Watch Your Hands! …Winch & Line Control

One of the first things I was taught when I stepped onto a race boat was to protect my hands — especially when trimming sails and working around winches. From my experience, effective trimming and sail control is dependent on knowing how to quickly and strongly handle the lines and winches.  The picture below shows a sailor getting leverage by standing over a winch. 

Trimming Sails at Winch

I’m a 5’6″ tall sailor with pretty wimpy arms.  However, one of the first racing roles that I took on was jib trim on a Beneteau 44.7 (read as: big heavy sails — you have to be smarter, because strong isn’t enough).  Being able to quickly move around the cockpit and position my body weight for leverage helped me to be more in control of the sails — and getting them trimmed in quickly. 

 
Additionally, there are different ways to handle lines near a winch that will put you more or less at risk for hand injury.  They are shown in the pictures below.  The first picture shows the line being held with the index finger toward the winch.  If your hand is getting drawn into the winch — and you open your hand to let go; the line is still in your hand.  So, you are more at risk. 

Notice the index finger toward the winch. If she opens her hand to let go of the line; she could still be drawn into the winch.

 

The second picture shows the trimmer with her pinky finger closer to the winch.  If she opens her hand; the line will drop out of her hand and she is less at risk. 
 

Note the pinky finger toward the winch. In this position it is easier to clear your hand away from the line. You are less at risk for getting drawn into the winch.

Honestly, there are different times when I use both hand positions for handling lines.  However, I try to use the second position as much as possible to keep my hands at less risk of being drawn into the winch. 
 
Additionally, using the second hand position can give you additional leverage when handling the lines.  If you rotate your hand 90 degrees, it can brake the line and provide additional leverage.  This has helped me when I’ve been at mast working to quickly hoist sails needing as much quick leverage as possible. 
 

Notice that this trimmer has rotated her left hand 90 degrees to get extra leverage over the line.