ARTICLES

1. Self Steering - By Derek Daniels
2. An Overview of Mechanical Self Steering - by John Curry
3. Three Pairs of Hands - by Don Gilchrist - courtesy Australia's Cruising Helmsman
4. How Safe is Your Rudder? by Andrew Simpson - courtesy UK's Paractical Boat Owner
5. Sailing Downwind? Set a Whisker Pole - by Andrew Burton - courtesy US's Cruising World
6. Jeanne Socrates - 'Shipwrecked 60 Miles Short of Triumph' - courtesy to UK's Yachting Monthly - click: ym%20learning%20curve
7. From Bluewater Sailing's 'Cruising Compass':

   Get Your Boat to Self Steer Under Sail
   
   In the days of coastal shipping under sail, the old schooners or gaff headed cutters were often sailed by a “man a boy and a dog.” How did this small crew handle the 50 to 70 foot cargo ships that were laden with lumber, coal, granite, grain and other commodities that were hard to ship overland? The trick that made this possible was the ability of the skipper to get the vessel to steer itself under sail for long periods at a time. Those boats had long straight keels and sail plans with low centers of gravity; plus, they had numerous sails to trim so the boat could be balanced with many fore and aft adjustments, including square sails for down-wind running.
   
   On modern fin-keel, spade-rudder designs that most of us sail, the trick of getting a boat to steer itself can be a little more complex because the hulls have lower built-in directional stability and the sail plan usually consist of only two fore and aft sails that are normally flown on one side of the boat or the other thereby creating a natural imbalance.
   
   Down wind, you can get a modern sloop to sail straight by running dead downwind wing 'n wing – that's with the mainsail on one side and the genoa poled out on the other. The boat will steer before the wind for hours this way as long as the helm is balanced and neutral. You can adjust the balance by reefing or unreefing the sails as necessary.
   
   Up wind, modern boats can be made to steer themselves for many minutes if you can get the sails completely balanced so the helm is neutral. You do this with sail trim by adjusting the sheets, the cars on the genoa leads, the traveler and the main outhaul. Once the sail plan is balanced, the boat will slip along without rounding up or falling off and will maintain a constant angle to the wind.
   
   Balance the rig, trim the sails carefully and you will find your boat will go where you want it to all by itself.

Jeanne Socrate's new Najad 380 - see http://www.svnereida.com/