Getting a Grasp On Jibing

I’m trying to increase my skills and options around jibes. I’ve put in time swooping from broad reach to broad reach trying to keep up my speed as I transition from one tack to the other. I find myself stalling for a second after the jibe before I shift my weight out far enough to head the boat definitively toward getting the wind back onto the leach. Not a big issue, but an obvious place to practice and one that will give me a confidence boost sailing in a breeze and waves.

The other day I realized I had neglected my technique for jibing without changing course. So I set out to get my comfort level back. No place I grabbed on the mainsheet gave me an easy way to pull the boom through the jibe. I would give a big pull to the line between the ratchet block and the boom block and not get enough action to flip the sail over. I reached back to grab the double line off the end of the boom and I upset the balance of the boat and teetered on the back corner of the hull, drove the stern into the water and effectively put the brakes on.

I began playing with using the tiller extension, like the books say; not as easy as it sounds. After you hook the extension under the sheet the sheet has the mechanical advantage until you get the end of the extension high enough to slide the sheet down to your hand. Reaching even farther back shifts the leverage enough to give me a handful of sheet, but now what do I do with it?

I first tried holding it in the same hand as the tiller – big mistake if it hooks your finger, thumb or extension as the sail jibes. A couple of times it was a choice of an on-edge round up or dislocating my finger. I switched to keeping it in my other hand and sort of throwing it over my shoulder as the sail flew across. I still needed to be very careful of where my extension was and that my hand was turned so that the sail pulled the sheet out without twisting my fingers back.

Anyone have a variation that you’ve found works well?