Of course it can be done. Some marinas don't allow it though, well not into a busy pen/jetty layout anyway. Plenty of small yachts do it to a designated jetty where they can all raft up so to speak but larger yachts, no I wouldn't cos if you hit someones boat you could be working for their insurance company for life...
I'm just used to dropping all sails and tidying up before the mouth of the marina then motoring into the berth . . IMO I'd rather not have to use the motor ever :) LOVE IT!
Yeah, sailing off and on a swing mooring is pretty common place but sailing into a marina is pushing the envelope. The guy who helped me sail our boat down from Swansea to Sydney harbour used to sail under the Swansea bridge in the right conditions. Wouldn't be allowed nowadays.
Yep. I've seen it happen a few times. A guy at my club doesn't like having the weight of the outboard on the boat when he is racing. Usually the wind is blowing in the right direction so he can go head to wind in to the pen. But I've also seen him sail straight in to his pen when the wind is astern. On that occasion he came in through the moorings under bare poles and made sure he had some agile crew to catch the stern lines before he buried the nose in the jetty.
Raced on Mirrabooka (Swan 49 with 20 odd Hobarts under her keel!) for a while in Hobart and for about 6 races we had no engine.
Wind was usually abeam so we would push her out of the pen and hang off the finger and raise the main. Then attach a spin sheet from the bow to the boom to hold the boom out to back her away and around in the right direction.
Coming in was another matter. Drop the main outside the marina and sail towards the berth with headsail only as it was quicker to drop. We would drop the heady the right distance out but to stop her we would have 3 blokes on each aft springer and often all 6 of us would be sliding across the deck trying to bring her to a stop!!
Never hit the end of the berth but we did have some guys ruin their gloves!!!
On my Catalina 28 on Sydney harbour in fading light my batteries gave up the ghost and my engine would not start. There was no one to give me a tow into the CYCA and the marine police suggested they would be an hour getting to me as they were changing over shifts and that I had rung at an inconvenient time. "Why don't you sail her in" was their suggestion. I had one other guy on board who had been out three times with me and his wife. I was going into a 2-3 knot southerly, dropped my main at the beginning of the finger and reached down to my berth on minimal headsail and turned into the southerly and my berth. The minimal wind and it's direction made it possible and were we pleased with ourselves! I have had to do it one more time and no issues in light winds.
When I did my sailing license (a ticket was required to sail a boat where I'm from) leaving and getting back into the pen under sail was part of the course and the instructors opinion was that none should be out and in control of a yacht if they can't get back and dock under sail. That was on an old 29 S&S. It was easy with a competent instructor on board and if you're familiar getting in and out of your pen. But these days i'd take the easier option.
But contrary to some other posts above, in most cases we'd drop the jib and sail under main and push the boom forward to slow down and stop if necessary (the pen was in most cases upwind).
Sailing a 30 footer or Adams 10 into a marina is no big deal - but sailing Mirrabooka into and out of a marina was a good effort!! She's a lovely boat, but that's a lot of weight to play with.
If you spend enough time on your boat and know its every little move and its maneuverable you can do heaps.
I had a Mottle 33 like that. My specialty (when I was single and there were women around to impress) was to sail up to the jetty at Gosford Sailing Club heading north in a NE light breeze then keep going until the stern was reasonably past the north end of the jetty.
Then get the crew to push the main hard towards the bow to back wind it to get astern happening which worked great. I could then "reverse" into the small alcove behind the jetty, then get the crew to push the main amid ships again to pull up :-)
One time I did this particularly well and forgot about the boom just after we parked which wacked me on the head big time, spoling the pose!
I admire the skills of those who do it well. My marina is accessed via a small lock so its not really possible even if I had the skills.
On one occasion while single-handed I decided to sail up the lock and drop the sail while waiting for the gate to open. Winds were about 10 knots on the beam, as I sailed into the entrance of the marina & lock. I was feeling fairly chuffed with myself as people from the marina restaurants were lined up taking photos of my gaff rigged boat under sail. I dropped the jib, and then began lowering the main as I pulled along the wall at the lock entrance. The wind had me drifting very close to the wall as usual, but my fenders were set.
Unfortunately there were million dollar houses along this seawall, with glass fences above the wall. Lowing my main allowed the gaff to swing out over these fences. I eventually managed to play out the gaff & main halyards while hanging off the sail to pull it windward without smashing anything, But I certainly wasn't feeling as cool as I was a few minutes earlier.
She's a lovely boat, but that's a lot of weight to play with.
