Over-canvassed sailing
Encyclopedia
A sailing boat
that is carrying too much sail for the current wind conditions is said to be over-canvassed. An over-canvassed boat, whether a dinghy
, a yacht
or a sailing ship
, is difficult to steer and control and tends to heel or roll too much. If the wind continues to rise, an over-canvassed sailing boat will become dangerous and ultimately gear may break or it may round-up into the wind, broach
or capsize
. Any of these eventualities puts the safety of the crew and the vessel in danger. To over-canvass a sailing boat is considered unseamanlike and imprudent. In order to reduce sail, individual sails may be lowered or furled
and existing sails may be reefed
. Counter-intuitively, many boats will sail faster, and certainly more smoothly, comfortably and safely, when carrying the correct amount of sail in a strong wind than they would if over-canvassed and excessively rolling, heeling, carrying too much weather helm
or repeatedly rounding up.
The fact is, that the definition of being over-canvassed depends on a number of factors. These include the design, form and stability of the boat hull, the age and strength of the sails and gear, the direction of the wind relative to the course, the size, experience and state of the crew, the state of the sea as well as the purpose of the voyage.
Warning signs that a well-found, well-crewed sailing vessel may by over-canvassed include excessive weather helm, excessive speed, any uncontrolled rounding up or broaching, excessive slamming into or falling off of waves, excessive heel or excessive rolling. If the purpose of the journey does not include racing, or if there is any kind of damage or minor emergency on-board, or if the boat is old or if the crew is ill, or tired or short-handed, then the meaning of 'excessive' may be reduced in any of these cases.
"In a contrary wind a well found yacht is master. She has more stamina to windward than any man by himself". Von Haeften says that, "It is impossible to tear working sails in good condition by wind pressure alone. If it happens, nevertheless, it will either be down to some sail-handling mistake so that the sail has been chafed or caught up somewhere, or to the fact that the sail was old and worn out". There are many stories of gear breakage from a parted shackle leaving a sail to flap wildly to shrouds giving way to bring a mast down.
A wildly heaving deck that is heeled, rolling or broaching beyond what is normally expected, can pitch a crew member overboard into the sea, or lead to a fall and subsequent injury. Such issues of crew safety are always paramount.
Friends out for a sail or a cruise, rather than a race, will be more impressed by a comfortable, stable voyage than one in which the eager skipper's personal best for angle of heel is exceeded several times.
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
that is carrying too much sail for the current wind conditions is said to be over-canvassed. An over-canvassed boat, whether a dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
, a yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
or a sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
, is difficult to steer and control and tends to heel or roll too much. If the wind continues to rise, an over-canvassed sailing boat will become dangerous and ultimately gear may break or it may round-up into the wind, broach
Broach (sailing)
A sailboat broaches when its heading suddenly changes towards the wind due to wind/sail interactions for which the rudder cannot compensate. This causes the boat to roll dangerously and if not controlled may lead to a capsize...
or capsize
Capsize
Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...
. Any of these eventualities puts the safety of the crew and the vessel in danger. To over-canvass a sailing boat is considered unseamanlike and imprudent. In order to reduce sail, individual sails may be lowered or furled
Furl (sailing)
Furling refers to stowing or dousing a boat's sail by flaking , packing , roller furling or just lowering it onto the deck. Nowadays, it is becoming more common to use the term "furling" to refer to reefing a sail that is part of a roller furling system....
and existing sails may be reefed
Reefing
Reefing is a sailing manoeuvre intended to reduce the area of a sail on a sailboat or sailing ship, which can improve the ship's stability and reduce the risk of capsizing, broaching, or damaging sails or boat hardware in a strong wind...
. Counter-intuitively, many boats will sail faster, and certainly more smoothly, comfortably and safely, when carrying the correct amount of sail in a strong wind than they would if over-canvassed and excessively rolling, heeling, carrying too much weather helm
Weather helm
Weather helm is the tendency of sailing vessels to turn towards the source of wind, creating an unbalanced helm that requires pulling the tiller to windward in order to counteract the effect. Weather helm is the opposite of Lee Helm....
or repeatedly rounding up.
Definition
The decision to reduce sail, to avoid being over-canvassed, is made at sea based on a number of factors. There are folklore sayings, such as, "Any fool can set a sail, but it takes a sailor to take it down" and, "The best time to reef is when you first think about it; when you think it's time to shake it out, have a cup of tea first".The fact is, that the definition of being over-canvassed depends on a number of factors. These include the design, form and stability of the boat hull, the age and strength of the sails and gear, the direction of the wind relative to the course, the size, experience and state of the crew, the state of the sea as well as the purpose of the voyage.
Warning signs that a well-found, well-crewed sailing vessel may by over-canvassed include excessive weather helm, excessive speed, any uncontrolled rounding up or broaching, excessive slamming into or falling off of waves, excessive heel or excessive rolling. If the purpose of the journey does not include racing, or if there is any kind of damage or minor emergency on-board, or if the boat is old or if the crew is ill, or tired or short-handed, then the meaning of 'excessive' may be reduced in any of these cases.
Safety
The most important reason to avoid being over-canvassed in a blow is the safety of the boat, its gear and its crew. Frank Mulville said that, "With the wind fair a man is master of his boat and has the power to drive her as hard as he wishes – even to the point of destruction." He went on to say,"In a contrary wind a well found yacht is master. She has more stamina to windward than any man by himself". Von Haeften says that, "It is impossible to tear working sails in good condition by wind pressure alone. If it happens, nevertheless, it will either be down to some sail-handling mistake so that the sail has been chafed or caught up somewhere, or to the fact that the sail was old and worn out". There are many stories of gear breakage from a parted shackle leaving a sail to flap wildly to shrouds giving way to bring a mast down.
A wildly heaving deck that is heeled, rolling or broaching beyond what is normally expected, can pitch a crew member overboard into the sea, or lead to a fall and subsequent injury. Such issues of crew safety are always paramount.
Comfort
A single- or short-handed crew must conserve energy and take even more care of personal safety when the boat is unlikely to be handled, or brought back for a rescue, in their absence or incapacitation. Reducing sail early and thoroughly may be more important in these cases, especially when far from land.Friends out for a sail or a cruise, rather than a race, will be more impressed by a comfortable, stable voyage than one in which the eager skipper's personal best for angle of heel is exceeded several times.