“en”:”Let’s look at launching where the wind is blowing on shore. This is also sometimes called a lee shore. In this situation when you face the water you should feel the wind blowing onto your face, and it is also the hardest to launch from as the wind will always try and blow you back ashore. Position your boat on the beach on its trolley with the bow of the boat pointing towards the wind. Rig the sails. Make sure the mainsheet is completely slack to allow the boom to flutter in the wind, which keeps the sail loose with no power, and stops it from blowing off the trolley accidentally. Also make sure the kicking strap is slack. Fit the rudder, and fit the safety pin. Check all drainage bungs are in place to stop the buoyancy tanks from filling with water as you sail along. Next introduce the boat to the water, keeping the bow head to wind.
This will keep the sails flapping and make manoeuvring easy. Continue walking the boat into the water until it floats off the trolley. Ask a friend to park your trolley ashore above the high water mark on the beach. To help keep you stable push the centreboard down, but only by a few inches to stop it hitting the bottom when in shallow water.
Push the rudder down a few inches to allow the tip of the blade to make contact with the water. Grab the tiller and mainsheet and now you’re ready to go. Keep a good look out to make sure your path is clear from other vessels and pay particular attention to any swimmers or other water users in the immediate area. With the bow of the boat pointing head to wind like this you will be in the centre of the no go zone and unable to sail. To get sailing, push the bow of the boat out of the no go zone onto a close reach point of sailing. To understand more about this subject see our Points of Sailing video. This sailing angle allows you to sail easily from the beach and avoids the possibility of becoming stuck in the no go zone and being blown back ashore. The helm turns the boat away from the no go zone then climbs aboard quickly grabbing the tiller and mainsheet. Gently pull in the mainsail a little bit to get moving, but as the rudder isn’t fully down you should leave the beach slowly.
Once adequate depth has been reached release the mainsheet so that the sail flaps to stop the boat, and lower the rudder blade fully. Then secure the downhaul rope to keep it in position. Finally lower the centreboard to suit your point of sailing, pull the sail back in and sail away. Let’s now look at this with a racing fleet. Here they are adopting the same procedure. Boats are parked on trolleys with the nose or bow of the boat pointing into wind. The sails are hoisted and the rudder fitted and bungs checked. The boats are led into the water bow first and floated off the trolley. The trolley is then parked above the high water mark. It is possible for one person to hold two boats in the water while the other person parks both trolleys. To help keep you stable push the centreboard down, but only by a few inches to stop it hitting the bottom when in shallow water. Push the rudder down a few inches to allow the tip of the blade to make contact with the water.
The helm turns the boat away from the no go zone and smartly hops into the boat, quickly grabbing the tiller and mainsheet. Slowly sail away from the beach until deeper water is reached, where the centreboard and rudder can be fully lowered.. “
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How to Sail - Single Handed - Beach Launching: Part 2 of 5: Onshore Wind
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