Sailing in the Thistle Fashion

By Gordon K. Douglass

First published in the November 1948 Bagpipe.  Republished in the February-April 2024 Bagpipe, with notes (below) by Mike Ingham.

Sailing has something in common with singing, parchesi – yes, and baking pies – – the better you do it, the more fun it is.  This is especially true of THISTLING because the THISTLE responds so well to proper handling.

With a sympathetic hand on her tiller and an understanding hand on her mainsheet, she will turn in a performance which will delight and thrill you.

Under given conditions, a THISTLE will go just so fast, and if you do not win, it is because your boat did not reach and maintain that speed.

Maintain!  That is a word to remember.  The man who sails a perfect race has his boat going at top speed every second of the race, every foot of the course.  The more mistakes you make, the more times your boat drops below top speed, the farther back you place in the fleet.  Your object, then, should be to keep your boat going at its best speed all of the time.

Optimum Point Of Sailing

To windward, there is an optimum point of sailing where your boat best makes good to weather.  Your boat may be able to point higher than this by pinching, may go faster if you slacken your sheets, but will not reach the weather mark so soon.  This optimum point of sailing cannot be determined by rule because it varies with wind and sea conditions.

Off the wind, you set your course to the next mark, and set your sails to the best advantage.  Then, since a straight line is the shortest distance, you maintain as true a course as possible under the circumstances.  This subject will be treated in a later issue.

But at all times your boat must be kept going.  Every time you move your tiller, you put on the brake because you increase the pressure and drag on the rudder.  Use as little tiller play as possible.  Every time you luff and your sails shake, you lose speed.  Every time you fall below your best course to windward, you lose just so much distance.  Perhaps it is only a few inches, perhaps only a small fraction of a mile per hour, but this all adds up into feet, yards, and even miles.  Successful racing demands complete attention and concentration all of the time.

Probably the greatest emphasis should be placed on sailing the THISTLE on an even keel.  Many sailors, especially young ones, have the idea that the more they heel their boat the faster she goes.  This impression comes from the fact that when the average centerboard boat is over on her side, the part of her hull in the water becomes so asymmetrical that it throws up a lot of spray even though it may not be going fast.  Actually, everything is against you sailing heeled over.  The sails lose their efficiency and drive, centerboard and rudder lose efficiency, the hull produces greater resistance, the helm increases greatly, requiring greater use of rudder with consequent drag.  The fact of the case is that the more you heel, the slower you go, literally.  Instead of her five knots close-hauled, a boat will drop down to one knot or less in a bad knockdown.  Every time this happens you lose speed and distance.

The THISTLE should be sailed on her bottom at all times.  When close-hauled, she will go to windward best with a slight heel of 10 to 12º.  This angle can be determined easily by means of the lower diamond stays which join the mast at an angle of 12º, and therefore when the weather diamond stay is vertical, the boat is heeled 12º.

It goes without saying that in a breeze you should use your live ballast to keep the boat on her bottom as much as possible.  Beyond this, the mainsail should be eased off enough to relieve the pressure of the wind.  On a gusty day, the mainsheet must be played in and out as the wind velocity varies.  When a knockdown hits you when you are close-hauled, luff slightly but, principally, let out the mainsheet before the boat heels.  Then trim it in again as the wind subsides.