Mission: everything forward of the mast, safely, on the Tactician’s clock. The most athletic seat.
Duties
- Pre-race: kite packed with head and clews taped out, sheets and guy rigged, halyard jumped, pole rigged both jaws, trip line set.
- Start: furthest forward on the rail; call the line in boat lengths; watch for starboard tackers; call the dip in overlaps.
- Upwind: hike forward; call puffs and wave sets; skirt the genoa on tacks.
- Set: the kite lives loose-stuffed in the empty forepeak behind the forward hatch — no bag. Open the hatch before the mark, clip halyard and tack, feet planted clear of the cloth, “Ready!” before the hoist. During the hoist, guide the kite out of the hatch and see the luff run free; delay the clew straps to the last moment in heavy air so it doesn’t blow out early.
- Gybe: trip the pole off the mast, take it through the foretrip to the new guy, clip it, call “Made!”; the expensive foredeck trip per gybe on a symmetric kite.
- Downwind trim: owns the pole height — topping lift and downhaul worked continuously so the pole rides level and the clews stay even (Play the pole height) — and keeps the dropped jib managed and movable to the far side if an early tack threatens (Shift the jib downwind).
- Douse: work at the forward hatch — grab the tape, control the sail’s escape, and get it down through the hatch: gather into the boat standing or sitting in the hatch, pull sheets and halyard in after it still attached, shut the hatch. Feet off the wet sail; shout wraps.
- Run the spinnaker tapes if possible
- The moment the kite is gone: weight aft — the bow submarines on high-speed runs, and the V-berth stays empty for the same reason.
Owns: Call the starting line, Call puffs and waves, Skirt the genoa, Rig the pole, Trip and gybe the pole, Gather the kite foot, Play the pole height, Shift the jib downwind.
Source: 261027 Crew Job Descriptions | Section: Six-Person Crew