Lazy Guy/Lazy Sheet describes the second, unloaded pair of lines rigged to a symmetrical spinnaker on larger boats. Each clew of the spinnaker carries two lines: a sheet, led aft through a block near the quarter, and a guy, led through the spinnaker pole end and a block further forward. On any given tack, the windward clew is held by the working guy and the leeward clew by the working sheet; the sheet attached to the windward clew and the guy attached to the leeward clew are lazy, meaning slack and unused. The beginner needs to grasp that the lazy lines exist so a jibe can happen without anyone letting go of the sail; the experienced foredeck hand knows the lazy guy is what makes a dip-pole jibe possible, because it holds the new windward clew while the pole swings across.
Why Big Boats Need Four Lines
On a dinghy or a small keelboat, a symmetrical spinnaker is flown with one line to each clew, and that line is called a sheet on the leeward side and a guy on the windward side. During an end-for-end jibe the crew simply unclips the pole from the mast, clips it onto the old sheet – which is about to become the guy – and pushes the other end onto the mast. That works while the pole is light enough to handle and the loads are modest. Somewhere around 35 to 40 feet the pole becomes too heavy and the loads too high, so the boat jibes dip-pole: the inboard end stays on the mast and the outboard end is dropped, swung inside the forestay and raised on the new side. For the outboard end to be released from the old guy and connected to the new one, there must already be a line on each clew that can take the load in the meantime. Hence two lines per clew, with the lazy ones waiting their turn.
How the Lines Are Rigged
- Guys: heavy, low-stretch line, often with a wire or Dyneema® tail, led from the clew through the pole jaw, down to a block at or near the maximum beam or the quarter, then to a primary winch. The guy positions the pole fore and aft and takes the highest loads on the boat downwind.
- Sheets: lighter line, led from the clew to a block on the quarter and forward to a winch, trimmed continuously to keep the luff of the spinnaker on the edge of curling.
The Jibe, Step by Step
- Prepare. Square the pole toward the new side, ease the working sheet to keep the spinnaker full, and take up the slack in the lazy guy so it is ready to load.
- Load the lazy guy. The trimmer takes the lazy guy on a winch and eases the old working sheet. The clew that was leeward is now held by its guy – it has become the new windward clew, even though the pole is not yet on it.
- Trip the pole. The bowman trips the outboard jaw, releasing the old working guy, and the pole is dipped on the topping lift and swung through the foretriangle as the helm turns the boat.
- Reconnect. The bowman drops the new guy – the line now loaded on the new windward clew – into the pole jaw and the pole is raised on the new side.
- Clean up. The old guy goes lazy and is eased; the old lazy sheet on the new leeward clew is trimmed and becomes the working sheet. The boat is jibed with the spinnaker full throughout.
Why It Matters for Sail and Crew
A jibe done on lazy lines keeps the spinnaker flying for the whole manoeuvre, which is worth boatlengths at every leeward mark, and it protects the sail: a collapsed spinnaker that refills with a bang shock-loads the cloth and corners far beyond anything it sees when trimmed. UK Sailmakers builds its symmetrical spinnakers with reinforced clews sized for the double-line loads and the geometry of the guy leaving the pole end, and the loft will advise on head and clew patches for boats that jibe dip-pole in a breeze. Keeping the lazy sheet pulled down with the twing also stops it sawing across the boom.
Frequently Asked Questions about Lazy Guys and Lazy Sheets
What is the difference between a guy and a sheet?
The guy goes through the pole end and positions the pole and the windward clew; the sheet leads directly to the leeward clew and trims the sail. The same clew carries both, and which one is working depends on which tack the boat is on.
What happens if the lazy guy is not loaded before the pole is tripped?
The clew is held only by the sheet, the spinnaker flies out ahead of the boat and often wraps around the forestay, and the bowman cannot reach the guy to put it in the jaw. Loading the lazy guy first is the step that makes the whole jibe work.
Lazy guys and lazy sheets look like a lot of rope on the deck until you have watched a well-drilled crew jibe a big spinnaker without it so much as luffing. Rig them properly, keep the lazy ones tidy, and load the lazy guy before you trip the pole – the sail, and the sailmaker, will thank you.