Don't shove sails down the hatch, walk on etc

After all the years of doing bow, I never found shoving any upwind headsail down the foredeck hatch on anything but a custom race boat, a good idea. Unless it is a non-production, custom race boat, the foredeck hatch is never large enough for the #1 or #2 jib/gen and takes so much longer to do than a quick, loose folding luff when you drop the sail, bend it over upon itself once and set with a sail tie, or two on bigger boats. Once you are dealing with the #3 and up, the waves are breaking over the bow so much that opening that hatch is a good way to take on a couple hundred gallons of sea water in a hurry.

Oh yeah, it's bad for the sails too. A good bow and pit would know how to drop the sail and luff fold it on the way down, even on an outside peel, layer up when pulling underneath the newly hoisted sail. Always roll your old bag for the sail in reverse so that you can roll it towards the bow from the mast.