How to Trim Sails: Dinghies to Offshore Cruisers

This practical introduction to trimming sails is written to help owners and crew sailing on all types of boats, from dinghies to offshore cruisers. It encompasses mainsails and headsails, and explains the effect of various controls on the shape and performance of the sails. The most popular rig configurations on today'€s yachts are described, and the correct standing-rigging tensions are given for a variety of sailing conditions. The rigs included are masthead, fractional with swept spreaders, fractional with runners, and dinghy with swept spreaders. Quick reference tables give at-a-glance information for the controls of each rig type for on- and off-wind sailing in a range of wind strengths and sea conditions. The first edition of this book was hugely successful. This edition has been redesigned and many line drawings are presented in two colors for easier understanding.