Coming down to round a mark with running sails set, when within fair working distance hoist and sheet your working headsails, if the ballooner is not set on the jib-stay. Get your main sheet aft and runners ready; then when close to the mark take in your spinnakers and ballooner. In this way you are ready at once to haul on the wind. If you take in your light sails first you will have them littering up the deck and in the way, delaying getting the working sails set and sheeted, and consequently the boat instead of being able to make a sharp turn will drag off to leeward.
Rounding a mark:
If rounding a mark to leeward, always do so before you reach it. In order to do this, if possible, keep away from it some distance, and put your helm down gradually; then you will not kill the boat’s way and will give your crew time to get the sheets flattened down. If you come down and take the mark close aboard and then turn it, you will have to put your helm hard down, killing the boat’s way and causing her to sag off to leeward.
Rounding a mark:
If another boat is abreast of or overlapping, and will be between you and the mark, try and drop back before reaching the turning stake, so as to let her get ahead. You will lose less by doing so than you will by rounding close under her lee, as once round you can probably free your wind and get clear of her wake by a sharp luff. You have also a chance to cut in if her crew make a fumble of their sheet work; but if you are under her you will have no chance at all.
RUNNING BEFORE THE GALE.
Rounding, a windward mark:
Before rounding a windward mark, if the next leg is a run, make up your mind which side you are going to carry your spinnaker on. Get the pole along on that side and the after guy passed and hooked on. Then before getting to the mark hoist the spinnaker clean up and hook in the clew. Just as soon as you are round and squared off run the pole out and square it, and break the sail. A good crew should get a sail set in this way in fifteen seconds.