Jan. 30, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Handling a Yacht. 
“There is no doubt whatever that a modern 
yacht is much more easily handled than an old- 
fashioned vessel,” says the Field. “Modern 
gear is much lighter and more readily worked, 
and there are now numerous labor-saving con¬ 
trivances that were unknown in the early days 
of the straight-stemmers. We are by no means 
certain, however, that the improvements in fit¬ 
tings and gear have had the effect of making 
men better seamen, probably rather the re¬ 
verse. Everything nowadays seems to be 
carried out by a mechanical appliance, so that 
the young amateur is apt to think there is no 
reason to learn the old-fashioned way of doing 
things. This, however, should not be the case 
if a yachtsman wishes to become a good amateur 
seaman. 
“There are certain points in elementary sea¬ 
manship which should be understood by every 
B 
amateur yacht hand, because they are just as 
useful to-day as they were forty years ago. 
There are perhaps others that are less worth 
troubling about. In the latter category might ' 
be named the proper way of belaying a main 
sheet with two turns over the cavel, which was 
always a bit of a puzzle to the hardy amateur 
in the days when the main sheet was belayed 
round a timber head and a cavel or the two 
ends of a cavel or transom head, namely, a 
horizontal piece of timber. 
“Nowadays the main sheet is better belayed 
to a simple cleat on the deck. A great many 
modern yachts have neither bulwarks nor tim¬ 
ber heads, and the old way of making the sheet 
fast round a cavel is so seldom used that the 
modern amateur might count himself a smart 
man, even if he did not know how to belay a 
sheet in the old style—at least we should say so, 
although no doubt the old salts will disagree 
with us. Of course, it requires nothing but a 
little common sense to understand how to make 
a main or any sheet fast round one of the well- 
made cleats such as are fitted to modern yachts. 
The rope is simply turned round the cleat, and 
then across and across until a sufficient num¬ 
ber of ‘turns’ are on the cleat to hold it. The 
whole thing is so quick, efficient, and simple 
that the young amateur will wonder why on 
earth old-fashioned sailormen made the main 
sheet fast round a timber head and cavel? If 
he ^vants a practical answer to this question, 
let him watch the men casting ofif or easing the 
sheets of a modern racer in a heavy breeze of 
wind. 
“In this job the greatest care is required not 
to take too many turns off the cleat, and so let 
the sheet run away. Here we see the disad- 
x'antage of the cleat, as compared with the old- 
fashioned cavel. The direct strain on a cleat is 
tremendous, but so long as sufficient turns are 
kept upon it its holding power also is most 
efficient. In wet weather, however, when the 
sheets .are_ soaked and slippery and it is blowing 
hard, it is very difficult to obtain a happy 
medium between ‘all fast’ and ‘cast off.’ To 
ea.se the sheet ‘slightly’ requires very great 
skill, rare, and plenty of strong hands to stand 
by. Up to a final moment we may remove the 
turns while the sheet holds fast, then, as we 
slowly and gingerly slack up one more turn to 
ease the sheet, s.uddenly away it goes, running 
round the cleat like wildfire—and when once 
the sheet begins to run in a big cutter Heaven 
only knows when it will stop! Of course, there 
is always a man aft with a ‘stopper’ round the 
sheet to jamb it, but he is not infallible, and 
we have often thought we should be sorry to 
take on his job. A run-away main sheet is a 
fearsome thing in a large vessel. We have been 
shipmates with such a mishap several times in 
first-class vessels in bad weather, and thus can 
speak from experience. While such an accident 
is not unlikely to occur if the main sheet is 
made fast round a cleat, it should not be pos¬ 
sible with the old-fashioned timber head, and 
this is a good reason for making the main sheet 
fast in the old-fashioned way in a cruising yacht, 
or in a type of boat constructed with bulwarks 
and cavels across the timber heads which 
knocks about the coast in all weathers, and 
])ossibly rather short-handed. In a racer, how¬ 
ever, the speed and simplicity of the modern 
practice of making the main and other sheets 
fast round cleats outweigh all other considera¬ 
tions; hence, if it is not imperative for an 
amateur to remember how to make a sheet fast 
at a timber head and cavel, the knowledge is 
not too out of date to be sneered at, and is 
most useful to cruising and deep-sea fishing 
men. 
“We have heard a skipper say, ‘There’s lots 
of gents can pull on a rope, but there ain’t many 
as can make one fast.’ There is a good deal 
of truth in this. Sketches of ordinary sailor’s 
knots—the reef knot, clove hitch, two half¬ 
hitches, the rolling hitch, bow line, sheet bend, 
fishermaii’s bend, and topsail halliard bend- 
may be seen in most books about sailing, but 
we seldom see a plan of a main sheet properly 
belayed. Yet in the days when ‘patents’ were 
less common and deck cleats less handy, any 
smarush amateur could belay the main sheet or 
check it. Unless, however, it was properly be¬ 
layed, let it be remembered, it was a very 
awkward job to ease the sheet as required. 
“We now describe how to belay the sheet; it 
is done in precisely the same manner, whether 
the top of the timber head is free or has a slot 
cut in it for the main sheet to pass over, as is 
the case in some large vessels (see Fig. i), or 
whether the main sheet is passed round both 
ends of a cavel, as it may be in any small craft 
with bulwarks (see Fig. la). In our sketches 
(Figs. I and la), the main sheet is led with a 
couple of turns over the end of the cavel at A; 
then taken round the timber head at B (Fig. i), 
or the after end of the cavel, also B (Fig. 10), 
where it passes once round; next you make a 
bight in the fall of the sheet in your hand and 
shove it down between the cavel and the bul¬ 
wark, as at C; then loop this bight over the 
cavel heat at DD; finally take a good pull on 
the fall of the sheet E, and, having jammed the 
lot taut, the sheet is properly belayed. Of 
course, the whole object in view is to keep the 
sheet under command, and not let it take charge 
in a breeze of wind. This is desirable, because 
we want to work economically in a cruisin.g 
yacht, and cannot afford any number of hands 
hanging on the fall and a man aft the 
‘stopper’ by the mainsheet block on the horse, 
such as we see when racing. 
“To trim or tend the main sheet, first ease up 
the fall E until the bight becomes slack on the 
cavel at DD; then cast off the bight from the 
cavel; haul on the fall E until the bight is clear 
of the cavel at C; cast the turn off the timber 
__ ^85 
ARTHUR BINNEY 
(Formerly Stewart & Binney) 
Naval Architect and Yacht Broker 
Mason Building, Kilby Street, BOSTON, MASS. 
Cable Address, “Designer,” Boston 
COX STEVENS 
Yacht Brokers and Naval Architects 
15 William Street, - -New York 
Telephones 1375 and 1376 Broad 
W. STARLING BURGESS CO., Ltd. 
John R. Purdon, Manager. 
Naval Architects, Engineers, Builders 
Office Works, MARBLEHEAD, MASS. 
Brokerage and Insurance Depi., 153 Milk St., Boston, Mass. 
C. D. CALLAHAN, Naval Architect. 
Designer of Yachts and Motor Boats. Construction supervised. 
San Pedro, CALIFORNIA. 
Canoe and Boat Building. 
A Complete Manual for Amateurs. Containing plain 
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The author is a_ builder and designer of national repu¬ 
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