
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Instructions on How To Jibe a Spinnaker
Sailing instructors, you can relax for a while longer. ChatGPT AI is not going to take your job teaching people how to jibe a spinnaker. Everyone is chatting about this new AI-powered chatbot, so we thought we’d ask it a sailing question, like, how do you jibe a spinnaker? The first answer was rather rudimentary and missed some key points. The answer from ChatGPT follows.
“Jibing a spinnaker is a sailing maneuver that involves turning the boat downwind and switching the spinnaker from one side of the boat to the other. It can be a challenging maneuver to execute properly, but with practice and the right techniques, it can be mastered.
“Here is a step-by-step guide on how to jibe a spinnaker:
- Begin by sailing with the wind on your starboard (right) side and the spinnaker flying on the port (left) side of the boat.
- As you approach the point where you want to jibe, start to bear away (turn the boat downwind) and at the same time, trim the mainsail so that it is tight and pulling the boat down.
- As the boat begins to bear away, the spinnaker will start to fill with wind on the opposite side of the boat.
- As the spinnaker fills, the crew should be ready to release the sheet (the line controlling the spinnaker) on the old side of the boat and quickly trim the sheet on the new side of the boat. This should be done smoothly and quickly to avoid the spinnaker collapsing or wrapping around the boat.
- As the spinnaker fills on the new side of the boat, the boat should continue to bear away and the mainsail should be trimmed to keep the boat balanced and on course.
- Once the spinnaker is fully filled on the new side of the boat, the crew can adjust the sheets and trim the sail to the desired position.
- The boat can then continue sailing downwind with the spinnaker flying on the opposite side from where it was before the jibe.
“Remember, jibing a spinnaker is a challenging maneuver and should be practiced under the supervision of an experienced sailor until you feel comfortable and confident in your ability to execute it safely.”

Following our first, more generic question, we tried clarifying with, “How do you jibe a symmetrical spinnaker?” It did include a pole in these instructions but claimed it was similar to a “traditional spinnaker.” We have to assume ChatGPT’s limited sailing experience leads it to think a traditional spinnaker is asymmetrical. ChatGPT describes jibing a symmetrical spinnaker below.
“Jibing a symmetrical spinnaker is similar to jibing a traditional spinnaker, but with a few key differences. A symmetrical spinnaker is shaped differently and is designed to be flown on either side of the boat, so the jibe maneuver is slightly different.
“Here is a step-by-step guide on how to jibe a symmetrical spinnaker:
- Begin by sailing with the wind on your starboard (right) side and the spinnaker flying on the port (left) side of the boat.
- As you approach the point where you want to jibe, start to bear away (turn the boat downwind) and at the same time, trim the mainsail so that it is tight and pulling the boat down.
- As the boat begins to bear away, the spinnaker will start to fill with wind on the opposite side of the boat.
- As the spinnaker fills, the crew should be ready to release the sheet (the line controlling the spinnaker) on the old side of the boat and quickly trim the sheet on the new side of the boat. This should be done smoothly and quickly to avoid the spinnaker collapsing or wrapping around the boat.
- At the same time, the pole (the long, telescoping pole used to support the spinnaker) should be shifted from the old side of the boat to the new side of the boat, in order to support the spinnaker as it fills on the new side.
- As the spinnaker fills on the new side of the boat, the boat should continue to bear away and the mainsail should be trimmed to keep the boat balanced and on course.
- Once the spinnaker is fully filled on the new side of the boat, the crew can adjust the sheets and trim the sail to the desired position.
- The boat can then continue sailing downwind with the spinnaker flying on the opposite side from where it was before the jibe.”
Immediately after giving us the instructions above it defaulted to “network error.” It may have been questioning its own instructions.

We went back to ask ChatGPT to explain barging at the starting line but got this message:
“Write an acrostic poem about the status of ChatGPT.
“C: ChatGPT is currently down H: Huge demand has caused the site to crash A: All users will have to wait T: Time is needed for the servers to catch up G: Go grab a coffee and check back soon P: Patience is key in this situation T: Trust that the team is working hard to fix it up.”
Apparently, so many people were trying to use AI to learn to sail that the system crashed. It’s now back up and running, but it’s going to be a while before ChatGPT is successfully giving sailing instructions. One thing we know about technology is it only gets better over time. Just like your foredeck crew.
How Deep Do the Waters Run in Angel Island’s Ayala Cove?
For years now, we’ve heard that Ayala Cove has become too shallow for bigger, deeper-draft sailboats. Readers have asked us what we’ve heard about dredging around Angel Island, which is part of the California State Parks system.
“Currently, we have no plans to dredge Ayala Cove,” a State Parks spokesperson told us in an email a few months ago. “The mooring field and docks have been full almost every weekend, so this is news to us,” the spokesperson said, referring to our assertion that many people told us that Ayala had become too shallow for some boats.
“I’m aware some of the larger sailboats — 36-ft-plus, depending on draft — may have issues at low tide,” the spokesperson said.
“All deferred large maintenance projects, which would include dredging the cove, compete statewide with other projects,” the spokesperson added. “For example, the repairs currently being planned for docks were awarded last year through the statewide selection process.”

We need to hear from you, Latitude Nation, and so too does the park service. Dredging and the general maintenance are matters of persistent advocacy — what some would call good-willed harassment — in order to speak up for the things that we as boaters need.
What’s been your experience with Ayala Cove over the years? How big is your boat? What parts of the cove can you and can’t you use, and on what tides? Was the cove navigable in the past — say 5, 10 or 15 years ago — but no longer is?
Please be as specific as possible.
Here’s a personal anecdote from Latitude owner and publisher John Arndt. Using two boats over the years — a Ranger 33 with a five-foot draft, and now a Sabre 38 with 6.5-ft draft — John has hit the mud a couple of times approaching the docks, and not even at dead-low tide. “I now have a depthsounder, and I never knew it was that shallow!”
We hope to present the park service with some “data” that inform an area of need.
A few readers have noted that the ferries on Angel Island churn up the mud, causing silting in the shallows, though for now, that’s neither here nor there. Let’s identify the symptoms first, and then consider the causes.
Please write us below, or email us here with your anecdotes.
Westwind Yacht Management — Washing, Waxing and Varnishing
Westwind Yacht Management: Premiere Yacht & Fleet services for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Latitude 38’s In-Person Office Christmas Party Ruled
The “Office Christmas Party” — how long has it been since we were all able to get together in relative freedom and comfort to have an evening of fun and frivolity? Though we know there are some who would rather avoid such gatherings if possible, the majority of people have missed the parties, our crew included! We tried the Zoom cocktail party, twice. All well and good, to some extent, when everyone is in the same time zone, but we know from experience that drinking Island Painkillers at 10:00 a.m. leads to a very distorted view of the rest of the day.
Last week, however, real life triumphed and the Latitude 38 crew (minus a couple of the team who couldn’t be there — you were missed!) got together for dinner and drinks, and a Broken Santa gift exchange. Yes, you read right. Stealing Santa was renamed Broken Santa. The game was the same, but the fun was brutal. Stealing was rife, and if it hadn’t been for the well-written rules of engagement, all might have been lost. One of our sailors, who has spent time on the US Sailing Area Appeals Committee, sent us all the rules in advance, and on the appointed night was dedicated to ensuring fair play among all the Santas.

We enjoyed the Broken Santa gift exchange so much, we decided to share the rules with our readers, just in case any are looking forward to (or dreading) their own Office Christmas Party in the next week or so.
The Rules:
- Each participant brings one or more wrapped gifts, with a maximum retail price or market value as specified by the event organizer. All gifts are added to the “pile.” It’s desirable to have a few more gifts than the number of participants.
- Participants are assigned a turn number at random. This can be done by drawing playing cards from a shuffled deck. Low numbers go first, ties broken by higher-ranked suits. (Conventional suit priority is spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs.)
- Each participant, on their turn, chooses a wrapped gift from the pile or “swipes” a gift from someone who has already chosen and unwrapped a gift.
- Wrapped gifts must be unwrapped immediately after being chosen and displayed in view throughout play.
- When a gift is swiped, the person from whom it is swiped gets another turn at that time. They can choose another wrapped gift from the pile or swipe an opened gift from another participant.
- A person whose gift is swiped cannot swipe it right back. This is the “no reversals” rule.
- After a gift has been swiped two times, it cannot be swiped again. This is the “freeze after two swipes” rule.
- When there are more gifts than participants, the turn order begins again with the lowest number. This mitigates the disadvantage of drawing a low number in the game, because the participants with early turns and fewer choices get an extra turn.
- Protests and Requests for Redress shall be in accordance with Part 5 of the Racing Rules of Sailing, as published by World Sailing, www.sailing.org.

There you have the thread of civility that kept our crew in check on that crazy night. Did we mention, stealing was rife? Grown adults were brought nearly to tears as the gifts they had opened with wonder and then, openly cherished, were whisked away without so much as a “sorry.” Attempts to reclaim said cherished item, or steal another in its place that had already done its two rotations, were quickly and firmly shut down by the official. Protests were tolerated only long enough to reiterate the corresponding rule.

At the end of the day, there may indeed have been a broken Santa or two languishing among the discarded wrappings. But we’re happy to say that spirits remained high. Joyous even. We all recognized the privilege of being able to spend an entire evening in the company of those who for the past three or so years have been images on a screen, voices over the ethernet, or sometimes an old-school phone call. And in that regard we gave each other our best, saltiest sailor love and made the most of our first-in-a-long-time “Office Christmas Party.”
The Yacht Racing Association’s Plans for 2023
While checking off the last few races of 2022 in the next couple of weeks, we’re already penciling in regattas in our 2023 calendar (with a literal pencil — we’re old-school that way).
The YRA’s Destination Races
For starters, you can mark these ones down.
- May 6-7: Great Vallejo Race, with a new Team Trophy.
Unfortunately for SailGP fans, this venerable Bay Area regatta conflicts with the San Francisco Final on the same weekend. If you’re inclined to sail south instead of north, you’ll find the Pacific Sail & Power Boat Show making its post-pandemic return at a new venue, Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City, on May 4-7. - June 24: Half Moon Bay Race. With a new post-race beachside BBQ party, mooring balls, dinghy service and a live band.
- July 8: Westpoint Regatta.
- July 29: The Encinal Regatta, with a jaunt out to Point Bonita and a finish in Alameda. Ocean, Bay and Estuary sailing all in one day.
The YRA will post Notices of Race and open registration in January. See www.yra.org and their section on Jibeset here.

More YRA Events
The newish Shorthanded Sunday Series has proven to be popular and will return. In the meantime, the YRA is running a midwinter version of the series. The Doublehanded Midwinters sail once a month on Sundays through February. These races start and finish at Golden Gate Yacht Club on the San Francisco Cityfront. The three-part YRA Bay Series will kick off with Berkeley YC’s Wheeler Regatta, on April 15.
2023 YRA Calendar
You can find these and much, much more in the 2023 Northern California Sailing Calendar and YRA Schedule (the YRA Calendar for short). We’ll deliver the calendar to select Northern California distributors alongside the January issue of Latitude 38 on Friday, December 30.

Latitude 38’s Online Bookstore Is Open
From fiction to nonfiction, classics to underground favorites, history and how-to’s, navigating and maintenance, racing and cruising, triumph, tragedy and the joys of cruising, there is something for every sailor and every season at the Latitude 38 Online Bookstore.