admin July 31, 2025 Sailing Previous Lesson Mooring Mayhem Comments (0)
Reading jib telltales is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to trim your sails properly — especially on the River Thames, where the wind changes more often than a British forecast. Here’s a beginner’s guide to make sense of those little ribbons:
Telltales are small strips of wool, yarn, or ribbon (often red and green) attached to the luff of the jib (the front edge). They show the airflow over the sail.
You’ll usually have two telltales on each side of the jib — one windward side (facing the wind) and one leeward side (away from the wind). On the RS Toura we have three sets, one low, one set halfway up the sail and one near the top of the sail.
Which set do you watch - all of them.
We also have telltales on the edge of the mainsail. Paul pointed them out to me. I hadn't noticed them.
When sailing upwind or on a reach:
