Bending-On Sails

After doing extensive repairs to the hull and deck of the 12-Meter yacht HETI (see WB No. 287), the volunteers who maintain and sail the yacht had much more to do to make her ready to sail a full season for the first time since the cancellation of all regattas during the Covid-19 pandemic. Varnishing and engine overhaul were done over the winter, but after relaunching in spring one final task remained: bending the sails onto the spars. This had been done for years under the able leadership of one of our dear sailing friends, but he died unexpectedly last fall. Without his guidance and experience, we realized we not only needed skilled help but also needed to document the process for future crews.

Our goal was to be ready to participate in the sailing parades of the annual early-May port anniversary festival in Hamburg, Germany, the largest of its kind in the world and one in which HETI represents the Hamburg Maritime Foundation. At the end of April, the foundation’s popular opening day presented a perfect opportunity to exhibit the bending-on project and simultaneously prepare HETI for the upcoming races.

It sounds easy: bend-on a sail. However, we are talking about a 125m² (1,350 sq ft) mainsail bent onto a boom 13.5m long (44') and also onto a gaff that is only a bit shorter than the boom. The sail also had to be lashed to 14 leather-covered wooden mast hoops. Finally, the topsail had to be bent-on to its jackyard. Properly tensioning the lacings for these sails was critical to prepare HETI for the brute forces the rig would be exposed to during the Baltic Sea yacht racing season.