In a dinghy you gybe by pulling in a few handfuls of rope and pushing the tiller away from you. Things are a bit different aboard Gryphon.

Since I managed to bend the larger of our 2 poles into an L shape we have been using the main boom as a way of keeping the genoa well out. This involves lots of ropes.

How to Gybe:

• Take in the fishing line.

• Put the boat on to the autopilot so a reliable course is steered.

• Roll up the genoa so that it is out of the way.

• Release the smaller jib together with its pole.

• Take the port extra long sheet off the genoa and tie to the clew of the jib.

• Unhook the pole and re-hook on new side.

• Return to cockpit and sheet jib in on new side.

• Remove preventer from the main boom.

• Sheet the main boom in hard and remove extra long sheet from snatch block in its end.

• Re position preventer on opposite side.

• Put new sheet into the snatch block.

• Pull boom out on new side.

• Unroll genoa and sheet in on new side .

• Adjust sheets and preventer and tidy cockpit.

• Try not to step on sleeping egret.

• Hope the wind has not gone back round.

This takes roughly 1 hour in the dark clipping on and off whenever leaving the cockpit.

Chris.

Glad this didn't happen on my watch!

Lorraine.