Nippily

With one class of boat, and continual practice under similar conditions, it is surprising to see how the boats are handled, how nippily the live ballast finds its place when gybing, how rapidly the canvas is taken in or set —a very important function, for the winds in the bay are treacherous and uncertain, the most favourable being hard north-easters.

I nippily learned that they could tidy away twice the amount of liquor we manly-men could without getting drunk.