SAILING THE RS1 COLIN ARCHER
PLANNING THE VOYAGE FROM THE BUOY OR ANCHORAGE
When the boat is at anchor or buoy, and there is plenty of room, it can be fun to challenge yourself to not start the engine before setting sail! Start as always aft, that is often the mainsail when the boat has only one mast. When the mainsail is set, you can choose to wait to throat halyard to take the power out of the sail. It is important with loose sheets, before having lifted the anchor or cast off from the buoy. At the moment it happens, you can set the jib. Be sure to choose the jib and not the staysail, that will be in the way of handling the anchor. The jib makes the boat maneuverable, and you can go straight to upwind, or fall off from the wind. Be sure to have plenty of slack in the mainsheet when you fall off in light winds.
SETTING THE MAINSAIL
The mainsail is the "main engine", and is often first to set, and last to take down. On the traditional Norwegian double-ender, there are two halyards, ie ropes that lift the sail. One halyard is "klofallet" - the throat halyard, the other is "piggfallet" the peak halyard. It should be equal number of blocks in the two halyards, so that when one lifts the sail alone, the gaff boom (usually just called the gaff) goes up equally in both ends. It becomes easier to hoist the mainsail if throat halyard is slightly higher than the peak, so that the peak pointing slightly down. Be sure to have slack in the sheet when the mainsail is set. The boom lift must be attached, so that the boom does not hit the deck when the sail is hoisted. If the boat has topsail, the topsail sheet must also be loose. It is easiest to hoist the sail when the wind comes in from the front. When the throat halyard tightens the luff (the edge of the sail running along the mast) fix the halyard temporarily, more tight if windy. Now you can choose to let the peak halyard be, to keep the power out of the sail (for example, when you lie to a dock and plan to sail from the quay). In this case, the peak can point nearly towards the end of the main boom. When you tighten the peak halyard, you pull until there is no more folds in the mainsail, and usually a little bit "extra".
STAYSAIL
The staysail is set often after the mainsail is set. But it may also be appropriate to wait to set it until after the jib is set. This is especially true in light winds, and often when doing maneuvers in narrow waters for sailing.The staysail is tightened according to the weather, a little looser in light winds, and tighter as the wind increases.
MIZZEN
The mizzen is often the first sail to set, at least when you start sailing with the wind from the front. If it is really windy, you can choose to wait, and put it up after you are off. Jib The jib is sometimes set before the staysail, see above. But usually it is appropriate to set the staysail first, and then hoist the jib in the leeward of the staysail (especially if the wind blows).
JIB
The jib should have its place on starboard or port side, the best is the opposite of the side for anchor and chain. The jib boom is not a bowsprit, as it is retractable. It should in principle always be on deck when the jib is not in use. The reasons for this include: boat takes up less space in harbours, vaterstay (wire from tip of boom to the stem) is not in conflict with anchor and chain, and the center of gravity of the boat is moved towards the center of the boat, which is important in wavey conditions. Setting the jib: Start by laying out the sheets to the helmsman, and then pull the jib out on the jib boom. 90% of the jib is left on the deck, make sure it does not blow out. Then you are ready at the halyard, and get it up as quick as you can. Be sure the sheets are free. It is best if the staysail is on the same side as the jib, so that the jib is set in the leeward of the staysail. Then you are able to get the jib up without too much wind blowing into it. It is not important to get it very tight at this moment, as the rest of the tightening should be done by the "klyverstrekktalje", the jib-halyard-tightener: The other end of the jib halyard has an "exchange", usually 4:1.
From this link you can download a PDF for rig and handling advices written by Knut von Trepka (in Norwegian). This is from Knut's first book about RS1 Colin Archer. The book is again available from Flyt Forlag.
