, to start the video. This video was taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2. A $200 camera designed mainly for still photography, it will take a 30 minute 30 frames/second video with sound if you have the 1 Gig memory card. Sailing Video Index

Click the play arrow (maybe twice) to see the Flying Scot sail a reach by herself. Also, to see the Flying Scot sail herself while we put up the jib see, Raising the jib on the Flying Scot