John Alofsin, sailing instructor and champion racer, offers these tips for better jibes on one-designs, big boats and asymmetricals.

DAVID: Good steering is critical for jibing. How should the helmsperson steer through a jibe?

JOHN: The ideal course to steer when jibing depends a lot on how windy it is. In light air, the turn you must make in a jibe is quite large, going from reach to reach. In these conditions, you have to turn fairly quickly. If you turn too slowly, you'll spend too much time on a broad angle with very little apparent wind, and your boat will lose a lot of speed. Basically, you should steer a fairly smooth arc from one reach to the other. This can be a tough maneu­ver because there is no hesitation in the middle, so the crew must keep up with the helmsperson.

As the wind builds, you make less and less of a turn through the jibe. When it's quite windy, you need to steer an S-course jibe. To do this, bear off to start the jibe and get the main to come across. As soon as the main starts across and you know the jibe will happen, bear off immediately. There are two reasons for this. First, you have to counter the tendency of the boat to round up after the jibe, which is the most common (and disastrous) mistake in heavy air jibes. And second, by keeping the boat on a downwind course, you make it a little easier for the foredeck crew to do their jobs.

When should you bring the main across?

If you wait for the main to jibe on its own when you turn the boat, it won't come across until you are well above a broad reach on the new jibe. If you're jibing on a run, you don't want to turn up this far, so you have to help the main come across sooner.

I usually give the mainsheet a yank after I heel the boat to windward and bear away. This is normally just after the boat gets by the lee. When you feel the main­sail start to unload a little - in other words, you feel less pull on the mainsheet - that's when you should start pulling it across. If you pull it at the right time, the boom should come over without a whole lot of protest.

Can you describe the process of getting the main over?

Ideally you don't want to trim the main in at all before a jibe. In fact, you should ease it out as you bear off (so the main is trimmed properly through the entire jibe) and then pull the sail across at the right time. As it gets windier, however, this is not possible, so you have to start trimming the main in before it's ready to across. This means, however, that the main will be overtrimmed during part of your jibe. The only reason to do this is to make it easier on yourself (and your gear); this becomes more important as you get into bigger boats and stronger wind.

On a centerboard boat, how far down do you put the board before you jibe?

1 put it down only as far as necessary to keep the boat under control. Anything more than that and you risk having the boat trip over the board. In heavy air I would put it between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way down for the jibe. In light air you can usually get away with less board than that. Probably 1/3 of the way down is maximum. If you are going to do an aggressive roll jibe, you might want it down a little far­ther than this to give you something to roll against. The bigger the roll jibe. the more centerboard you need.

Speaking of roll jibes, how do you perform them?

A lot of it depends on the strength of the wind. Under about 12 knots, a roll jibe will be helpful. The first thing you want to do is to help the helmsperson bear away by heeling the boat to windward, so you won't need as much rudder to turn the boat. This windward heel also makes it easier to get the sails across the boat.

As the jibe begins and the mainsail comes across, keep your weight on the old windward side. so when the jibe is complete the boat is heeled to leeward. Then quickly move your weight to the other side to flatten the boat. This will neutralize the helm again and will create a little more wind lor the boat.

The lighter the boat and the lighter the wind, the more critical it is to roll your boat through the jibe. But even in big boats, every crewmember should try to roll the boat as much as possible. Anything helps.

When you're jibing to a tight reach and the bow person is having a hard time getting the pole on the mast, what can you do to help? The helmsperson should make sure he or she is not sailing any higher than necessary. In fact, if you can bear off to reduce pressure on the chute, that would help. Another thing to do right away is be sure the pole downhaul is not on too tight. Then make sure the spinnaker sheet is not overtrimmecl, and the guy is eased out to tlie proper position. Try not to collapse the chute because this will slow you down a lot. If you do all this and you still can't make the pole, get someone else to help muscle the inboard end.

How do you use twings during a jibe?

If you have twings, the most important thing is making sure the new windward twing gets on at least half way before you jibe. Otherwise the pole may sky. Ideally,come you should let the old twing off and pull the new one on while (lie boom is crossing over the center of the boat.

If you're racing a big boat, what kind of preparation should you do in order to have good jibes?

When you have many crewmembers involved in a jibe, the element of crew coordination becomes very important. In this case, the most important thing you can do to prepare is practice jibing. If you don't have time to do this, at least talk through the jibing duties of each person before you start the race.

There are a number of things you should do to pre­pare your boat. For example, put a mark on the topping lift to show how far you must drop it to swing the pole through. Put a mark on tlie pole inboard end uphaul to show how high you must position the pole for the jibe.

Sometimes we also put marks on the guys and sheets to show proper trim coming out of a jibe. For example, we'll put a red mark on the guys at the rough setting for a beam reach and a blue mark for a broad reach or run. Then we'll do the same on the sheets. This way our trimmers have a quick reference mark for coining out of a jibe - they know that on a run they trim the guy back until the blue mark is at the winch. These kinds of marks are especially helpful if you race with different crewmem-bers from time to time.

Do you square the guy back as you bear off to jibe?

Yes. You should square the pole back and ease your mainsheet as you bear off into a jibe, but this is nothing special for jibing. Any time you bear off in a sailboat, whether it's to initiate a jibe or simply sail lower, you will need to square the pole back and ease your main-sheet in order to keep your sails in proper trim.

Who usually makes the call to trip the spinnaker pole?

We usually have the helmsperson yell "Trip" because he or she controls the boat's rate ol turn and therefore knows the proper time to trip tlhe pole. Before the trip call, the helmsperson or tactician says "Ready to jibe" or "Jibing." We assume that all our crewmembers will be ready to jibe at any time on a run, so that's the only communication we have.

How does the helmsperson know when to call "Trip"?

It depends a lot on feel. As the helmsperson starts to bear off into the jibe, he or she will eventually feel the helm start to unload a little (this happens at about the same time the mainsail trimmer feels the main unload). That's the time to yell "Trip." With a crew that hasn't sailed much together, you may have to yell trip a little sooner so they can keep up with the turn.

Do you bring the main over when the trip call is made?

Yes. When the helmsperson yells "Trip," it means not only that the mast person should trip the pole off the guy, but the mainsail trimmer should start bringing the main across as well. Both happen at the same time.

Is there a wind velocity below which you do not use double sheets and guys? We usually unhook the after-guys any time we think they might be affecting the trim of the spinnaker. For example, if the weight of the lazy guy is pulling the clew lower or forcing us to sail higher to keep the chute flying, then we'll take it off. Basically, we leave the double gear connected to make jibing easi­er until there is any hint it might affect our speed.

When you have only single gear, how does this change your jibing procedure? On some boats that do dip-pole jibes most of the time, the pole is also set up for end-for-end jibing. So you'd obviously do this with single gear. If dipping is your only option, then one crew member must grab the new guy near the middle of the boat, and walk it forward to the pulpit where the bow person puts it in the pole.

What differences are there between jibing an asymmet­rical chute and a symmetrical one? The main differ­ence with asymmetricals is that the whole concept of keeping the chute trimmed properly through the jibe goes away. With a symmetrical spinnaker, the goal is to keep it full throughout the jibe by keeping it at the proper angle to the wind. With an asymmetrical, that all goes out the window. The goal is to get the sail across the boat and filled as quickly as possible.

Describe how the helmsperson should turn the boat through the jibe with an asymmetrical.

The beginning of your turn should be very similar to a turn with a symmetrical chute. You bear away slowly until you are almost dead downwind. Since the main goal is to get the asymmetrical across the boat, however, once the clew reaches the headstay (and there is hardly any pressure in the sail) you should turn much more quickly to help the spinnaker blow to the new side and get to your new sailing angle quickly.

Do you lead your lazy sheet inside or outside the luff of the spinnaker?

On most of the boats I've sailed you can lead the sheet inside or outside. Basically, it comes down to personal preference. I prefer inside for several reasons. If you go outside, it's much easier for the lazy sheet to fall off the end of the pole and go under the boat. For some reason, it seems you get a wrap more often when you go outside. And when you jibe, if the sheet is led outside, the clew must go all the way around the luff of the sail and back. With an inside lead, you need only go around the headstay.

Describe the process of tending the sheets during an asymmetrical jibe.
In any boat, whether you have asymmetrical or asymmetrical chute, it's preferable to have one person trim both sheet and guy during the jibe. Obviously this will depend on the wind strength and size of the boat.

With an asymmetrical, you have to ease the old sheet as you bear off to keep the spinnaker trimmed as appropriately as possible. When the boat turns far enough downwind, the clew is near the headstay and easing the sheet doesn't help anymore. Then you should temporarily stop easing so the clew doesn't get too far away from the boat. Once the clew starts getting pulled through to the other side, ease the sheet again and make sure it is clear to run.

The person trimming the new sheet should take up all the slack as the old sheet is eased. Then, when the clew reaches the headstay and the boat is dead down­wind, start pulling as hard as you can. It helps to have another crewmember pull aft and down on the sheet near the middle of the boat. In order to get the chute filled on the new side quickly, you'll have to overtrim it, so be sure to ease it back out immediately.

What are the biggest problems you can encounter with an asymmetrical jibe?

One potential problem is letting the clew go too far forward as you bear off into the jibe. This will make the chute harder to pull around to the new side, and it won't fill as quickly A second prob­lem you may find is a twist in the top of the sail. You can remedy this by pulling down hard on the leech of the sail just after you jibe.

If your lazy sheet is led outside the spinnaker luff, one of t he worst problems you can have is the sheet going under the bow. One way to prevent this is by keeping tension on the lazy sheet; a more certain solution is leading the sheet inside.

Any other comments about jibing?

As a rule, sailors seem to shy away from jibing more than other maneuvers, especially in rough conditions, and this hurts them tactically and strategically. The good sailors are very good and aggressive at jibing. When they roll jibe, they roll harder than anyone else, and they never let a fear of boathandling affect their tactics. So it's important to be able to execute a jibe with confidence at any time in any conditions.

John Alofsin is the presi­dent of J World Sailing Schools, which offer a variety of racing courses in Newport, RI, Key West, San Diego and Annapo­lis. As a sailor, John was a two-time all-American in college, and he has since won national and North America titles, in the J/22, J/24 and J/35 .For info on J World call 1-800-343-2255