sheeting in the main

I keep hearing this phrase and have read many posts about it; I even googled it, but I am still unclear about one part.

There are two ways to pull the mainsheet and thus tighten the main sail.
One is the downhaul and the other is with respect to bringing in the traveler closer or further from the center of the boat.

Which is meant by the term "Sheeting in the main"?

What kind of boat do you have?

Sheeting in the main specifically refers to pulling on the mainsheet.

Note that the downhaul is something altogether different: it is the line that joins the boom to the bottom of the mast (it pulls down on the boom).

The traveler is used to control the angle of the main once you've set the shape with the sheet. To make things more confusing many modern cat (such as the Hobie Getaway) use a single line for both the main sheet and traveler. But the impoprtant thing to remember is that for a given position of the traveler, the main sheet lets you control the shape (i.e. how flat or full the main is), while for a given position of the main sheet, the traveler lets you control the angle of the sail to the wind.

Have fun experimenting with your boat.

Thanks for the reply.

It is a 1981 HC 16.

I understand the difference between the downhaul which is close to the mast and the other which would be nearer the stern. The reason I called it downhaul is for lack of a better word. I guess what I meant or should have said was the "downhaul-like action" you can apply to the end of the boom nearest the stern.
Although, I think you answered my question in that adjusting the sail shape with this "downhaul-like action" which brings the end of the boom closer to the tramp would be "sheeting in the main" and adjusting the traveler location would not be "sheeting".

My fault for poor vocabulary causing any confusion.

Actualy, adjusting the angle of the boom port or starboard would be traveling.

"Sheeting in" simply means to pull the sheet (main sheet in this case) in. Doing so has two effects: bringing the main closer to the center, and pulling the clew (aft-most corner) of the sail down.

When the sail is way out, the largest component of sheeting is to bring the sail in. When the sail is closer to center, the larger component is to bring the clew down. In fact if your traveler is paid out (close to one hull), and the sail is already fairly close in, sheeting in even more has only one effect (i.e. to flatten the sail by bringing the clew closer to the trampoline).

As you can see, words can be tricky. If your sail is full out, the effect of sheeting is mainly to bring the main closer to center, which allows you to sail closer to the wind. If your sail is already close to center and the traveler is out, the effect of sheeting in further is mainly to flatten the sail.

Playing with both the sheet and the traveler lets you fine tune the shape of your sail (i.e both its angle to the wind and how flat it is).

I think you may have been refering to down hawl and out hawl. down hawl is pulling the mainsail down the mast and is tightening the front of the mainsail. out hawl is the adjustment at the back of the boom that pulls the sail tighter along the bottom of the sail.

_________________
Tom & Nancy Page H20 803

I've always thought that by pulling in on the mainsheet, you go faster. I never thought about the sail shape. When and why would you "flatten the sail" or otherwise change the shape?

thanks,

You do go faster, to a certain extent, by sheeting in.

You would want to change the angle of the main sail to adjust your travel in relation to the wind direction. Also, if you wanted to "spill" some air to keep from overpowering teh boat.

You would want to flatten the sail in higher winds at higher speeds. You want a fatter sail in lighter winds to produce more lift. The idea of changing the shape of the sail is to get as much lift as practical with the smoothest airflow over the sails.

This is very simplistic explaination, but I think it covers the bases.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Here is one of the best books on getting the most out your sails in any condition and/or point of sail:

Sail Power, by Wallace Ross

Amazon has them both new and used in hard and paper back from about $12.00.