Let’s look at launching where the wind is blowing on shore.
This is also sometimes called a lee shore.
In this situation when you face the water you should feel the wind blowing onto your
face, and it is also the hardest to launch from as the wind will always try and blow
you back ashore.
Position your boat on the beach on its trolley with the bow of the boat pointing towards
the wind.
Rig the sails.
Make sure the mainsheet is completely slack to allow the boom to flutter in the wind,
which keeps the sail loose with no power, and stops it from blowing off the trolley
accidentally.
Also make sure the kicking strap is slack.
Fit the rudder, and fit the safety pin.
Check all drainage bungs are in place to stop the buoyancy tanks from filling with water
as you sail along.
Next introduce the boat to the water, keeping the bow head to wind.
This will keep the sails flapping and make manoeuvring easy.
Continue walking the boat into the water until it floats off the trolley.
And then untie the painter.
Park your trolley ashore above any high water mark on the beach.
With the crew holding the boat, climb aboard.
To help keep you stable push the centreboard down, but only by a few inches to stop it
hitting the bottom when in shallow water.
Unfurl the jib if you haven’t already done so.
Push the rudder down a few inches to allow the tip of the blade to make contact with
the water.
Grab the tiller and mainsheet and now you’re ready to go.
Keep a good look out to make sure that your path is clear from other vessels and pay particular
attention to any swimmers or other water users in the immediate area.
With the bow of the boat pointing head to wind like this you will be in the centre of
the no go zone and unable to sail.
To get sailing, ask the crew to push the bow of the boat out of the no go zone onto a close
reach point of sailing like this.
This sailing angle allows you to sail easily from the beach and avoids the possibility
of becoming stuck in the no go zone and being blown back ashore.
The crew then climbs aboard.
Gently pull in both sails a little bit to get moving, but as the rudder isn’t fully
down you should leave the beach slowly.
Once adequate depth has been reached release both sail control sheets to stop the boat,
and lower the rudder blade fully.
Then secure the downhaul rope to keep it in position.
Lower the centreboard to suit the close reach point of sailing, pull the sails back in and
sail away.
Let’s now look at this with a racing fleet.
Here they are adopting the same procedure.
Boats are parked on trolleys with the nose pointing into wind.
The sails are hoisted and the rudder fitted and bungs checked.
The boats are led into the water nose first and floated off the trolley.
The trolley is then parked above the high water mark.
As we mentioned when learning it’s best for the helm to climb aboard first, but as
you become more proficient you can opt for the crew to get in first.
Here with the crew aboard and the sails flapping, the helm turns the boat away from the no go
zone and smartly hops into the boat, quickly grabbing the tiller and mainsheet.
Slowly sail away from the beach until deeper water is reached, where the centreboard and
rudder can be fully lowered.