On a cruiser, the sails are typically down at the dock and they stay down until the boat is at sea. Of course, if you have no motor, the sails must be used to cast off, but we’ll discuss that later. For now, we’ll assume that the boat is out at sea with the sails tied down.

Raising the Main

The mainsail is raised first, and this can be done with the motor idling. The boat should be pointed with the bow facing into the wind. This alignment means the sail will be luffing when raised, making it easier to bring in the halyard and less likely that the sail will fill unexpectedly and knock the boat around.

The boom vang should be loose so that it does not resist the tension you’ll put on the main halyard. The mainsheet should also be somewhat loose for the same reason, but it shouldn’t be completely free since you don’t want the boom swinging around in an uncontrolled manner.

When the boat is pointing into the wind and the boom vang and mainsheet are loose, the cover and ties can be removed from the main and the halyard brought in to raise the mainsail. The halyard should be able to be pulled in most of the way by hand – if not, there may be something resisting it, such as the boom vang, or it may be caught – and then brought the final one or two feet by using a winch.

Once the sail is fully raised and the halyard cleated, the topping lift should be let out, which will cause the boom to drop slightly, which will flatten out the sail. The boom vang and mainsheet can be tightened again.

Since the boat is pointing into the wind, it’s easiest to start sailing on a close hauled tack. You can use the motor to turn out of irons and then it should be cut off. You’re sailing!

Raising the Jib

The jib should be deployed only after the main is up and the boat is sailing, and the process is fairly simple, whether for a furling or non-furling jib. We’ll assume that the jib shackles are hooked to the forestay if the jib is non-furling. Also it is assumed that the jib sheets are already rigged to run through the fairlead and back to the cockpit.

For a non-furling jib, the sail is simply raised using the jib halyard. The wind fills the sails and the leeward jib sheet is used to set the sail. To prevent the sail from flapping uncontrollably and pulling the jib sheet out of the blocks, the leeward jib sheet can be pulled in slightly prior to raising the jib.

To unfurl a furling jib, the process is even simpler. The furling line is uncleated, but kept taught, and the leeward jib sheet is taken in as the furling line is slowly released. This action unfurls the jib, which immediately fills with wind.

Lowering the sails

Lowering the sails basically involves carrying out the sail hoisting procedure in reverse order. First the jib is lowered or furled, then the main.

The jib can be furled anytime. The boat does not necessarily need to be pointed into the wind, but heading on an upwind tack or being in irons will help the jib furl tighter and more neatly. Keep tension on the active jib sheet, slowly releasing it while brining in the furling line. When the jib is completely furled, the furling line can be cleated.

To bring down a non-furling jib, a crew member needs to go to the bow and pull the jib down by hand, bunching it up. Another crew member should uncleat the jib halyard and release it slowly as the jib is brought down. Also, the jib sheet should be let out slowly, but this can be done after the sail is down if there aren’t enough crew hands to let out the halyard and the jib sheet at the same time. Once the jib is down, it can be held in place temporarily using bungees, to be stowed below deck upon return to the dock.

When lowering the main, it helps to point the boat into the wind, and in some cases the boat can be positioned so that a hill or tall building on shore blocks the wind to make things easier. Similarly to the jib, one crew member slowly lets down the halyard while another pulls the sail down by hand. As the sail is lowered, the bungees or straps used to hold it to the boom are replaced.

This process is best done with one crew standing forward of the mast, bringing down the sail, one crew lowering the halyard, and another wrapping bungees around the sail as it comes down. Obviously, when fewer crew are available, it’s a bit more hectic.