Have you ever noticed how weather helm increases in gusty winds when beam reaching? It’s almost as if a giant hand pushes on the mainsail, making your small cruising boat pivot into the wind.

Combine that with some seas off the beam, and steering can become “two-fisted and white-knuckled”! Use these three secrets to make your boat a joy to steer on the fastest point of sail.

Move your sailplan center of effort

The wind concentrates on the bull’s-eye center of your sailplan. If you have a copy of your sailplan, pull it out and look for a circle with a line through it. Now, imagine that the “big hand” of the wind pushes against this circle. The harder the wind blows, the more it pushes.

On a beam reach, you position your boat beam to the true wind. That “big hand” now pushes harder to drive the boat sideways and to pivot it into the wind. You won’t be able to do much about the big hand, but you can force it to move its effort. Follow these three steps in the order shown:

1. Reef the mainsail

When you lower you mainsail, two things happen–you lower the center of effort, which means you will heel less. And you move the center of effort toward the bow. That means the center of effort circle moves forward, and so does the big hand. Can you steer with two fingers? If not, go to the next step.

2. Lower the mainsail

Some boats sail well under a Genoa or small lapper alone. Think of a Lapper like a miniature Genoa, with a shorter luff and higher clew. Again, think in doubles when you want to reduce weather helm and heeling. Lower the sailplan (shorter luff) and move it forward (lower the mainsail).

3. Furl roller furling headsails

If you use roller furling, each wrap will cause the center of effort to rise. In extreme weather, you will place less strain on your sailing rigging with a separate, inner removable stay that you can use for a hank-on headsail. A small staysail will give you better control and less heeling on beam reaches in heavy sailing weather.

Use these sailing tips to control and reposition your small cruising boat sailplan. This keeps you in command and results in less weather helm and fatigue for your sailing crew.

Captain John teaches sailing skippers the skills they need to set sail for a day, a week–or a lifetime! Get his popular free report “Ten Top Boat Safety Checks for Cruising Boat Skippers” at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.

John offers free sailing tips, articles, sailing videos and newsletter at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.