When you are sailing, an important maneuver that you need to be able to do is called tacking. Tacking is a fundamental sailing maneuver. Tacking is when you move the boat’s bow into the wind to turn the boat’s direction. It is a very common maneuver that all sailors must learn to master. But with…
Jibing is another basic sailing maneuver that people must master when learning to sail. It is similar to tacking but a little bit different. Both a tack and a jibe will change the direction of your sailboat. A jibe in sailing is when the boat moves with the stern through the wind. Like any sailing…
When you learn to sail, the wind is one of the most important things you need to understand. In particular, it is essential for you to understand the points of a sail or exactly how the wind works with sailing. In sailing, the points of sail are the No Go Zone, Close Haul, Close Reach,…
Sometimes you may have to sail a boat without an engine, especially a smaller sailboat. I have sailed many sailboats that do not have an engine. Many sailboats, particularly smaller ones, do not have an engine, so you will need to learn to sail without an engine. In sailing without an engine, there are safety…
On most sailboats, there are two sails: the main sail and the jib sail. Knowing when and how to use both of the sails is essential. Sometimes you want to sail with just the mainsail, especially when going in and out of a harbor area or docking the boat. You are not recommended to sail…
If you are out sailing and need to shorten your sail due to high winds, there are certain things you can do. You may need to shorten your sail if your boat is heeling too much. If you need to shorten your sail, one way to do this on a keelboat is to lower the…