May I humbly suggest to those of you having trouble tacking that you are
swinging that rudder over too hard, too fast, too much. I never have trouble
tacking in any kind of winds from 3 MPH thru 25 MPH.
I treat that tiller very gently.. I have an affair with it {:^)
.
I start the turn/tack by moving tiller SLOWLY over, while trimming in jib
sheet. Very slowly.. So I don't lose any fwd motion.. As soon as jib and main
start luffing I release jib sheets and pull on them on new tack. I do not let
that jib fill on wrong side or back wind.
If you swing that tiller over fast you apply full brakes and lose enough fwd
motion to prevent vessel from swinging through arch to complete tack.
Remember that rudder is also a brake. Slam it over and you apply brakes..
Take your time. Caress that tiller.. Move it slowly over and faster as you
reach face directly into wind. Start with a 5 degree movement then slowly
increase it to about 20 as you come into the wind. NEVER more than 35
degrees. Unless you wish to stop. It takes me about 10 to 12 seconds
(roughly) to tack into a new heading across the wind when wind is less than 5
MPH.
Its very difficult to explain..
Over time I have developed a method that never fails.. You will have to
practice until you get it right.. There is no need to backwind the jib. Ever..
Best
SF
Best
SF