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One of the most wonderful sensations in this world is to be propelled along by the wind in a boat. It has that magical sense of achievement which some say is even better than flying.

Anyone can buy, hire or borrow a sail boat to make it onto the water. There are also thousands of boating clubs around the world where members are searching for crew. A small yacht provides a stable platform to gain experience on the water. A dinghy can be a wet and sometimes very active experience. I feel the time to start dinghy sailing is as a young child under the guidance of a sailing club or qualified instructor.

I hope that my 35 years of practical sailing experience qualifies me to pass on some of my knowledge to help you "get started". To make it possible to raise the sails, the standard sailboat requires a mast and a boom. These are essential to support a mainsail and a foresail. If you are sailing a yacht, I will assume that this is already on the water either on a mooring or at a wharf. The sails can be raised reasonably safely while a boat is attached to a swing mooring. If a sailboat has a motor, it may be safest to motor out into clear water away from moored craft. I consider this to be essential for "starters".

The general principle for raising and securing a mast is to secure the front wire or forestay which should already be attached to the top of the mast. The first step is to attach it to a tang or eye provided at the bow or front of the boat with a D-shackle. In a well prepared sailboat these should be left attached to the end of the stays at all times.

The port and starboard stays should then be attached to the eyes provided on each side of the boat. The backstay should then be attached to its tang at the stern. After all of the stays have been attached, rigging screws, called turnbuckles are then adjusted so that the mast is vertical.

The port and starboard stays should then be attached to the eyes provided on each side of the boat. The backstay should then be attached to its tang at the stern. After all of the stays have been attached, rigging screws, called turnbuckles are then adjusted so that the mast is vertical. It is important to adjust the turnbuckles so that the mast does not move about. Failure to adjust the mast correctly can be dangerous and may cause the stays to stretch unnecessarily and reduce their life-span.

Some dinghies have "un-stayed" masts where a sleeve is provided in the luff or front of the mainsail and the mast simply slides inside of it. The mast is then inserted into a hole or pocket which is moulded into the deck of the boat which supports it. With this system a fore-sail is often not used. Setting up is always much easier with two people.

The boom is attached to the mast at a slight distance from the deck. It is usually attached by a joint called a goose-neck. This allows for the movement of the boom and adjustment of the mainsail on any plane. The mainsail should be attached to the boom. It is often inserted into a track on the boom with metal or plastic slides or with a rope, called a boltrope, which is attached into the bottom edge and luff or front edge of the sail. The boom should be allowed to swing free while raising the mainsail, or else the wind can cause the boat to sail and heel over while completing this procedure. Crew should be careful of the affects of an unrestrained boom.

The mainsail is most easily raised with the boat pointing directly into the wind. A crew member is required to man the helm, i.e. the tiller or wheel, to maintain the direction of the boat into the wind. Once again, the boom should not be sheeted in with the mainsheet or cleat. When the boat is pointed into the wind the crew is then able to reach the boom to insert the mainsail. The mainsail luff slugs or boltrope should then be inserted into the track on the mast. The main halyard is then attached with a D-shackle. This is then hauled to raise the mainsail. This will require careful "feeding" of the boltrope or slugs while hauling on the halyard. When the mainsail reaches the top of the track, the halyard will then be tied off on its dedicated cleat. On a yacht a winch is used to assist in raising the mainsail. When this is complete, the sheet is placed on a cleat or held using a jammer.

It is standard on a yacht these days to have the mainsail fixed to the boom on a reasonably permanent basis. This is then covered with a boom bag, which is a dedicated cover. A foresail or jib is usually attached to a sailing dinghy's forestay with special hooks called piston-hanks. Some racing yachts also have a special aluminium section attached to the forestay into which the sail can be fed.

The jib sheets are then attached to the rear end or clew of the sail, using a knot called a bowline. Yachts of today often have the jib or genoa permanently attached to the forestay with a roller-furler. All that is required to unfurl the sail is to pull on a sheet. At the conclusion of a sail another sheet rolls it around the forestay ready for the next outing. This allows for easy storage, speed and ease of setting up the sails.

Once the sails are set, all that is required is to decide the direction in which to sail and set the sails accordingly. You may be surprised to know that a sailboat cannot proceed to a location directly like a powerboat. It is very possible to reach the destination, but not necessarily in a straight line. I will describe how to set the sails to ultimately reach your desired destination.
There are three broad ways that one can head towards a destination. They are:

• sailing towards or climbing on the wind
• reaching across the wind and
• running before the wind.

To climb on the wind towards a destination, it is often necessary to tack across the wind. To complete this, the mainsail, which is the sail attached to the mast, generally does not require any adjustment. The foremost sail, called the jib or genoa, if it is a large area foresail, needs to be hauled around the mast as the boat passes through the eye of the wind. The sails can also be set on the other side of the boat (starboard side). To change the sails from the starboard to port side when running with the wind from behind is called gibing. This is generally unsafe in wind strengths more than light, unless the crew is very experienced.

I have written a brief introduction to this brilliant sport. It is now up to you to make the choices of how you wish to proceed on this most exciting journey.

Wazza Dyson. Visit my storefront at: http://www.shop.wazzadyson.com to read my full "must have" e-book: Sailing for Starters: First Boating Steps. It includes numerous diagrams and photos to help you get started.

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