«Ready to Jibe»
A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other. In this maneuver, the mainsail will cross the center of the boat while the jib is pulled to the other side of the boat.
The other way to change the side ot the boat that faces the wind is turning the bow through the direction of the wind. This maneuver is known as tacking and is more common and easier to handle as jibing.
Jibing is used commonly in races, which often use a triangular course marked with buoys; the most direct way of rounding a buoy is to jibe. Generally a jibe can be completed more quickly than a tack because the boat never turns into the wind. Therefore while jibing, the sails are always powerde where a tacking boats luffing sails are un-powered.
A jibe can be a dangerous maneuver. The load on the sail and mainsheet can remain high and if uncontrolled, the boom and mainsail can swing across the deck with high speed. Never stand in the path of the potential boom travel! An uncontrolled boom may also put excessive stress on the rigging and can break the boom or standing rigging. Even bringing the mast down.
How to do a controlled jibe:
- Sailing nearly directly downwind before and after the jibe (make a small boat direction change when jibing so to have a less heeling force)
- The helmsman focuses on the sailing direction
- The crew deals with attending to the sail changes. In heavy winds, the crew can sheet the boom and force it across the boat by hand, and hold the boom in position, when the direction of the wind crosses the center-line of the boat, then the mainsail can be eased out to its new sailing course.
- After the jibe has been performed, the course can be changed to higher points of sail when the crew is relocated and the helmsman can better control course changes.
- Communication is important: The commands are: 1. «Ready to jibe or prepare to jibe» 2. «Bearing away» 3. «Jibe-ho (the boom is starting to come across)
Learn this maneuver in lighter winds and practice in increased wind.
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I used to race J24 one design competitively and have gone to the nationals for this class of sailboat. Because a jibe is so dangerous, especially in high winds, we would put a man ‘on the boom’ who would rest against the boom with all his weight until ready to swing the boom around to the leeward, now windward, side. When the pressure on the boom became great enough to push the “man on the boom” off, the helmsman or crew in the cockpit would grab the mainline at the shackles and ‘walk” the boom around gently instead of allowing the boom to snap. Of course the captain would call “jibe!” or “jibe ho!” and “watch your heads!” as the boom came around as a precaution. This method is especially useful when flying a “kite” or spinnaker so as to keep the light sail from touching the water and getting wet when the extra momentum and weight from the boom swings around and heels the boat, even to the waterline! Most capsizes occur during a jibe because of the heel force and especially in high wind situations. Learning how to keep the boat perfectly level/flat while performing a jibe can you keep you high and dry all sailing season.