Learn To Sail A Schooner No.2

Anchoring Under Sail Wind Aft

About SchoonerSail’s Learning To Sail A Schooner Articles

John, Trinovante’s skipper started writing these articles after some Trinovante Crew asked for more information on the fundamentals of schooner handling. These articles are not imagined theory. John has written about specific situations that have arisen. This article was written after anchoring in the River Colne in Essex, UK.

Sail Training involves learning how to safely handle ropes, tying basic knots and using winches, among other things. The crew need these skills is to be able to carry out manoeuvres under sail or power.
Full in-depth knowledge of exactly what is going on is not essential, so dip into these Learning To Sail articles only if you want to.

Print Learn To Sail A Schooner No.2

Anchoring Under Sail Wind Aft

Image 1

With the wind and tide together it is usual to anchor by luffing up head to wind and tide and dropping back on the anchor. Occasionally we anchor with the wind aft (on the run) and use the anchor to turn into the wind and tide.
However, this requires both a good level of skill and co-ordination on the part of the

Sufficient sail is carried to maintain steerage way over the tide.
In this case gaff foresail and mizzen are enough.
The jib and staysail are down to keep the foredeck clear for the anchor crew.

Image 2

The helm is put hard over and the mizzen is sheeted so the wind will blow the stern around and maximise the rate of turn.

The anchor is not let go until the turn is started.

As soon as the anchor touches the bottom the boat starts to pivot round it.

Image 3

We don’t want the anchor to get too good a hold in the seabed until Trinovante is well into the turn so initially only a short amount of chain is veered before the brake is eased on. About two times the depth of water. As a general rule any less than 2:1 and the anchor will trip.

The rate of spin increases dramatically but there will be no sudden snatches if the timing of the manoeuvre has been right.

Image 4

The rest of the chain is veered as we drop back on the anchor.

This manoeuvre allows accurate setting of the anchor and is useful if space is limited especially if the wind is light and the tide is strong.