Tacking (sailing)

Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow
toward the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other, allowing progress in the desired
direction.[1] The opposite maneuver to tacking is called jibing, or wearing on square-rigged ships, that is, turning the stern through
the wind. No sailing vessel can move directly upwind, though that may be the desired direction, making this an essential maneuver of
a sailing ship. A series of tacking moves, in a zig-zag fashion, is called beating, and allows sailing in the desired direction.

This maneuver is used for different effects in races, where one ship is not only sailing in a desired direction, but also concerned with
slowing the progress of competitors.

Contents
The need for tacking
Technical usage
Beating
Tacking strategy
Favorable tacks "lifts" and "headers"
Best course
Tacking duels
See also
References

The need for tacking

Sailing ships cannot proceed directly into the wind, but
often need to proceed in that direction. Movement is
achieved by tacking. If a vessel is sailing on a starboard
tack with the wind blowing from the right side and tacks,
it will end up on a port tack with the wind blowing from
the left side. See the image at the right; the red arrow
indicates the wind direction. This maneuver is frequently
used when the desired direction is (nearly) directly into
Tacking from starboard tack to port tack. Wind shown in red.
the wind.
① on starboard tack, ② turning to windward to begin the
In practice, the sails are set at an angle of 45° to the wind tacking maneuver or "preparing to come about",③ headed
for conventional sailships and the tacking course is kept into the wind; the sail luffs and loses propulsion, while the
as short as possible before a new tack is set in. Rotor vessel makes way on momentum to provide rudder steerage,
ships can tack much closer to the wind, 20 to 30°. ④ making way on the new port tack by sheeting in the
mainsail, ⑤ on port tack.
The opposite maneuver, i.e. turning the stern through the
wind, is called jibing (or wearing on square-rigged ships).
Tacking more than 180° to avoid a jibe (mostly in harsh conditions) is sometimes referred to as ahicken
'c jibe'.[2]

Technical usage
Tacking is sometimes confused withbeating to windward, which is a
process of beating a course upwind and generally implies (but does
not require) actually coming about. In the accompanying figure, the
boat is seen to tack three times while beating to windward.

When used without a modifier, the term "tacking" is always

synonymous with "coming about"; however, some find it acceptable
to say "tack downwind"; i.e., change tack by jibing rather than
coming about. Racers often use this maneuver because most modern
sailboats (especially larger boats with spinnakers and a variety of
staysails) sail substantially faster on abroad reach than when running
"dead" downwind. The extra speed gained by zigzagging downwind
can more than make up for the extra distance that must be covered.
Cruising boats also often tack downwind when the swells are also Relationship between tacking and beating to
coming from dead astern (i.e., there is a "following sea"), because of windward
the more stable motion of the hull.

About is defined as: "To go about is to change the course of a ship by tacking. Ready about, or boutship, is the order to prepare for
tacking."[3]

Beating
Beating is the procedure by which a ship moves on a zig-zag course to make
progress directly into the wind (upwind). No sailing vessel can move directly
upwind (though that may be the desired direction). Beating allows the vessel to
advance indirectly upwind.

A ship that is beating will sail as close to the wind as possible; this position is
known as close hauled. In general, the closest angle to the wind that a ship can sail
is around 35 to 45 degrees. Some modern yachts can sail very near to the wind,
while older ships, especiallysquare-rigged ships, were much worse at it.

Thus when a ship is tacking, it is moving both upwind and across the wind. Cross-
wind movement is not desired, and may be very much undesirable, if for instance
the ship is moving along a narrow channel.

Therefore, the ship changes tack periodically, reversing the direction of cross- Depending on the situation, different
wind movement while continuing the upwind movement. The interval between intervals between tacking can be used.
tacks depends (in part) on the lateral space available: in a small navigable channel, This does not influence the total
tacks may be required every few minutes, while in the open ocean days may pass distance travelled (though may impact
between tacks, provided that the wind continues to come from the same general the time required). Sailing from point A
to point B, path P1 involves more turns
direction.
but only requires a narrow channel.
Path P2 involves fewer turns but a
In older vessels that could not sail close to the wind, beating could be an
wider channel. Path P3 requires only a
expensive process that required sailing a total distance several times the distance
single turn but covers comparatively
actually traveled upwind. the widest channel.

Tacking strategy

Favorable tacks "lifts" and "headers"

When beating to windward often your desired destination although still in the no sail zone is not aligned directly upwind - to the eye
of the wind. In this case one tack becomes more favorable than the other - it angles more closely in the direction you wish to travel
than the other tack does. Then the best strategy is to stay on this favorable tack as much as possible, and shorten the time you need to
sail on the unfavorable tack. This will result in a faster passage with less wasted effort. Your overall course then is not an equal zig-
zag as in the diagrams above, but more of a saw tooth pattern. If while on this tack the wind shifts in your favor, called a "lift," and
allows you to point up even more, so much the better, then this tack is even more favorable. But if the wind shifts against you and
makes you fall off, called a "header," then the opposite tack may become the more favorable course.[4]

Best course
Since conditions are always changing somewhat, a sailor must keep evaluating which tack, port or starboard is actually the most
favorable. So with these concepts in mind, when the desired destination is exactly to windward, the most efficient strategy is given by
the old racing adage to "Tack on a header." This is true because if before the wind changed both tacks were exactly equal – neither
one was more favorable, then since a header on one tack is automatically a lift on the other, the opposite tack has just become the
more favorable one and the helmsman should tack and change course for the most ficient
ef passage.[4]

Tacking duels
Sailing courses laid out for racing purposes always have one leg directly to windward. This is where the highest sailing skills often
form the essence of the race. Sail trim and keeping the boat moving most efficiently are of the utmost importance. In these
circumstances tacking duels will often develop.

Any boat in clear air to windward has an aerodynamic advantage over other boats. To keep this advantage the lead boat will often try
to "blanket" the trailing boat(s) by maneuvering to keep them in the disturbed foul air she is creating to her lee. This involves
constant anticipation and balancing many different dynamic factors. Conversely the trailing boats will try to overtake or otherwise
escape the bad air blanket created by the lead boat and head for clear air without losing too much speed or momentum.

A tacking duel develops when two or more boats execute multiple usually excessive course changes (tacking) in very close quarters.
This often involves bending, or breaking, the safety right-of-way-rules, and intentionally creating dangerous and threatening
conditions between the dueling boats. Each skipper is trying to gain the lead and the advantage of clear air. This can sometimes
become counter-productive as some speed and time is always lost in each tack.

See also
Jibe (or Gybe)
Racing Rules of Sailing
Tack (as used to describe a section of a sail)
Glossary of nautical terms

References
1. Keegan, John (1989). The Price of Admiralty. New York: Viking. p. 281. ISBN 0-670-81416-4.
2. McEwen, Thomas (2006).Boater's Pocket Reference: Your Comprehensive Resource for Boats and Boating(https://
books.google.com/books?id=kdHyM6_egMwC&pg=P A186). Anchor Cove Publishing. pp. 186–.ISBN 978-0-
9774052-0-6.
3. A naval encyclopædia: comprising a dictionary of nautical words and phrases; biographical notices, and records of
naval officers; special articles of naval art and science(https://archive.org/stream/navalencyclopedia00hamerich/nav
alencyclopedia00hamerich_djvu.txt). Philadelphia: LR Hamersly & Co. 1881. Retrieved January 23, 2014. at Internet
Archive
4. Royce, Patrick M. (2015).Royce's Sailing Illustrated(https://books.google.com/books?id=mtqgsW
aWciMC&pg=PA9
7&dq=sailing+header+footer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzwd3E_LrUAhVCeD4KHUPpDCIQ6AEINDAD#v=onepa
 ge&q=sailing%20header%20footer&f=false). 2 (11 ed.). ProStar Publications. p. 161.ISBN 9780911284072.

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