Sailing

Sailing is the skillful art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or smaller boat, across a body of water

Basic sailing techniques

First see the notes on points of sail which introduce some important principles.

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Turning a sailing boat

When turning a sailing boat, the direction relative to the wind is as important as the direction overall. Thus all turns can be described by one of the following terms:

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• Heading up (or luffing up) is turning the boat to sail closer to the direction the wind is coming from. In order to keep the sails correctly trimmed, they must be pulled in towards the centre of the boat. Continuing to head up will bring the bow so close to the wind that the sails will no longer fill - this is called "being in irons", or (especially when teaching) "the no-go zone".
• If the turn is continued through the no-go zone and out the other side, the boat is said to have tacked. Thus, a tack is a turn that takes the bow of the boat through the eye of the wind.
• Bearing away (or falling off) is turning away from the direction the wind is coming from. As with luffing up, the sails must be adjusted during the turn, in this case let out away from the centre of the boat. If the turn is continued, the boat will end up running directly away from the wind, with the sails at around 90º to the hull and acting as simple wind-catchers rather than aerofoils.
• If the turn is continued such that the boat's stern passes through the wind, a gybe results. Gybing causes the boom to swing from one side to the other, sometimes rapidly, as the wind catches the leech of the mainsail on its new upwind side.

Trim

An important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim". To achieve this a useful mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:

Related Topics:
Trim - Mnemonic

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Can This Boat Sail Correctly?

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This helps the crew to remember these essential points;

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• Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
• Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight)of the boat increases.
• Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
• Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. However simply put, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind.
• Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a heavy permanent keel built into the bottom of the hull, which serves the same purposes.

Running downwind

Sailing the boat within 30 degrees of straight downwind is called a run. This is the easiest point of sail, but it can also be the most dangerous. Sailing upwind gives you the everpresent possibility of stopping the boat easily by steering into the wind. Running gives a sailor no such easy out. Be careful and either use your boom vang or adjust the mainsheet to prevent an accidental jibe.

Related Topics:
Wind - Boom vang - Jibe

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Reaching

When the boat is traveling approximately perpendicular to the wind, this is called reaching. A 'close' reach is somewhat toward the wind, and 'broad' reach is a little bit away from the wind (a 'beam' reach is with the wind precisely at right angles to the boat). For most modern sailboats, reaching is the fastest way to travel.

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Beating an upwind course

A basic rule of sailing is that it is not possible to sail directly into the direction the wind is coming from. Generally a cruising boat can sail 45 degrees off the wind, a racing boat may aproach 35 degrees. However since it is often necessary to move towards the wind direction, it is necessary to 'beat' upwind.

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Beating is simply a series of 'tacks' where the boat sails as close to the wind on each tack as possible, and then switches sides and repeats the process. By this method, it is possible to travel directly into the wind. The heavier the wind the harder the beat, and since you are sailing into oncoming waves at an angle, boat movement can be heavy. This movement can feel like the boat is beating its hull into the waves, hence the name. Since the boat is sailing over oncoming waves, a beat will feel faster than its actually moving.

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During a beat, it is important to watch your heading, since the wind will tend to push an unbalanced boat into or away from the wind, depending on the balance problem. If you find yourself having to overcorrect at the helm for sail pressure into the wind, then you are in a condition called weatherhelm, and you are actually slowing the boat with your rudder. To correct this, reduce sail.

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Reducing sail

An important safety aspect of sailing is to adjust the amount of sail to suit the wind conditions. As the wind speed increases the crew should progressively reduce the amount of sail. On a small boat with only jib and mainsail this is done by furling the jib and by partially lowering the mainsail, a process called 'reefing the main'.

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Reefing means reducing the area of a sail without actually changing it for a smaller sail. Ideally reefing does not only result in a reduced sail area but also in a lower center of effort from the sails, reducing the heeling moment and keeping the boat more upright.

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There are three common methods of reefing the mainsail:

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