Sailing Tip of the Week - short, but a lifesaver

9:50 PM Thu 29 Apr 2010 GMT

'Guess who’s in line for a sore head if the wind shifts' .

Grant Headifen from Nauticed brings you another Tip of the Week:

Some tips are long and some are short - this one is short, but it's a potential life saver! - the smart way to avoid potentially life-threatening head injuries from a swinging boom.

As you know, sailing downwind has the dangerous potential of the accidental gybe.

This can be quite a common occurrence if you have an inexperienced crew at the helm or perhaps with a major wind shift when sailing close to an island and ... well. with the added distractions of being on a sailing vacation, an accidental gybe is probably going to happen.

Please teach your crew to only walk to the front of the boat on the boom side of the boat when sailing down wind.

In this manner the boom is only traveling at a bruising 20 miles per hour when slamming across instead of the fatal 100 miles per hour when it reaches the other side.

This was another tip from the Nauticed online sailing school . Want to fill in the holes in your knowledge? Have a friend who wants to have an advantage when they go sailing for the first time? Nauticed is ideal for either situation.

by Grant Headifen

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Sailing Tip of the Week - short, but a lifesaver

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