SAIL

ASK SAIL

NOT QUITE READY TO REEF

Q: I race on a small lake in the Midwest, and most afternoons the wind picks up and is fairly steady, but because of the hills around the lake we oft en get squalls that come through. They don’t last long enough to justify taking a reef, so I was wondering what is the best way to keep from being overpowered.

—Joe Tapper, Horicon, WI

BRIAN HANCOCK REPLIES

It depends on your deck layout. In fact, there are two things that you can do to keep from being overpowered. First, you need to twist off the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Sail

Sail9 min read
Solar Updates
Sixteen years ago, I installed solar panels on my boat. At the time, the peak efficiency at converting sunlight to electricity was around 16%. Today’s panel technologies enable substantially more energy to be harvested from a given surface area, boos
Sail8 min read
Radio Active
“Charles, are you OK?” A pause. “Charles?!” Although a stranger to us, the person’s panic was universal. Something’s wrong, said the look my partner, Phillip, and I shared before darting our eyes to the splashing in the water by the power cat next to
Sail13 min read
Steady On
Peter Harken needs little introduction in the world of sailing. With his brother, Olaf, he started a shoestring business building collegiate and Olympic class dinghies (Vanguard Boats) in Wisconsin in 1968, which evolved into Harken Yacht Equipment a

Related Books & Audiobooks