The points of sail
| Point | Wind | Trim |
|---|---|---|
| In irons | Dead ahead | Sails flap and the boat stops. Bear away to get going again. |
| Close-hauled | As close ahead as she'll sail, around 45° for many cruising yachts | Sails pulled in tight. Steer by the telltales, just short of the sails lifting. |
| Close reach | Forward of the beam | Ease the sails a little from close-hauled. |
| Beam reach | On the beam, at 90° | Sails eased about halfway. Often the fastest and most comfortable point of sail. |
| Broad reach | Abaft the beam | Sails well eased. Fast, but watch for the boat rounding up in gusts. |
| Run | From astern | Sails eased right out, sometimes goose-winged on opposite sides. Watch for an accidental gybe. |
A boat can't sail straight into the wind, so to get upwind you sail close-hauled on one tack and then the other, zig-zagging towards your destination. That's beating, or tacking upwind.
Trimming by the telltales
Telltales are short ribbons on the sails that show how the air is flowing. With the sail correctly trimmed, the telltales on both sides stream back smoothly. If the windward ones lift or flutter, the sail is too eased for your angle to the wind: pull it in or bear away. If the leeward ones flutter, the sail has stalled: ease it or head up.
Running safely
With the wind from astern, the boom is out over the side. If the wind gets behind the mainsail, through a wind shift, a wave or poor steering, it can slam across in an accidental gybe, hard enough to injure anyone in its path or damage the rig. To reduce the risk:
- Steer carefully, keeping the wind slightly to one side of dead astern.
- Rig a preventer from the boom forward to hold it out.
- Keep heads out of the way of the boom and mainsheet.
- When you do mean to gybe, control it: bring the mainsail in first, then ease it out on the new side.
Port and starboard tack
You're on starboard tack when the wind comes over the starboard side and the mainsail is out to port, and on port tack the other way round. It matters for the collision regulations: when two sailing vessels meet with the wind on different sides, the one on port tack keeps out of the way. See the steering and sailing rules.