Hand, Reef and Steer: Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats, Paperback

In Hand, Reef and Steer--winner of the Best Book of the Sea Award--Tom Cunliffe explains the different sailing characteristics of classic craft and shares his grasp of the special skills required to handle them. He describes how to handle heavy loads using tackles rather than winches and reveals the mysteries of how to make the boat work for you instead of fighting with her gear. He shares step-by-step advice on setting up the rig; sail handling skills (hoisting, setting and reefing); heavy and light air sailing; maneuvering a long-keel boat; losing way, scandalizing and steering with sails, topsails, watersails, single-luff spinnakers, and fisherman staysails; and much, much more.

Hand, Reef and Steer, with its wonderful watercolor drawings and atmospheric photos, will delight all who love the unique character and grace of classic craft.

About the Author:

Tom Cunliffe first took charge of an engineless twenty-foot gaff sloop in 1961 when he was fourteen. Since then, he has sailed and skippered boats of all kinds, from traditional boats to competitive modern racing yachts. He has voyaged in his own gaffers from the Caribbean to Russia and from Brazil to the Arctic. A prolific author, Cunliffe is also a columnist for Yachting Monthly and Yachtmaster Examiner. He owns the powerful twenty-ton gaff cutter Westernman, which he sails with his family.