Tacking an Open 60 – and why it’s not funny if it goes wrong

In the early stages of Vendée Globe 2008, Sam Davies commented in an e-mail that she wondered whether she had gained anything by tacking on a big windshift, because tacking was so slow. Let’s think about it.

An Open 60 holds up its huge rig by carrying weights on the windward side, so before you tack, you need to shift everything:

- move sails from windward to leeward sail locker and tie them in

- pump water ballast across to the other side of the boat

- cant the ballast keel across to the other side

You also need to switch dagger boards and change runners.

In the strong winds and rapid windshifts that came with the frontal system crossing the Bay of Biscay, several skippers found their boats tacking automatically, before they were ready.

At best, that leaves the boat heeled far over because the keel is canted the wrong way and the water ballast is on the wrong side. The facts that the jib is aback and the main is jammed against the still-tight lee runner are the least of your worries when this happens.

Where you are and what you happen to be doing when the boat tacks without you can add to the complications, too.  Dominique Wavre had moved the sails arcoss to the lee sail locker and was about to tie them in place when Temenos tacked. He ended up in the new lee locker with the sails on top of him, and these are big sails.