Monitor Manual
4 Sailing with the Monitor
4.4.4 Reaching
Seldom or never are we asked whether the MONITOR works well on a reach. In fact, reaching can be harder for the vane gear than other points of sail. If the velocity of the wind changes, the trim of the boat will probably change and the boat is no longer balanced. If this happens when you steer downwind the boat will just go slower or faster. With a one-masted rig there are fewer options for using sails well fore and aft to create pressure which make the boat return to the desired heading after it has swung off course.
With a two-masted rig, especially when the boat has a bowsprit, the mizzen and jib can be worked to bring the boat back on course when it bears off or starts going to weather. Even so, this is tricky to do and takes some experimenting.
Consequently, the vane gear is MOST NEEDED when reaching. However, faulty sail trim can over-power the gear, and it is, therefore, necessary to understand how to create the best possible balance. The greatest problem is keeping the yacht from rounding up when the wind increases in strength.
Only headsails or main and a poled-out jib can be carried to about 35–40 degrees away from straight downwind and will provide the best self-steering as long as they can be kept up. After that the windward pole must come down.
Again, using the main alone is not the way to go. You can try to compensate for the greater weather helm with the rudder before you engage the vane gear, but any increase or decrease in wind strength is likely to change the balance. Once more, you must strive to BALANCE THE BOAT WITH THE SAILS first and not use the rudder to compensate for a significant lack of balance. The rudder should be used for fine tuning after the boat has been set up to sail on course as much as possible by itself.
If only one sail is used, a headsail should be the choice. However, the effect of a headsail on a reach is not necessarily to push the bow downwind unless it is hoisted very far out on a long bowsprit.
When the wind increases, many boats will experience increased weather helm even with only the headsail set. However, this weather helm is very mild compared to what the mainsail would induce under similar circumstances, and the vane gear can easily hold the boat on course.
When the main and headsail are used, both sails may work to bring the bow to weather. To limit weather helm, as well as great increases in weather helm during a gust, each sail, but especially the main, should be sheeted LOOSER than you would do in a racing situation. This will slow the boat an imperceptible bit. The effect is to make the sails spill their wind at a much earlier point when the boat wants to round up. The weather helm decreases, and the vane gear is capable of pulling the yacht back on course.
If you continue to have problems, reduce sail area, especially the main, and continue to release more sheets even though the leeches may flutter a bit.
When the wind drops significantly, the boat might want to bear off downwind, especially if the main rudder has been used to compensate for a lot of weather helm. This is one of the chief reasons why the rudder should not be a primary factor in balancing the boat. In this case, carrying the main is actually helpful. If the boat veers off, the main will cover the headsail(s) and catch all the wind moving the pressure behind the mast and making the boat want to round up again. For successful self-steering on a reach: avoid EXCESSIVE canvas; rely primarily on the HEADSAILS FOR POWER; sheet the sails loosely; and use SAIL TRIM rather than the main rudder for balancing the yacht.