“Trim your main!” Jerry said. “Haul back a little ... more ... no, let it out a shade ... that’s it! Cleat it down there!”
Sandy followed Jerry’s directions carefully, hauling at the sheet to get the sail set to its best position. Like the airplane wing it resembles, the sail must be perfectly shaped to get the maximum advantage of the wind. Sandy had learned that this was true even on a downwind run, where a sail let out too far will spill wind, and a sail sheeted in too close will miss too much wind.
Rejoining Jerry on the cockpit seat, Sandy looked aft to catch sight of their pursuer. He was surprised to see the amount of water that now separated them from the freighter, which seemed a spot of bright light far behind them. Against the light he could see the silhouetted shape of Jones’s sloop. It seemed to him that they were closer than before, and he motioned Jerry to turn and look.
“You’re right,” Jerry said, guessing at the question that had formed in Sandy’s mind. “They’re closing in on us, all right. That Jones is sure some sailor! We’ll have to do better than this if we’re going to get ashore before they sail within pistol range!”
“What can we do?” Sandy asked, his brow wrinkling under the blond forelock that hung over his eyes.
“The only thing we can do is put on more sail,” Jerry answered. “That won’t be an easy job with just the two of us. And you’ve never handled a spinnaker.”
“You’d better give me some fast instruction,” Sandy breathed. “First, what’s the spinnaker?”
“It’s a big oversized jib, cut like a parachute,” Jerry replied. “You saw a few out in the bay yesterday, remember? It’s that big sail that flies out ahead of the boat. You can only use it on downwind sailing, unless you’re a lot better sailor than I am, and it’s the best pulling power you can have when the wind’s at your back.”
“What do I have to do to help you?” Sandy asked.
“I’ll have to put it up myself,” Jerry told him. “Your job will be to hold a steady course and to keep the sails trimmed the way they are now.” Sandy grinned. “I won’t look around to see how other boats look this time,” he promised. Then he sobered. “I’ll do my best to keep her sailing right. What’ll you be doing?”