Should I release the choker line all the way while raising the sail?

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
1

I used to follow the below steps while raising the sail.

  1. Point the bow in the direction of the wind with engine on low RPM
  2. Release the main
  3. Release the choker
  4. Raise the sail
  5. Bring in the choker
  6. Adjust the main sheet and get going
  7. Switch off the engine

Over a period of time, I stopped releasing the choker altogether. I will keep the choker at the desired point before leaving the marina. And this allowed me to handle just the halyard and the mainsheet.

But of late, I found that the boat starts heeling almost instantly as soon as the sails are up, as the wind starts filling the sails. Even with a loose main sheet.

And this puts a few guests on the boat a bit uneasy, as it’s not a gentle transition from motoring to sailing. They get a feeling that the boat is going to tip over.

I am so used to not letting the choker completely out as I don’t have to juggle 3 lines. But I am thinking I might have to go back to the original protocol.

Would like to pick your brains on this.

What’s the step-by-step process you follow, especially when you are single-handed and you don’t have an electric winch?

Siva Surendira
’Inner Peace’ NS26
Jersey City, NJ

2

Hello Sirendalya? ( I think I spelled that wrong sorry)

This is Rob
From Sarnia. We hoist the main as you do but have also some question about how much chocker can be on while hoisting.

I would think your healing concern comes from not staying head to wind as you are too busy with all these lines. If you are head to wind you won’t heal. A bigger concern is that if you let the main sheet run out unattended you can end up with it tangled around the bbq or other fixtures at the transom.

I am hoping you don’t release the main sheet and you just take the tension off of it a little.

My confusion starts when it is time to reef. We often neglect to let the choker off enough to allow us to tighten the clew reef line such that it pulls down close to the boom.

Looking for discussion on this.
Thanks
Rob
NS36, #24
Sarnia Ontario Canada

3

In step 3, I would change “release” to “ease”. Find a setting that is loose enough to allow your sail to be easily hoisted without putting stress on the track… mark the setting. Start with the choker secured at that setting.

The loose choker won’t make the boat heel, your boat is probably falling off the wind before you are ready to sail. Maybe examine the method you are using to keep the boat headed into the wind… depending on current and wind speed, you may need a little more RPMs.

I’ve been on boats that have lots of friction when hoisting the main. On a 26 you should be able to hoist the sail hand-over-hand most of the way up, then crank the last bit. Maybe check for friction end-to-end… masthead , slugs/sail track, turning block , deck organizers, rope clutch, winch. If any part is not silky smooth service or replace.

If you frequently sail single or short handed maybe consider and auto-pilot.

Guests can be helpful, and most get a thrill from helping drive the boat or cranking the winch. Find ways for them to help.

Smooth sailing,

Rob
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Cedar Point YC
Westport, CT

4

Siva -

When you are raising the sail, you are head into the wind. By falling off the wind to start sailing, you are on a close reach. You do not want your choker to be loose on a close reach. It can over-power the boat and put a lot of weather helm on the steering, making it difficult to steer the boat except back up into the wind. You want your sail to be pretty flat upwind, especially on a close reach.

The choker adjustment is valuable going off the wind - beam reach to down wind. It gives the sail extra shape for capturing the wind. It is also helpful to loosen the choker when raising the sail because it relieves the tension off the sail track.

Once you have the sail up, tighten the choker and also then loosen the topping lift (slack but not flailing). This puts the sail in the proper position to be in a close reach.

You can adjust from there depending on your point of sail.

Bob Gehrman
NS30U #396 “Quickbeam”
Baltimore, Maryland

5

We figured out on the Discourse group that his problem is that the boat falls off and starts sailing after he raises the sail, but before he can return to the helm. Just taking a little tension off of the sheet will make that worse.

Allowing the boom to swing out should not wrap the sheet around anything as long as it doesn’t go too far. He should sheet in to get the boat sailing after he returns to the helm and since the boat is still under engine power at that time, you are right that he should make sure not to tack before he has the sheet/sail under control.

–Brian Godfrey

6

So just to clarify again.

Can I have the choker pulled in all the way, leaving only as much room as possible to allow me to raise the sail? Will doing this ensure that the sail doesn’t catch a lot of wind and doesn’t fall off, making it harder for me to control the heel?

Also, the other question I had is, what if I raise the sail all the way up to 80%, come back to the helm, fall off the wind, set the course, and then go back to raise the remaining using a manual lever?

7

Boat handling is a skill that we develop over time in our own way. No two sailors are exactly the same, what works for me on Soave may be different for others. Below are some general thoughts that might help.

On Soave, I think of my choker adjustment in terms of %… where 100% is tight enough to beat efficiently in 14-16 knots of wind. At 100% Soave’s sail barely touches the wishbone. This is very tight. We ease from 100 % to 50% before doing anything that might concentrate forces on a small area of the sail track. ( reefing, hoisting, dousing ). We generally sail with choker set between 65%-85%. When we ease, the choker is held to a looser setting, it’s never allowed to run free on Soave. We do open the clutch on our mainsheet, and since our main winch is for both halyard and sheet, while hoisting, Soave’s mainsheet can technically run free, but the open clutch and the weight of the wishbone dampen motion enough that not much sheet plays out while the main is being hoisted. We are diligent about keep bow into the wind.

This conversation reminds me of the vang on our Flying Scot… at 100% vang, if you rounded the windward mark and eased the main for the downwind leg without FIRST easing the vang in heavy air the boom would bend/snap. The difference between damaging your boom was about 8" of vang so many sailors never ran with the vang that tight and could avoid the risk of damage.

I’ve heard of a few Nonsuch sailors that have damaged their luff track because they forgot to ease their choker. A couple marks on the choker line makes it easy to know what it’s set to. Maybe red for tight, black for medium, and green for eased.

On Soave we ease her choker before lowering the sail to 50% of the adjustable range that’s maybe 2-4’ of choker line off the 100% setting. At 50% the sail will have lots of draft ( power), a setting that might be good for light air. Once eased the boat is ready to be put to bed, we don’t adjust till the next time we sail. Our slip is in a very sheltered basin, so the wishbone doesn’t bounce much after we attach a keeper to hold the wishbone to one side of center. The keeper goes on immediately after the sail is down as we are motoring home.

Most folks wait till they get under way to adjust the choker from the eased setting. We check the choker ( this is where some marks can be handy ) before hoisting but rarely have to change it because we leave it eased between outings.

Answer to first question… Will the choker keep the boat from falling off ? No. Easing choker makes it easier to raise the sail and avoids unnecessary stress on the sail track. If you are in heavy air and you fall off with an eased choker the boat will be powered up, but you can depower by easing the main or heading up into the wind.

Answer to the second question… Can I fall off and then finish raising the sail ? HARD NO ! Keep the boat headed into the wind till the sail is fully hoisted. Never adjust the halyard while the sail is loaded… head up, adjust, fall off to resume sailing.

Maybe coach a crewmember to hold the wheel and steer into the wind by looking a the direction of the sail while you are hoisting it. Your engine RPMs need to be high enough to drive the boat forward. Most days on Soave this would be 1000 RPM, but we’ve had days when 2000 RPMs were needed. If the current is from behind your SOG needs to be higher to maintain control, with the wind on your nose it’s going to feel faster than it is.

Good luck… sounds like you are getting lots of practice. It will get easier. It made a huge difference for me to crew on other boats and see what was working for other skippers. Other skippers enjoy having an extra set of hands aboard. Win-Win.

Rob
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Cedar Point YC
Westport, CT

8

Hi Surendira,
All yacht designs are a compromise. This is especially true for the Nonsuch to maximize cabin space by placing the mast far foreword and ahead of the keel. This arrangement means that she falls off the wind far faster than standard designs. Like you, I sail single handed and found it necessary to install Raymarine self steering after my first season of owning Mascouche. I have never regretted the purchase. I set a course head to wind and set the throttle sufficiently high to maintain steerage way. The choker is eased to reduce the pressure on the cars while raising sail. One has to be careful not to have too much slack on the halyard before starting to raise sail as it loves to foul navigation lights or anything else that it can wrap around. Once the sail is raised, the choker is adjusted to suit the wind speed.

Because the mast is so far forward and acts as a wind vane, I find the best way to pick up a mooring buoy, especially when sailing single handed is to reverse to the buoy. It takes advantage of the wind vane effect and the boat tracks well while the buoy is visible at all times and pick up is made from the cockpit.

John Newell
Mascouche NS 26
Toronto

9

John,

Thanks for the tip about coming backwards to pick up a mooring. I’ll give that a try.

Ward Woodruff
413-847-0620 cell