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Step 1
Familiarize yourself with all the important lines on the boat before you get under sail. Every boat can have its own peculiar rigging, so you must examine the system every time you encounter a new boat.
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Step 2
Locate the sheets for each sail, the halyards and any other lines. Use halyards to raise and lower sails. Sheets pull the sail in and out, increasing or decreasing its luff.
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Step 3
Point the boat into the wind before you raise the mainsail. This will make the sail easier to raise and help prevent the boat from moving too much. You know that the boat faces into the wind when the wind comes directly over the bow toward the cockpit. The wind indicator atop the mainmast points forward, and the telltales fly straight back.
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Step 4
Release the boom vang, vang sheet and cunningham. The vang holds the boom down, closer to the deck, so forgetting to release the vang will make it more difficult to raise the sail. Similarly, the cunningham pulls the sail down on the mast.
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Step 5
Make sure the crew knows you're raising the sail. If you catch someone unaware, you put them in danger of getting hit by the boom as the sail lifts.
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Step 6
Give the order to hoist the mainsail when the crew indicates readiness. On larger boats, use a crank to pull the halyard and raise the sail. On smaller boats without a crank, pull the halyard through a cleat as you raise the mainsail.
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Step 7
Raise the sail until it reaches the top of its groove in the mast. Look for a crease, or luff, running vertically at the front of the sail near the mast.
