Gybing is very easy and of no problem in light winds, but when the wind is strong and in heavy seas it is not easy at all. Even to very experienced sailors it then is a manoeuvre that is very hard to handle. We have made it possible to move the sail from one side to the other like a windsurfer when sailing with the wind from behind. By doing it like that, this sometimes very dangerous manoeuvre is no more for us – no more.
Our rig can rotate as many times as you like! (The halyard is no obstacle –it runs inside the mast all the way to and below the mast step to a block and further to the cockpit.)
Now,
think of when you are about to gybe when you are windsurfing. Then you
let the sail forward all the way till it flaps, after that you change hands and
grabs hold of the boom on the other side and the gybe is complete.
Gybe on videofilm
We
use a similar technique. Let go of the sail forward all the way. Then the sail
comes in a very strange position. In order to move the halyard to the new side
it is attached to an extra rope and
lead forward around the mast and back again.
This is like when you change hands on the windsurfer. After that you
simply sheet home. This manoeuvre takes just seconds. After all there is no more to say. It looks so simple and
natural that one wonders why it has not been done before. There are several
other ways of moving the sheet to the other side explained in and protected by
the patent.
The fact that we can let go of the sail in any wind direction is also used when hoisting and lowering the sail.
We simply hoist or lower the sail and that´s all
there is to it. This is
very useful when approaching a harbour or a dock in
strong winds. We simply let go of the sheet, ease the halyard and the sail rolls
itself around the tube inside the boom and that is that ! You never have to
bother altering the course – just keep going in the same direction.
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