Mission: keep the working headsail sheet trimmed and the boat powered — crewed as a pair sharing two stations, starboard and port, whose roles swap every tack.
The pair (upwind)
- The Trimmer (the person on the side the jib is being brought to) grinds in the new active sheet.
- The Breaker (the offloading side) releases the loaded sheet from the winch, overhauls it and ensures it feeds out smoothly — any snag must be detected and cleared before it stalls the sail.
- While they work, Mast and Bow drag the jib around the front of the mast, pulling the clew into position slightly faster than the Trimmer draws in the new sheet — the reserve speed is what exposes free-running problems early.
- On the next tack the roles reverse: yesterday’s Trimmer breaks, yesterday’s Breaker trims.
The pair (downwind with the kite)
- The Spinnaker Trimmer is always the same one of the two, whichever tack you arrived on — consistency of feel is the point.
- The other upwind Trimmer becomes the Guy trimmer — kite sheet and guy run by the two of them as a team: sheet owns curl-and-retrim and directs pole changes; guy keeps the pole squared to apparent wind, clew at the pole jaw, clew heights even.
- Into each gybe the pair reshuffles: the sheet trimmer comes into the cockpit and takes both the guy and the sheet through the turn (Fly the kite through the gybe); the guy trimmer breaks the pole down and works from the pit assisting the Mast person (Break down the pole).
Golden rules
- Ease the sheet until the luff just curls, then re-trim — continuously. A curled-but-full kite beats a collapsed clean one.
- Wet side eases — whoever’s side is heading for the water lets their line go, instantly, untold.
Owns: Trim the genoa, Trim the spinnaker sheet, Trim the guy, Fly the kite through the gybe, Break down the pole, Blow the sheet to windward, Wet side eases.
Source: 261027 Crew Job Descriptions | Section: Six-Person Crew