Start Saling Right - Sailing Upwind

Ahoy Mates....

So now you have a good handle on how sails work and trim. You know you cannot sail in the "no go zone" (see Wind Awareness and Points of Sail.) Now let's try and go somewhere specific. What do you do if the place you want to get to is in the no-go zone?

Well, basically you have to sail Upwind going back and forth (zig-zagging) always making progress in the general direction of your target. We call this "beating to windward" or sailing upwind.

The act of turning the bow of the boat through the eye of the wind (the "no go zone") is called "Tacking." To effectively perform a tack, you must do a couple of things.

First - communicate to your crew that you, the skipper, are about to perform a tack. This is important! Remember that the boom will be swinging across the boat when you are tacking and we call it a "boom" because that is the sound it makes when it hits you in the head! The command is "Ready to Tack." Your crew should respond "Ready" when they are prepared to tack (which should be pretty quick.)

Once your crew has indicated they are prepared, push the tiller towards the sail about 45 degrees and say "Helms to Lee" or "Tacking." This indicates to your crew that you have begun to tack.

Hold the tiller over until the boat comes through at least 90 degrees of the turn. Remember that the no-go zone is about 90 degrees and you want to make sure you are all the way through before you stop turning. A good indication is that the Jib will fill on the other side of the boat. As it does, your crew should release the jib and let it come to the other side, then pull the sheet in on the new leeward side of the boat so that it begins to drive the boat forward again.

The finesse part of tacking is getting from one side of the boat to the other. As you turn the boat, your goal should be to keep it pretty flat, so move yourself across the boat smoothly as the boat is in the no-go zone.

Here is a video from US Sailing that shows the proper tacking procedure.

See you on the water!
Captain Rob