Usually the rudder is removed after sailing. The first step is to instal it or make sure that it is firmly attached. On most small boats, the top of the leading edge of the rudder has attached pins (called pintles) that are inserted downward into round rings (called gudgeons) attached to the stern.
If the tiller is already attached to the top of the rudder on your boat, check that it is secure. The tiller is a long, thin steering “arm” mounted to the rudder the tiller. The tiller arm is inserted in a slot at the top of the rudder, A pin is then inserted from above to lock it in position. The pin should be tied to the boat with a lanyard (short light line) to prevent being dropped.
The halyards are used to raise both the jib and mainsail. At the sail’s end of a halyard is a shackle that attaches the grommet at the head of the sail to the halyard. Because sunlight and weather age and weaken sailcloth, the sails should always be removed after sailing, you have to put them back on (called “bending on” the sails) before you get started. First, spread out the sail and identify each of its corners. The “head” is the top of the sail, where the triangle is the most narrow. Attach the jib halyard shackle to this corner; making sure the shackle is closed and secure. Then follow the front edge of the sail (called the “luff”) down to the next corner. The luff of the jib of a small sailboat can be identified by the hanks every foot or so that attach this edge to the forestay. The bottom corner of the luff is called the sail’s “tack.” Attach the grommet in the tack to the fitting at the bottom of the forestay usually with a shackle or pin.
First, find the other end of the jib halyard (on the port, or left, side of the mast) and keep a good grip on it with one hand. You will be slowly pulling it in to raise the sail as you hank it on. Beginning with the hank nearest the head of the jib, open it to clip the hank onto the forestay. Then raise the sail a little by pulling on the halyard. Making sure there isn’t any twist in the sail, attach the second hank. Raise the sail a little more and move on to the third hank. Keep working your way down the luff, raising the sail a little at a time to make sure it isn’t twisted and the hanks are all in order. When all the hanks are attached, lower the jib back down to the dec.
The jib sail is positioned while sailing by using the jibsheets. The jib sheets are two lines that come back to the cockpit, one on each side of the boat, from the aft lower corner of the sail (the “clew”). In most small sailboats, the jibsheets are left tied to the sail’s clew and stay with the sail. On your boat, however, the jibsheets may remain on the boat and need to be tied or shackled to the clew at this stage. Unless there is a shackle on the sheets, use a bowline to tie each to the clew.
Then run each sheet back past the mast to the cockpit. Depending on the specific boat and the size of the jib, the sheets may run inside or outside the shrouds.
Now we’ll attach the mainsail halyard shackle to the head of the mainsail, a process very similar to attaching the jib halyard. First spread the mainsail out to identify its three corners as you did with the jib. The head of the sail, again, is the narrowest angle of the triangle. On many small sailboats, the main halyard does double duty as a topping lift, the line that holds up the at the end of the boom when it is not being held up by the sail.
The forward lower corner of the mainsail, like that of the jib, is called the tack. The grommet of the tack is installed at the front end of the book, usually by a removable pin inserted through the grommet and secured on the boom. Now the luff (leading edge) of the mainsail is secured at both the head and the tack.
The clew (lower corner) of the mainsail is secured to the end of the boom, usually using a line called the outhaul that can be adjusted to tension the foot of the sail. The sail’s foot (the bottom edge) itself may or may not be secured directly to the boom. On some boats, a rope sewn into the foot (called the boltrope) slides into a groove in the boom. The clew enters the groove first, forward by the mast, and is pulled back in the groove until the whole sail’s foot is held to the boom in this groove. A loose footed mainsail allows for more sail shaping, but the sail cannot be flattened quite as much.
The mainsail’s luff (forward edge) is attached to the mast, as the jib’s luff is to the forestay but with a different mechanism. On the aft side of the mast is a groove for the mainsail. Some sails have a boltrope on the luff that slides upward in this groove, while others have sail “slugs” mounted every foot or so on the luff. First inspect the whole sail to make sure it’s not twisted anywhere. Hold the main halyard in one hand during this process – you will be gradually raising the mainsail as you insert the slugs into the mast groove. Begin with the sail slug at the head. Insert it into the groove, pull the halyard to raise the sail a little, and then insert the next slug. Before completing this process, be sure you’re ready to go sailing soon after the mainsail is up. Continue raising the mainsail.
When the mainsail is all the way up, pull hard on the halyard to tension the luff. Then tie the halyard to the cleat on the mast, using a cleat hitch. Now you’re almost ready to go sailing. This is a good time to lower the centerboard, and raise the jib. Simply pull down on the jib halyard and cleat it on the other side of the mast.
With both sails raised, you’re ready to start sailing. One of the first steps to getting underway will be to tighten the mainsheet and one jibsheet to adjust the sails so you can get moving forward. You may also need to turn the boat so that the wind fills the sails from one side.
