Mainsail and Trysail

While the trysail is a smaller version of a mainsail, it is not to say the same thing as a heavily reefed mainsail.

While some people advocate that a third reef in the mainsail is the same as a trysail, I would like to counter that point.
I personally have a mainsail with three reef points and a trysail, I can tell you that they are not the same animal!

A mainsail, no matter how reefed, will always include a boom. As seas toss you around, the boom can begin to swing around, especially if it looses wind pressure when you go down into the trough between waves. The boom can easily injure parts of the rig and kill anyone it hits! Try sails do not use the boom.
By not being boomed out, they also can be shaped with more ease. A reefed mainsail will always have a flat foot that will extend out over the side of the boat as it follows the boom that is eased. The trysail will remain mostly over the deck. When on a run, the sail will remain with the clew over the deck and simply billow forward a bit. If you jibe, it is no different from a headsail flipping from one tack to another. No drama and no damage!

When on a run, the center of effort of the sail is closer to the middle of the ship which means less weather helm which means it’s easier to maintain control in a storm. If you change course and want to beam reach or go slightly to windward, all you need to do is sheet the sail in and it will flatten out.
We find the trysail to be incredibly versatile, even in non-storm conditions. If we are going downwind and need to ease the mainsail far out, the torquing from the boom holding the sail so far to the side of the boat will give tremendous weather helm and it will steal wind from the headsails, compounding that problem!
The trysail will let air go by to the headsails which will pull the yacht downwind and keep the center of effort over the deck to reduce weather helm.
If the trysail is so versatile, why don’t people use it more?

The answer is simple, they have a single tool but not the complete set. This means they can use it but it’s not easy to do so. For most, a third reef is simply the next reef after the second reef. Easy enough to do and they are well practiced at it. But the trysail requires removing the mainsail and sliding the sail onto the track, switching over the halyard and running the sheets to the clew. Doing this in a storm is impossible and dangerous which is why they simply put in a third reef and call it a day!

For me, having the complete kit means that putting up the trysail involves releasing one halyard, pulling another, and tying on one sheet.
Our trysail lives hanked on to its own track with its own independent halyard attached and ready to roll. The trysail track is to starboard of the mainsail track, so the starboard sheet is always attached. All I need to do is toss the port sheet over the boom and tie it to the clew and hoist the trysail up! If the weather is really bad and I don’t feel like messing with the port sheet, then we raise it with only the starboard sheet and just stay in port tack.
With the trysail up, I can get everything tucked away and tied up while the boat sails along comfortably in horrible conditions. If it gets too nasty out there, I can also easily and effectively heave to with the trysail.
This sail is so versatile, I never leave port without it set at the base of the mast ready to hoist at a moments notice. The difference between me and everyone who avoids the trysail is I have created a method to deploy it easily and that convenience means that I can use it easily.

Weather Helm and Lee Helm

Sailboats have two rudders steering them, not just one!

The first one is the one everyone thinks of when you they hear the word “rudder”. This is the appendage that hangs off the back of the yacht that is controlled by the wheel or tiller and is the primary method for controlling a yachts direction.  

The second one is exclusive to sailboats, as powerboats do not have this second rudder, the sails. As wind hits the sails and gives the sailboat power to drive through the waves, it also influences the direction the yacht will go as it moves through the waves. 

If the sails are all at the back of the yacht, the wind will hit them and push the back of the yacht downwind and the bow upwind. This is known as weather helm. 

If the sails are all at the front of the yacht, the wind will hit them and push the front of the yacht downwind and the stern of the yacht upwind. This is known as lee helm. 

Having the right balance of sails, front and back, is necessary to cause the yacht to be pushed evenly and to avoid this urge to rotate. 

The urge caused by the wind can be felt in the helm, and can lead to crew fatigue if you are counting on the rudder to compensate for unbalanced sails.  When the yacht wants to turn upwind, simply turning the helm to leeward will make the yacht sail in a straight line, but you will have conflicting events happening. The sails want it to turn upwind while the rudder is dragging through the water trying to turn the yacht back to leeward. The result is these forces will cancel out and the yacht will sail straight! But the cost of these conflicting forces will be loss of speed as the rudder and sails need to cancel out their opposing forces instead of all moving forward in harmony.

Trimming each sail to optimum performance by following the tell tales will give you maximum performance out of each sail, but not optimum performance out of the entire system. If you sacrifice pure performance and instead focus on minimizing weather and lee helm, you will actually sail faster and with less drag.

Thinking of the sails as a second rudder, almost as an air rudder, will be advantageous in your seamanship abilities. Instead of setting the sails for power, and then adjusting your course with the rudder, it would behoove you to set the sails based on the winds and point of sail you wish to be on, then fine tune your heading with the rudder. Thinking of the sails as your primary steering method, more of a macro rudder, and your rudder as a fine tuning steering method, more of a micro rudder, will let you sail most efficiently and effortlessly.