Let's cross our fingers and hope that you've sailed at least once or twice and have a concept of what all the parts are for and what they look like. The "old salts" among you are going to get bored real fast, but please hang in there. We'll assume that you have received the boat as we shipped it from the factory; the mast semi-rigged and everything else inside the boat. I suggest rigging the boat for the first time while the boat is on the trailer, and you might consider backing the boat and trailer onto the lawn, so that if you or the kids fall off you aren't as likely to go splat on the pavement. We try to make the boat as safe as possible to use, but this dry-land sailing is a tough one. Also remember that if you get three or four people and a case of beer in the back of the cockpit that the front of the trailer might fly up in the air unless you keep it hitched up to your car. Point the trailer into the wind.

Watch out for power lines. Get in the habit of looking around before raising the mast. Aluminum is one of the world's great conductors of electricity and an alarming number of late sailors have become part of the grounding mechanism.

Rigging the mast
In the box of rigging parts is a line marked "jib halyard", with a shackle tied on one end. This line goes thru the block (pulley) on the mast about three quarters of the way up, with the shackle on the side away from the mast. For now, cleat the halyard off on the cleat on the port side of the mast. Want to know how to remember port and starboard? Starboard, right and green are all longer words than port, left and red. Traditionally, headsails, like a jib, are cleated on the port side of the mast and mainsails are cleated on the starboard side. (Obviously, the reason for maintaining this tradition is so that sailors can go from one boat to another without having to think too much. Everyone knows that if we think too much, our heads might blow up.)

The three wires that hold up the mast are called the standing rigging (they're the rigging that make the mast stand up). The two wires on the sides of the mast are called shrouds, and the one in front is the forestay. They all need stay adjustors, which are also in the rigging box. Also, grab the clevis pins and the split rings, which are also in the rigging box, which you'll use to install the adjustors on the ends of the standing rigging, using one of the end holes of the adjustor- It doesn't really matter which end goes up, but for the sake of neatness, put them all the same way. Put the leftover pins and rings in your pocket for now.

Go once again to the rigging box and get the mast step bolt (and nut), and put them in the hole at the base of the mast.

Stepping The Mast
At this point, the mast should be on the carriers, with the butt facing forward and the groove down. Fasten the shrouds to the forward holes of the chain plates, making sure that they aren't twisted (the wires). Slide the hatch forward, and remove the plywood drop hatches (put them under the berth cushions) to get them out of the way. Standing in the cockpit, pick up the mast and move aft with it until you can hook the bolt in the mast step. Pick up the mast and walk forward until you can pick up the forestay and use that to pull the mast forwards. Walk forward, raising the mast up hand-over-hand until it's up. It's easy; a ten year old girl can do it. The shrouds will keep the mast from falling forward or to the side, but only your strong, steady hand will keep the mast from falling back. Just don't let go until you have the forestay firmly in your grasp and can keep a steady pull from forward. It's best to look cool when doing this. Pretend to be expertly examining an invisible spot on the mast while locating the wildly swinging forestay out of the corner of your eye. When you've got the forestay's rhythm down, deftly nail it with one well-coordinated movement. Just don't let go of the mast yet. It might be best to practice it when no one's around.

Keeping a pull forward, go forward with the tamed and humbled forestay and hook it up to the first small hole in the bowpiece. The rig at this point will be securely up, but very loose because all the stay adjustors are in the last hole. Carefully tighten them up, one at a time, until they are snug I set the rig up just tight enough so that I can comfortably put the pin in while holding the forestay with one hand. The mast should be raked aft, maybe six inches to a foot at the head, but make sure that it isn't leaning to one side. When you are satisfied with the position of the rig, get some rigging tape and tape down the stay adjustors, covering the pins and rings. If you don't do this, someday a 1ine will snag on one of the rings, and the next time you tack the pin will fall out and the mast come crashing down.

Before Hoisting The Sails
The lines in the rigging box are all exactly as I use for my own boat, except that they are all at least several inches longer than necessary. This is to allow for any inaccuracy in measuring, and also to include enough extra length so that you can splice them if desired.

Near the bowpiece are two small blocks. Near the port forward corner of the house are two fairleads, and back near the coaming are two more, with two clam cleats just above them, on the coaming. These are the hardware for the jib reefing and the jib downhau1, and in the rigging box there are two lines labeled as such. The jib downhaul is a very handy device to pull the jib down without having to go up on the foredeck, when coming up to a dock or anchorage, and when the wind dies and you crank up the engine. The apparent wind created by the boat moving through the air will cause the jib to flap, and it's better for the jib and much quieter to drop the jib down to the foredeck. I alternate the downhaul line back and forth between the jib hanks, and then tie it off around the forestay to the head grommet of the jib with a bowline.

The jib reefing line is rigged the same way but is tied off at the reefing grommet rather than at the head of the sail. I'll explain reefing at another time.

Put the D-shackle (for the jib) in the second hole of the bowpiece, and leave it finger tight.

Remember the jib halyard? Uncleat it from the mast; hook the shackle on the end of it to one of the loops in the bow pulpit and run the other end through the block on the deck, out through the turning block and back through the fairlead to the clam cleat on the very back edge of the house. Park it there for now. If you're confused, concentrate on this: On each side of the house there is an identical set of hardware, consisting of a black plastic fairlead and a black plastic clam cleat. These are for the jib sheets, forget them for now. On the port side only, you will see two blocks, a fairlead and a clam cleat; these are for the jib halyard.

Find the two lines labeled "jib sheets", take the jib out of the bag and take everything up on the foredeck and sit down. Tie the two sheets to the clew grommet with bowlines. Shackle the tack of the jib to the bowpiece (you have already put the shackle in the second hole of the bowpiece; just hook the jib to it), and starting at the bottom, hook all the hanks of the jib to the forestay. Unhook the jib halyard from the bow pulpit and shackle it to the head grommet of the jib. Run the sheets back, inside of the shrouds, through the fairleads and to the cleats, and tie a figure 8 knot in the end of each so that they can't run amuck. You're ready to hoist the jib, so go ahead and do it, and play with it for a while. When you feel like it, rig the previously mentioned downhaul and reefing lines and see how they work. When you start getting bored, pop the halyard loose and haul the sail down to the foredeck with the downhaul and park it for now.

Pull out the line labeled "traveler", and also the traveler block, which is a combination of two blocks hooked together, On the boat, in the f1ange at the top of the transom, are two drilled holes; one on either side. Put one end of the traveler line down through one of the holes and tie a figure 8 knot in the end; this will act as a stopper and keep the line from pulling out. Put the other end of the line through the block, then down through the other hole, and knot it. This is the traveler for the mainsheet, and you can leave it there forever.

Get out the boom. Find the line labeled "main reefing" and tie it to the halyard strap on the boom, which is on the port side about a foot from the aft end.

Get out the mainsail and put in the battens. If they don't go in the pockets easily, give them a few licks with a file or coarse sandpaper until they do. Find the line labeled "outhaul" and tie it off with a double half-hitch on the clew grommet. Starting with the clew end of the foot of the sail, slide it into the groove on the boom, and hook up the tack shackle to the tack grommet. Run the outhaul line through the hole in the boom end casting, back through the clew grommet, pull just a bit of tension in the foot of the sail, then tie it off, with a double half-hitch over the parts of the line.

In the luff groove of the mast there is a bent-out portion about three feet from the bottom; this is where the luff rope of the sail, and also the gooseneck slide of the boom, enters the groove. At this time, enter the gooseneck slide of the boom, and let it slide down. Hook the main halyard (the wire one) to the head of the mainsail (the "main") and start hoisting, feeding the sail into the groove of the mast as it goes up. When the sail is up all the way, cleat it down.

It's time to rig the mainsheet, and the easiest way is to do it backwards by starting at the mainsheet cleat. Run the line marked "mainsheet" through the mainsheet cleat, which is mounted on the thwart at the companionway entrance, and run the sheet up to the block on the boom, directly above. Having done this, take the sheet aft, along the boom, and through the becket block at the end of the boom, then down through the previously rigged traveler block and back to the becket block, where it is tied off with a double half-hitch. Normally, you will probably want to rig the mainsheet before you hoist the main, but it's a little easier the first time to do it the way I have described. Likewise the reefing line. You have already tied it off at the strap eye on the boom; now simply take it up through the reefing grommet at the leech of the sail, about three feet up, and back down to the turning block, then forward to the cleat which I put there as a backup for the clam cleat (they wear out) and also for a place to park the tail of the reefing line when reefed.

You're rigged, bu1t probably not ready to go. Learn about launching the boat, safety gear and how to use it, reefing, simple navigation, and rules of the road. You should have life jackets, ground tackle (anchor & gear), and possibly a fire extinguisher, a compass, first aid equipment, etc. Be prepared. There is no way that we can build a boat or anything else that will absolve the user of the responsibility of learning to use it correctly. Please do your part.

Take care of your sails. They are made by my friend Kern Ferguson and are simply outstanding, But they are like the engine of a car; they start wearing out from the first time they are used. Lower them when you tie up at a dock instead of leaving them up, flapping themselves to pieces. Don't stuff them in the bag; fold the jib, and roll the main up on the boom after pulling the mainsheet through, removing the battens, and slacking off the outhaul. Don't run them through the washer and dryer!

If you have questions on anything even remotely related to sailing or boats, call me. I make my living building boats, but my hobby is using them, and I have almost 30 years of experience and the insight that goes with them.

Additional Notes (From Giles)

Just a couple of things that I'd like to add:
To remember port from starboard, "there's port left in the bottle" works without counting letters if you remember that port wine is red.