Sam, mate, you are barking up the wrong tree. The best self-tacking sail you have is the main. Use it, and stop making problems for yourself with that genoa. Reefed main and small jib, and wifey will be happy, I promise.

Using the mainsail has been suggested before, however I will try that when I have lazy jacks (hopefully by years end)
But if I use a small headsail as well, as suggested, then I still have to tack that, and Missus will still be on Stbd winch
so where will she be better off?

You better buy her a a class cat sam
Or a tornado cat and put her on a reach

Sam, I am glad to hear that wifey wants to go fast. So problem is only the boat heeling?

Need to explain that heeling is the way it has to be, if you want to go fast. Also need to explain that the lump of metal in the keel is going to stop you going right over, and the more the boat heels, the harder that lump is working, and the lower the force on the sail.

You do not need lazy jacks to use the main. You can set up a reefed main on the mooring, and a few sail ties will keep everything neat. If you want to go fast you need sail area. Main plus jib will give you that. The full genoa is really only for light winds. Rolled in headsail, or smaller headsail is easier to pull in.

samsturdy said..

Where does that leave me?.

That leaves you on stb and port winches and wifey on the helm.

samsturdy , do you have self tailing winches ? if not then there's your next investment ,by the sound of it ....


for a big genoa they are a wonderful thing , if you haven't used them ,hitch a ride on a yacht that has , and you will be sold on the idea .......

Hi Sam

when we bought our first keelboat a few years ago it came with a old bloke called John who was a friend of the lady who was selling it (her husband had recently passed away)

I had sailed dinghy years ago but my wife had never sailed before and John took us out for a few sails on ours and then we went on a few over nighters with him on his boat and we were on ours and during this time we had all sorts of conditions with winds up to around 30 knots and with John onboard my wife was confident that all was ok when the boat was heeled over and the lee rail was under water and I was just happy that I wasn't going to end up in the water like in my dinghy days but I am sure if it was just the two of us she would have been panicking

After a couple of months he said we didn't need him any more (he must have decided we could go for a sail and find our way back without hurting ourselves)

perhaps if you can find someone who is experienced (maybe someone on this forum might be interested) to go for a few sails with you and your wife in various conditions your wife might realise that all is ok when the boat is heeling over

Regards Don

Morning HG. I don't exactly know the problem. I set it up according to the book and it works OK on auto (holds its course)
but when I used 'autohelm' it pushed the ram out and tried to push it further still until it was making a clicking noise. It's
supposed to change course by 100deg then centre itself. Doesn't do it. There's an agent at Newport so might get him to
take a look.

Hi Donk. MB has very kindly offered his time and boat for a lesson however, he is going to have to come
back from his jetsetting extravaganzer in order to do it lol. There is a local yachtie who will come out with us
so we are not stuck. Missus says she'll get used to the heeling as long as done in 'easy stages' and when
she's confident 'no problem'. I love her more every day.

Dama. I've never seen such a thing. How does it work.

SandS. No I don't have self tailers, only those rubbery blue discs that fit over the top of the winch. I don't think
they will do a good enough job to help Missus.

try that Sam

Hey Don,
You can hear it start to stall and slow down , especially while furling in the headsail .
It comes with 2 different size keys for different types of winches, It doesn't lock in like a normal winch handle it just slots into the splined recess.
It has made life in the cockpit very easy....



i Some people in the USA have been using Milwaukee brand 28volt right angle drills to do the same thing.

Those motorised winch handles do not reduce the force, only the work. So they will stop you getting a little tired, but you will have to hold on just as strongly as with a winch handle.

samsturdy said..


Thanks Yara. Checked out the WinchRite......UK price is 500+pounds. Talked it over with Missus she said
don't bother she'll get used to it.

Try a longer winch handle.

samsturdy said..

Thanks Ramona but I don't think it's the winching with the handle that's the problem but the hand over hand hauling
action that's giving her trouble. Her muscles will either get used to it or I'll have to do it all.

Probably the best option is getting your wife to helm through the tacks. My 10yr old was the best auto-tacking device I had on my last boat with no autopilot. If inshore it's relatively easy to teach them simple tack angles using landmarks, you work it out, say 100 degrees and pick a landmark, you then get them to tack and steer at a landmark.