Thursday, 24 September 2026

Pointing Higher Isn't Always Sailing Faster

The boat pointing closest to the mark may not be the boat that reaches it first.

One of the most tempting things to do when sailing upwind is to point the boat as high as possible.

The windward mark is over there. Surely, if I can get the bow a few degrees closer to it, I must be making better progress?

It feels logical.

It can also be completely wrong.

A boat that points very high but moves slowly may actually make less progress towards the mark than another boat sailing several degrees lower but travelling considerably faster.

This is one of those sailing lessons that sounds slightly counter-intuitive until you experience it on the water.

And once you understand it, you begin to look at upwind sailing rather differently.

We Have Already Accepted That We Have to Zigzag

Earlier in this series I looked at the apparently strange fact that, when sailing towards a destination directly upwind, the fastest route involves sailing away from the direct line.

A sailing boat cannot normally sail straight into the wind.

Instead, we sail close-hauled on one tack, tack through the wind, and continue on the other.

So our route becomes a zigzag.

That immediately introduces another question:

How steep should those zigzags be?

Should we sail as close to the wind as the boat will possibly tolerate?

Or should we bear away slightly and go faster?

The answer is usually somewhere between the two extremes.

And finding that point is one of the skills that separates simply sailing the boat from sailing it well.

Pointing and Speed Are Not the Same Thing

Imagine two identical boats sailing towards the same windward mark.

Boat A is pointing very high.

Boat B is sailing perhaps five degrees lower.

At first glance, Boat A looks better.

Its bow is much closer to the mark.

But suppose Boat A is travelling at only 3 knots because the sails are beginning to stall.

Boat B, sailing slightly lower, is travelling at 4.5 knots.

Which is actually getting towards the mark faster?

That is where velocity made good, usually shortened to VMG, becomes useful.

VMG is the part of the boat's velocity that is actually taking it towards the destination.

In simplified form:

VMG = boat speed x cos(angle away from the required direction)

You do not need to perform this calculation while sailing.

The important idea is much simpler:

Boat speed only matters if some of that speed is taking you where you want to go.

Equally:

Pointing towards the mark only matters if the boat is still moving efficiently.

The Temptation to Pinch

Beginners often discover that they can make the boat point slightly higher by pulling the sails in and steering closer to the wind.

For a few moments it feels wonderful.

The bow seems to creep towards the mark.

You appear to be gaining height.

This is called pinching.

The problem is that the sails increasingly stop behaving like efficient aerofoils.

The airflow becomes less effective.

The boat slows.

The centreboard or keel becomes less effective because less water is flowing past it.

The rudder becomes less effective.

Momentum disappears.

A small wave or patch of disturbed water slows the boat still further.

Eventually you may have a boat pointing beautifully towards the windward mark while hardly moving at all.

That is not fast sailing.

It is simply pointing.

Sailing Higher Can Sometimes Feel Faster Than It Really Is

There is also a psychological problem.

Direction is very easy to see.

Speed is much harder to judge accurately.

You can look along the bow and immediately see that it is pointing close to the mark.

That gives a strong impression of progress.

But losing half a knot or a knot can be surprisingly difficult to notice.

On an inland river such as the Thames, this can be even more deceptive.

There may be trees, moored boats, riverbanks and nearby competitors giving you plenty of visual references.

You can clearly see the bow pointing higher.

But you may not immediately notice that the boat has lost momentum.

That is why experienced sailors often pay attention to things other than where the bow happens to be pointing.

They feel the boat.

They watch the tell-tales.

They notice the pressure in the sails.

They feel the load on the helm.

They listen to the water.

They watch what another boat nearby is doing.

Tell-Tales Can Reveal the Problem

Tell-tales are particularly useful when trying to avoid pinching.

Sailing close-hauled, there should normally be clean airflow across both sides of the jib.

If you begin steering too close to the wind, the windward tell-tale will usually begin lifting.

A small amount of movement may simply tell you that you are very close to your optimum angle.

But if it is lifting continuously while the leeward tell-tale remains streaming, you may be asking too much of the sail.

The boat is warning you:

You are too close to the wind.

Bear away slightly.

Restore the airflow.

Let the boat accelerate.

It may feel as though you are sailing in the wrong direction.

Yet your progress towards the mark may improve.

Speed First, Height Second

There is a useful principle when coming out of a tack.

Do not immediately try to squeeze every possible degree of pointing angle from the boat.

The boat has just lost some speed during the manoeuvre.

What it needs first is acceleration.

So after the tack, it can often be advantageous to sail very slightly lower for a few moments.

Build speed.

Get the foils working efficiently again.

Restore pressure in the sails.

Then gradually head up towards your normal close-hauled angle.

You can think of it as:

speed first, then height.

Trying to point too high immediately after the tack can leave the boat struggling to accelerate.

This becomes especially noticeable in light winds.

A Simple Example

Imagine Boat A sails at 3.0 knots at 35 degrees from the direction of the windward mark.

Its approximate VMG is:

3.0 x cos(35 degrees)

which is approximately:

2.46 knots

Now imagine Boat B sails slightly lower, at 42 degrees, but because the sails are working better it travels at 4.0 knots.

Its VMG is approximately:

4.0 x cos(42 degrees)

or about:

2.97 knots

Boat B is pointing seven degrees lower.

Yet it is making considerably faster progress towards the windward mark.

Over a long beat, that difference becomes enormous.

The precise figures will vary with the boat, sails, wind and water conditions.

The principle does not.

But Don't Take This Too Far

Of course, bearing away is not automatically faster either.

If you sail too low, the boat may become beautifully fast while making poor progress towards the mark.

Imagine bearing away another twenty degrees.

The boat accelerates.

Everyone feels pleased.

There is plenty of pressure in the sails.

The wake looks impressive.

Unfortunately, you are now travelling much farther sideways than necessary.

Eventually you must recover that lost height.

So there are two inefficient extremes.

Too high: excellent pointing, poor speed.

Too low: excellent speed, poor pointing.

Between them is an optimum combination.

That is what sailors are trying to find.

The Optimum Angle Changes

Unfortunately, there is no single magic heading.

The best compromise between speed and pointing changes constantly.

It depends on:

wind strength;
gusts and lulls;
waves;
current;
sail condition;
crew weight;
boat design;
sail trim;
water smoothness;
tactical considerations.

In light winds, maintaining momentum may be particularly important.

In stronger winds, the boat may have more than enough power, and sailing slightly higher may become possible.

In waves, you may need to bear away slightly to keep the boat moving through the water.

On flat inland water, you may be able to sail closer to the optimum pointing angle for longer.

And on the Thames, the wind direction itself may alter repeatedly as it passes over trees, buildings and bends in the river.

The optimum angle you found thirty seconds ago may no longer be the optimum angle now.

Champagne Makes This Especially Interesting

Sailing the A-Rater Champagne makes this subject particularly fascinating.

An A-Rater is very different from the typical training dinghy.

It is long, narrow, powerful and designed specifically for racing on the Thames.

When the boat is moving properly, there is a very definite sense of momentum.

Lose that momentum unnecessarily and you may give away much more than the few degrees of pointing appeared to gain.

It is therefore a wonderful boat on which to observe the relationship between sail trim, helm balance, pointing angle and speed.

You can feel when the boat is alive.

Equally, you can feel when it has been strangled by asking it to point just a little too high.

That difference between looking as though you are going the right way and actually travelling efficiently is one of the recurring lessons of sailing.

Watch Another Boat

One of the simplest experiments requires no instruments at all.

Sail close to another similar boat going upwind.

For a few minutes, concentrate on pointing slightly higher.

Do not worry initially about whether you are getting ahead.

Then compare your position.

You may find yourself slightly farther to windward but considerably farther behind.

Next, bear away a few degrees and concentrate on maintaining speed.

Again compare positions.

You may find that although the other boat initially appears to be pointing closer to the mark, you begin moving forward relative to it.

This is sometimes called comparing height and speed.

Racing sailors do it constantly.

A boat beside you becomes an extremely useful measuring instrument.

A Better Practical Experiment

This would also make an excellent sailing exercise using GPS data.

Choose a reasonably steady wind and sail several upwind runs.

On the first run, deliberately try to point very high.

Record:

average boat speed;
heading;
track;
time taken.

On the second run, sail slightly lower and concentrate on speed.

On the third, try to find the best compromise.

Plot the tracks afterwards.

The result can be revealing.

The highest-pointing run may not have produced the fastest progress towards the upwind destination.

This would be a particularly interesting exercise with Champagne because GPS data, video and observations from another boat could be combined.

A camera aboard Coyote, for example, could record the boat's attitude and sails while GPS data shows what was actually happening.

That turns something sailors often describe as "feel" into something we can analyse.

The Polar Diagram

More sophisticated sailors and yacht racers may come across a polar diagram.

A polar diagram shows approximately how fast a particular boat can sail at different angles to the wind.

It makes the whole idea visible.

Very close to the wind, speed falls dramatically.

Bear away slightly and speed increases.

Eventually, however, although boat speed continues increasing, the boat is no longer making the greatest possible progress directly upwind.

The optimum upwind VMG lies somewhere between those positions.

Modern sailing instruments can calculate this.

On a dinghy or river racing boat, however, much of the same information can be obtained by feel, experience and comparison.

You do not need a computer to notice that your boat has stopped.

Gusts Complicate the Picture

Now connect this idea with another article in this series: reading approaching gusts.

Suppose you are sailing close-hauled and a gust arrives.

The boat accelerates.

You suddenly have more power available.

That extra energy may allow you to point slightly higher while maintaining good speed.

So in the gust, you might gain both speed and height.

Then the gust passes.

If you keep trying to maintain exactly the same heading, the boat may begin slowing.

Now you may need to bear away slightly to rebuild speed.

This means good upwind sailing is not simply:

Choose a heading and hold it.

Instead, you are continually balancing:

speed — pointing — pressure — trim — wind direction.

That is why small adjustments matter so much.

Headers and Lifts Add Another Dimension

There is another complication.

The wind itself changes direction.

Imagine you are sailing towards a windward mark and suddenly your heading appears worse.

You may not have done anything wrong.

The wind may have headed you.

Equally, another boat may suddenly appear to point much closer to the mark because it has entered a lift.

This brings us back to the earlier articles on headers and lifts.

An efficient upwind sailor is therefore asking two different questions:

Am I sailing at the correct angle to the wind?

and:

Am I on the correct tack for the wind I currently have?

Those are not the same question.

Sometimes Tactical Position Matters More Than Perfect VMG

There is one more important qualification.

Racing is not performed in a laboratory.

Sometimes the theoretically fastest VMG is not the tactically sensible choice.

You might point slightly higher because you need to clear another boat.

You might sail lower temporarily to accelerate through disturbed air.

You may need to reach an advantageous part of the river.

You might avoid shallow water.

You may want to stay out of an adverse current.

On a narrow river, you may be approaching the bank and preparing to tack.

So VMG is an extremely useful concept, but it is not the only consideration.

Sailing remains a combination of physics, observation, boat handling and tactics.

Try This the Next Time You Sail

The next time you are beating upwind, deliberately experiment.

First sail just a little too high.

Feel what happens.

Notice:

the tell-tales;
the pressure in the sails;
the tiller;
the boat speed;
the sound of the water;
the wake.

Then bear away perhaps two or three degrees.

Do not make a dramatic change.

Wait.

Feel the boat accelerate.

Notice whether the helm becomes lighter.

Watch the tell-tales settle.

Then gradually head up again.

You are trying to find the point immediately before the boat begins losing useful speed.

That point will move as the conditions change.

Finding it repeatedly is part of becoming a better sailor.

The Fastest Boat May Look as Though It Is Going the Wrong Way

This is one of the reasons sailing can be so deceptive when viewed from the bank.

A spectator might see one boat pointing beautifully towards the next mark while another appears to be sailing farther away from it.

A minute later, the apparently badly directed boat is ahead.

There was nothing mysterious about it.

It simply converted more of the available wind into useful progress.

That is also why "point higher" is not always good coaching advice.

A better instruction might sometimes be:

"Get the boat moving."

Once the speed is there, the height can often follow.

Sailing Is a Constant Compromise

This lesson reaches well beyond pointing.

Fast sailing is rarely about maximising one thing.

Maximum heel is not maximum speed.

Maximum sheet tension is not automatically maximum power.

Maximum pointing is not automatically maximum upwind progress.

Maximum boat speed is not automatically maximum progress towards the mark.

Good sailing comes from balancing competing effects.

And that is what makes it so interesting.

You are not simply steering towards a destination.

You are continuously solving a moving problem involving wind, water, sails, hull, crew and tactics.

The Final Lesson

When learning to sail upwind, it is natural to keep looking at the mark and trying to point the bow towards it.

Eventually, however, you realise that the mark is not telling you everything you need to know.

Look at the sails.

Feel the helm.

Watch the water.

Notice the speed.

Compare yourself with another boat.

And remember:

The aim is not to point closest to the mark. The aim is to reach it first.

Sometimes the fastest way towards your destination involves pointing slightly farther away from it.

Return to pmrsailing.uk https://pmrsailing.uk/sailing-lessons/How-to-sail-better.html

Why Small Adjustments Often Beat Big Ones The fastest sail adjustment may be only two centimetres

Why Small Adjustments Often Beat Big Ones

The fastest sail adjustment may be only two centimetres

One of the easiest habits to develop when learning to sail is to think of sail trim as a series of fairly large decisions.

Pull the mainsheet in.

Ease it out.

Pull the jib tighter.

Let it off.

Then leave everything alone until something obviously changes.

But watch an experienced sailor closely and you may notice something quite different.

Their hands are rarely completely inactive.

The mainsheet may move only a few centimetres. The jib sheet may be eased almost imperceptibly. The helm moves through tiny angles rather than sweeping dramatically from side to side. Body weight shifts slightly before the boat heels rather than significantly afterwards.

Nothing looks spectacular.

Yet all those tiny corrections add up.

Good sailors do not simply trim the sails. They trim them continuously.

And sometimes the adjustment that makes the boat faster really is only two centimetres.

Sailing Is Happening in a Constantly Changing Environment

It is tempting to imagine that if the wind is blowing at 10 knots from the west, we can set the sails correctly and then forget about them.

Unfortunately, the wind does not cooperate.

Even on what appears to be a steady day, the boat is continually experiencing small changes in:

wind speed;
wind direction;
waves;
boat speed;
apparent wind;
heel;
crew position;
course.

On an inland river such as the Thames, those changes can be particularly noticeable.

Trees, buildings, bends in the river and surrounding terrain disturb the airflow. One moment the boat may be sailing in reasonable pressure; a few seconds later it reaches a softer patch. Then a gust arrives from a slightly different direction.

The theoretically perfect sail position from ten seconds ago may no longer be the perfect position now.

That does not necessarily mean moving the sheet half a metre.

Often it means moving it just enough.

The Problem with the "Set It and Forget It" Approach

Imagine sailing close-hauled with the jib apparently set correctly.

The tell-tales are streaming nicely.

You therefore decide that the sail is "right".

Thirty seconds later the wind increases slightly.

The boat accelerates.

Its apparent wind changes.

Perhaps the boat also heels a little more.

The jib that was correctly trimmed may now need a tiny adjustment.

If you do nothing, the difference may not be dramatic enough to make the sail flap.

That is precisely why the problem is easy to miss.

A badly trimmed sail tells you immediately.

It flaps.

A slightly badly trimmed sail can remain beautifully full while quietly costing you speed.

That is much more dangerous from a performance point of view.

Two Centimetres Can Matter

Consider the sheet running through a block.

Moving your hand only two centimetres may alter the leech tension slightly.

That changes the twist in the sail.

That changes the angle at which different parts of the sail meet the airflow.

The effect may be subtle, but sailing quickly is often about accumulating subtle advantages.

Two centimetres here.

A tiny steering correction there.

A slight shift of body weight.

Another small ease of the sheet as the gust arrives.

None individually transforms the boat.

Together they can make the boat feel completely different.

This is one reason experienced sailors sometimes appear to be doing remarkably little.

They are not inactive.

They are simply making their corrections early enough and small enough that you hardly notice them.

Think of Trim as Continuous Rather Than Fixed

A useful change in thinking is to stop asking:

"Is my sail trimmed correctly?"

Instead ask:

"Is my sail trimmed correctly now?"

That final word changes everything.

Sail trim is not a setting.

It is a process.

The same applies to steering and balance.

You should not necessarily be making frantic adjustments every second. Over-control is almost as bad as no control.

The objective is to develop a continuous feedback loop:

Look - feel - adjust - observe.

Then repeat it.

Look

Look at the clues around you.

For example:

What are the tell-tales doing?
Is the leeward tell-tale beginning to lift?
Has the windward tell-tale started to flicker?
Is the leech opening too far?
Is a gust approaching?
Has the boat started to heel?
Has another boat nearby suddenly accelerated?
Has the water ahead become darker?
Are you entering a sheltered patch near the bank?

The clues often appear before the boat noticeably slows.

Feel

The boat also communicates through feel.

You may notice:

increasing pressure in the tiller;
reduced pressure in the sheet;
increasing heel;
the boat accelerating;
the boat beginning to feel sluggish;
the rudder needing more effort;
the crew suddenly needing to hike harder.

These are not isolated sensations.

They are information.

As I discussed in my article about feeling the helm, the tiller itself can act almost like a diagnostic instrument.

The sheets do something similar.

The load on the sheet tells you a great deal about what the sails are experiencing.

Adjust

Now make the smallest useful correction.

That might mean:

easing 2 cm of mainsheet;
trimming 3 cm of jib;
moving your weight slightly;
bearing away by a degree or two;
heading up very slightly;
allowing the boat to accelerate before trimming again.

Then observe what happened.

Did the boat accelerate?

Did the heel reduce?

Did the tell-tales stabilise?

Did the helm become lighter?

If so, you have learned something.

The Sheet Is Not an On-Off Control

Beginners often treat sheets rather like switches.

OUT

But a sheet is really a continuously variable control.

Think about the accelerator pedal in a car.

We do not normally drive by pressing the accelerator to the floor, then taking our foot completely off, then pressing it fully again.

We make tiny adjustments.

A sailor should begin to develop the same relationship with the sheets.

You may pull the jib in slightly as the boat accelerates.

Then ease it a fraction as the pressure increases.

Then trim again as the gust passes.

The movement might be hardly visible.

But the sail is being continually matched to the conditions.

A Practical Example: Sailing Into a Gust

Imagine we are sailing close-hauled.

Ahead of us is a darker patch on the water.

We have already recognised it as a gust.

A less experienced crew may wait until the gust hits.

The boat suddenly heels.

The helm becomes heavy.

Someone then releases a large amount of mainsheet.

The boat rolls upright.

The sheet is hauled back in.

There has been a lot of activity.

But much of it happened too late.

A more experienced sailor may handle exactly the same gust differently.

Before the gust reaches the boat:

the crew prepares to move slightly further out;
the helm anticipates the extra pressure;
the mainsheet is ready to be eased;
everyone is watching the water.

The gust arrives.

Perhaps only a small amount of sheet is eased.

The boat remains flatter.

It accelerates.

As the gust passes, the sheet is trimmed back in.

The entire event may involve only a few centimetres of sheet movement.

That is continuous trim rather than emergency trim.

Large Corrections Often Mean We Reacted Too Late

This is an interesting principle that applies far beyond sail trim.

If you regularly have to make very large corrections, ask yourself why.

The answer may be that you are reacting to what has already happened rather than anticipating what is about to happen.

If the boat has already heeled dramatically, you need a large correction.

If you recognise the approaching gust beforehand, the required correction may be tiny.

If the jib has already started flogging violently, you need a large trim.

If you notice the first movement of the tell-tale, you may need only a few centimetres.

It is rather like steering.

A boat allowed to wander well away from its intended course needs a substantial rudder movement.

A boat being continually monitored usually needs only tiny tiller movements.

Large corrections often cure mistakes. Small corrections often prevent them.

The Jib Is Particularly Interesting

When I crew, I often think of the jib as one of the boat's most important speed controls.

It is far more than simply a smaller sail at the front.

The airflow around the jib interacts with the mainsail, and changes in jib trim can alter the behaviour of the whole sail plan.

It is therefore worth developing the habit of keeping the sheet in your hand rather than treating the job as finished once the sail has been pulled in.

Watch the tell-tales.

Feel the load.

Look ahead at the water.

Make a tiny adjustment.

Then see what happens.

On some occasions you might ease several centimetres and feel the boat immediately accelerate.

That is one of the most satisfying pieces of feedback a sailor can receive.

You have not changed the wind.

You have simply made better use of it.

Champagne Makes This Especially Interesting

Our A-Rater Champagne is an excellent boat on which to observe this principle.

A long, narrow, powerful boat can make changes in trim surprisingly obvious.

There are substantial loads in the sheets, blocks and rig, yet the difference between a good setting and a very good setting may still involve remarkably little movement.

It also makes wonderful material for photography and video.

A wide photograph of a sailing boat does not necessarily reveal what the crew are actually doing.

A close-up might.

Film the sheet passing through the block.

Watch a hand ease perhaps three centimetres.

Watch the boat's response.

Look at the tell-tales immediately afterwards.

That tiny sequence can explain more about good sail trim than a photograph of somebody hauling dramatically on a sheet.

Try a Simple Exercise

The next time you are sailing in moderate conditions, try deliberately experimenting.

Get the boat settled on a steady course.

Look carefully at:

boat speed;
heel;
tell-tales;
helm pressure;
sheet load.

Now ease the sheet just 2 or 3 cm.

Not 30 cm.

Watch.

What changed?

Perhaps nothing obvious happened.

Try another tiny amount.

Does the boat feel freer?

Did it accelerate?

Did the leech open slightly?

Then trim it back.

Compare the result.

Do the same thing with the jib.

The objective is not merely to find the "correct" position.

It is to train yourself to recognise how sensitive the boat is to surprisingly small changes.

Use Your Fingers as a Measuring Tool

There is another very simple practical technique.

Rather than thinking in metres of rope, start thinking in hand-sized increments.

One finger width.

Two fingers.

A palm width.

You quickly develop a physical feel for adjustment.

For example:

"Ease two fingers."

"Trim one hand."

That can be much more useful aboard a boat than vague instructions such as:

"Let it out a bit."

It also encourages smaller, controlled changes.

Watch the Tell-Tales While Someone Else Adjusts

This makes an excellent coaching exercise.

One person concentrates on steering.

Another controls the jib.

Make very small sheet adjustments while somebody else watches the tell-tales continuously.

Try moving the sheet only a few centimetres at a time.

You begin to see how surprisingly sensitive airflow can be.

The exercise becomes even more effective if somebody films a close-up of the tell-tales.

Later, slow the video down.

You may see changes that were difficult to recognise in real time.

Continuous Trim Does Not Mean Constant Fiddling

There is an important distinction here.

Continuous awareness does not mean constantly yanking ropes backwards and forwards.

That can be slower.

Every unnecessary movement disturbs the sail.

Every large steering movement increases rudder drag.

Every unnecessary weight movement can upset the balance of the boat.

The aim is not constant movement.

The aim is constant attention.

Sometimes the best adjustment is no adjustment at all.

But it should be a conscious decision.

You have looked.

You have felt.

Everything is working.

Leave it alone.

Small Helm Movements Matter Too

The same principle applies to the tiller.

A rudder produces drag.

Large rudder angles produce considerably more drag.

If the boat is continually wandering left and right and being corrected with large tiller movements, energy is being wasted.

A well-balanced boat often needs surprisingly small steering inputs.

That connects sail trim, boat balance and steering.

If the boat develops excessive weather helm, the solution may not simply be to pull harder on the tiller.

Perhaps the boat is heeling too much.

Perhaps the mainsail is too tight.

Perhaps the crew weight needs adjusting.

Correct the cause and the steering correction becomes smaller.

Again, small adjustments are usually telling us that the whole boat is working together.

Small Weight Movements Can Be Just as Important

Imagine the wind increases slightly.

The boat begins to heel.

You could wait.

Eventually the heel becomes obvious and somebody moves dramatically across the boat.

But moving a little earlier may mean moving much less.

A small shift of upper-body weight can sometimes be enough.

Likewise, in very light winds, moving only a few centimetres may improve fore-and-aft trim or help the boat remain balanced.

Experienced sailors become extremely sensitive to this.

They rarely wait until the boat is obviously wrong.

They keep it close to right.

The Boat Should Look Surprisingly Calm

This leads to something I increasingly notice when watching very good sailors.

A fast boat does not necessarily look busy.

Often it looks calm.

The crew are moving.

The sheets are moving.

The helm is steering.

But nothing is frantic.

Corrections happen early.

The boat remains balanced.

The sails remain attached to the airflow.

The rudder stays close to the centreline.

The hull keeps moving forwards.

Compare that with a boat where everything happens dramatically:

sheet in;

sheet out;

huge rudder movement;

crew scrambling across the boat;

boat heeling;

boat rolling upright;

sheet hauled back again.

There may be much more visible activity but considerably less useful forward motion.

Anticipation Changes Everything

This is where several of the ideas in this series begin to join together.

Read the water.

If you can see the gust coming, you do not need such a large reaction.

Recognise headers and lifts.

If you notice the wind direction changing early, your response can be smaller.

Feel the helm.

If you detect increasing weather helm before it becomes excessive, you can rebalance the boat.

Keep the boat flat.

If you respond to pressure before the heel becomes dramatic, less energy is wasted.

Trim continuously.

If you notice changes early, two centimetres may really be enough.

These are not separate skills.

They form one larger skill:

awareness.

A Useful Challenge: Sail for Five Minutes Without a Big Correction

Here is an exercise worth trying.

Choose a relatively clear stretch of water and sail normally for five minutes.

Challenge yourself to avoid any unnecessarily large correction.

No sudden half-metre mainsheet movements unless genuinely required.

No huge tiller sweeps.

No dramatic crew movements.

Instead:

look further ahead;
anticipate gusts;
monitor tell-tales;
feel sheet pressure;
notice heel early;
make small adjustments.

You may be surprised by how much calmer the boat becomes.

You may also discover something more interesting.

It may become faster.

The Difference Between Reacting and Sailing

At first, sailing can feel like a sequence of events happening to us.

The wind increases.

We react.

The boat heels.

We react.

The sail flaps.

We react.

The boat turns.

We react.

As experience develops, that relationship begins to change.

We start looking ahead.

We see the gust.

We recognise the wind shift.

We feel the loading change.

We notice the first degree of heel.

Then we make a small correction before the large one becomes necessary.

That is an important transition.

We stop merely reacting to the boat.

We start sailing it.

The Fastest Adjustment May Be the One Nobody Notices

There is something wonderfully counter-intuitive about sailing.

Speed does not always come from dramatic action.

Sometimes it comes from doing almost nothing.

Ease two centimetres.

Move your shoulders.

Turn the tiller a fraction.

Trim again.

Then leave everything alone.

The difference between two boats may not be that one crew is working vastly harder.

It may simply be that one crew is noticing changes sooner.

And because they notice sooner, their corrections can remain smaller.

That is why the next time you find yourself hauling a metre of sheet, it is worth asking:

Could I have recognised the change earlier and moved only ten centimetres?

And eventually:

Could I have moved only two?

Because in sailing, the biggest improvement may sometimes come from making a much smaller adjustment.

Return to pmrsailing.uk https://pmrsailing.uk/sailing-lessons/How-to-sail-better.html

Tuesday, 22 September 2026

Sail Trim Is Not “Pull It In Until It Looks Right”

Two boats can have identical sails and completely different speeds.

Put two identical dinghies side by side, give them the same sails, the same wind and broadly similar crews, and one can gradually sail away from the other.

Nothing obvious appears to be wrong.

Both boats are pointing in roughly the same direction.

Both mainsails are full.

Both jibs look reasonably tidy.

Neither crew appears to be making a terrible mistake.

And yet one boat is simply faster.

Quite often, the difference is sail trim.

One crew has pulled the sheets in until the sails look approximately right.

The other crew is constantly asking:

What is the air actually doing?

That is a very different approach to sailing.

For me, this becomes particularly noticeable when crewing an RS Toura or sailing aboard the A-Rater Champagne. Working the jib can sometimes feel rather like operating the boat's turbocharger. A surprisingly small adjustment can change the power, acceleration, heel and even the feel of the helm.

Sail trim is not something you set once.

It is something you continually adjust.

A Sail Is an Aerodynamic Surface

A sail is not simply a piece of cloth that catches the wind.

When a sailing boat is reaching or sailing upwind, the sails behave much more like aerodynamic wings.

Air flows around both sides of the sail and the curved shape helps generate a force that can be resolved into:

a component driving the boat forwards;
a sideways component resisted by the centreboard, keel or hull.

For that process to work efficiently, the airflow has to remain reasonably well attached to the sail.

If the sheet is too loose, the sail may flap or the airflow around it may be poorly organised.

But pulling it in too far does not solve the problem.

An over-sheeted sail can also disturb the airflow.

This is one of the first important lessons in sail trim:

Tighter does not automatically mean faster.

The Beginner's Natural Instinct

When learning to sail, there is a natural tendency to pull a sail in until it stops flapping.

That is actually a perfectly sensible starting point.

Ease the sail until it begins to luff.

Then pull it back in until the luff just disappears.

For a beginner, that simple technique works remarkably well.

The problem comes when we unconsciously add another 10 or 20 centimetres of sheet because the sail somehow looks more secure.

The sail becomes flatter against the centreline of the boat.

It looks neat.

It looks powerful.

But it may actually be slower.

The sail is not there to look tidy.

It is there to manage airflow.

Tell-Tales: Tiny Pieces of Wool That Tell a Big Story

One of the simplest ways of finding out what the air is doing is to look at the tell-tales.

These small pieces of wool, ribbon or lightweight material can give an immediate indication of the airflow over the sail.

On a jib there are commonly tell-tales positioned on both sides of the sail near the luff.

When sailing upwind efficiently, we generally want the tell-tales on both sides streaming backwards reasonably smoothly.

If the windward tell-tale rises repeatedly, the boat may be sailing too close to the wind for the current trim.

The helm may need to bear away slightly, or the sail trim may need reconsidering.

If the leeward tell-tale is struggling or lifting, the sail may be over-sheeted for the angle of sailing.

Again, the important lesson is not simply to memorise a rule.

It is to realise that the tell-tales are showing us what the airflow is doing.

They are miniature aerodynamic instruments.

Stop Looking Only at the Bottom of the Sail

There is another trap.

Many sailors look at the lower part of the sail because it is conveniently at eye level.

But conditions several metres above the water can be quite different.

The upper part of the sail matters enormously.

This brings us to one of the most important concepts in sail trim:

Twist

Look up the leech of a well-trimmed sail.

The upper part of the sail will normally be angled differently from the lower section.

The sail is effectively twisted from bottom to top.

This is deliberate.

The wind experienced by the upper part of the sail is not exactly the same as the wind experienced lower down.

Wind speed generally increases with height above the water because the surface slows the air nearest to it.

The apparent wind experienced by different parts of the sail can therefore vary.

If we tried to force every part of the sail to exactly the same angle, some parts might work efficiently while others stalled.

Allowing the sail to twist lets different heights of the sail operate at more appropriate angles to the local airflow.

Watch the Leech

The leech is the trailing edge of the sail.

Its shape can tell us a great deal about trim.

A leech that is pulled excessively tight can become hooked towards the centreline of the boat.

That can interfere with the air trying to leave the sail.

Instead of producing clean flow, we can create extra drag.

On the mainsail, tell-tales near the leech can be particularly useful.

If the upper tell-tale is permanently disappearing behind the sail rather than streaming aft, the top of the sail may be too closed.

The answer may be to allow the leech to open slightly.

That could involve easing the mainsheet or altering the other sail controls available on the boat.

Again, there is no magic sheet position.

We look at what the sail is telling us.

The Mainsheet Does More Than Move the Boom

Beginners often think of the mainsheet as a simple control:

Pull it in and the boom comes in.

That is true.

But it is only part of the story.

The mainsheet can also affect leech tension and therefore the amount of twist in the mainsail.

On many dinghies, pulling the mainsheet hard while sailing close-hauled does not simply move the boom towards the centreline.

It also pulls downwards.

That can tighten the leech.

The upper part of the sail closes.

Sometimes that is exactly what is required.

Sometimes it is the reason the boat suddenly feels heavy, slow and difficult to steer.

This is why blindly pulling harder can be counterproductive.

The Jib Sheet Is Not Just an On-Off Control

The jib deserves just as much attention.

In some ways, I think of the jib as the boat's turbocharger.

That description is not technically literal, of course, but it captures the sensation remarkably well.

Trim the jib correctly and the boat suddenly feels as though it wants to accelerate.

Trim it badly and the whole rig can feel lifeless.

When I am working the jib, particularly in changing inland conditions, I rarely want to think:

"The sheet belongs here."

Instead I want to think:

"Does the sheet belong here now?"

There is an important difference.

A gust arrives.

The boat accelerates.

The apparent wind changes.

The boat heels.

The helm responds.

And the correct sheet position can change with it.

The Main and Jib Work Together

It is tempting to think of the jib and mainsail as two separate engines.

They are not.

The airflow around one affects the other.

The slot between the jib and mainsail is particularly important when sailing upwind.

Pull the jib in much too hard and the gap can become too restricted.

The airflow through the slot may be compromised and the back of the mainsail may show signs of disturbed flow.

Ease the jib too far and it may no longer be operating effectively.

The aim is not to create the smallest possible gap between the sails.

The aim is to create an efficient aerodynamic system.

This is where a crew trimming the jib becomes much more than somebody holding a rope.

The jib trimmer can be continuously watching:

luff tell-tales;
leech shape;
heel;
changes in wind strength;
the relationship between jib and mainsail;
acceleration after a gust or tack.

That information can then be passed to the helm.

On a larger or faster boat, this teamwork becomes increasingly important.

Light Winds: Do Not Strangle the Sails

Light wind creates a particularly interesting problem.

The temptation is often to pull everything tight in an attempt to extract every last bit of power.

That can be exactly the wrong thing to do.

In very light conditions there is little energy available in the airflow.

A sail that is over-sheeted can make it difficult for that weak airflow to remain attached.

The boat can feel sticky and reluctant to accelerate.

Often the better approach is to allow the sails to breathe.

Ease slightly.

Maintain shape.

Keep the boat moving smoothly.

Avoid unnecessary rudder movements.

And watch the tell-tales carefully.

A centimetre or two of sheet movement can sometimes make a surprising difference.

This is also why stopping the boat in light winds is so costly.

Once moving, the boat creates its own apparent wind.

Lose that motion and the entire aerodynamic system weakens.

Moderate Winds: The Boat Comes Alive

Moderate winds can make trimming easier because there is enough airflow for the tell-tales to respond clearly and enough power for changes to become noticeable.

This is an excellent time to experiment.

Try easing the jib very slightly.

What happens to boat speed?

What happens to pointing?

What happens to heel?

Pull it back in.

Does the boat feel more powerful?

Does the helm become heavier?

Does the leeward tell-tale start misbehaving?

Rather than thinking of sheet position as right or wrong, think of it as an experiment.

Change something. Observe the result.

That is one of the quickest ways to become a better sailor.

Stronger Winds: Power Is No Longer the Only Objective

Once the wind increases, the problem changes.

We may already have more power than we can efficiently use.

Now sail trim becomes partly about depowering.

If the boat is heeling excessively, simply fighting harder against it is not necessarily the fastest solution.

We can change the sail trim.

The sails can be flattened.

The leech can be allowed to open.

The sheet can be eased during stronger gusts.

The objective is to keep the boat driving rather than allowing it to become overloaded.

This connects directly with another important sailing principle:

Keeping the boat reasonably flat is usually fast.

Excessive heel can increase drag, reduce centreboard efficiency and produce heavy weather helm.

Correct sail trim helps prevent that situation before it develops.

The Gust Arrives — Your Trim May Need to Change

Imagine we are sailing upwind and see a dark gust line approaching across the water.

Before the gust arrives, everything may be nicely balanced.

Then the pressure hits.

The sails suddenly produce more force.

The boat heels.

The helm loads up.

What should happen?

Perhaps the crew moves weight.

Perhaps the mainsheet is eased.

Perhaps the jib is adjusted.

Perhaps the helm changes course slightly.

The exact response depends on the boat and the conditions.

But the important point is this:

The trim that was correct five seconds ago may not be correct now.

That is why good sail trim is active rather than static.

Then the Gust Passes

The reverse problem occurs when the gust disappears.

Imagine easing the sails during a strong puff and then forgetting to trim them again.

The pressure falls.

The boat becomes underpowered.

Speed drops.

Someone wonders where all the performance went.

The answer may simply be that the sails are still trimmed for the gust that disappeared ten seconds ago.

This constant cycle is especially noticeable when sailing inland.

The wind over rivers and small lakes is rarely completely steady.

Trees, buildings, banks and surrounding terrain all influence the airflow.

The crew may therefore be trimming frequently.

Not wildly.

Not constantly hauling metres of rope.

Often the movements are surprisingly small.

But those small corrections accumulate.

Champagne Makes This Particularly Interesting

The A-Rater Champagne makes sail trim especially fascinating.

An A-Rater is a very different proposition from a conventional training dinghy.

Its long, fast hull and substantial rig mean that changes in power can become immediately noticeable.

There is also considerably more going on than simply asking whether the sail is flapping.

When the boat accelerates, the apparent wind changes.

When the apparent wind changes, the ideal sail trim changes.

When the sail trim changes, the boat may accelerate again.

So there is a feedback loop.

That can make working the jib enormously rewarding.

When everything comes together, the boat does not merely feel as though somebody has pulled another rope.

It feels as though the whole boat has suddenly been released.

That is the sensation behind my description of the jib as the turbocharger.

The RS Toura Teaches the Same Lesson

The RS Toura offers the same underlying lesson in a rather different way.

It is an excellent platform for noticing how coordinated crew work affects the boat.

The helm can concentrate on:

course;
balance;
wind shifts;
other boats.

The crew can watch:

jib tell-tales;
sheet tension;
approaching gusts;
boat heel;
sail shape.

Instead of waiting for the helm to say:

"Can you ease the jib?"

the crew begins to anticipate the requirement.

That is when sailing starts becoming genuinely collaborative.

The boat begins to feel as though it is being sailed by a team rather than by one person steering while everybody else follows instructions.

A Simple Exercise: Deliberately Get It Wrong

One of the best ways to learn sail trim is deliberately to make mistakes.

In suitable conditions and with plenty of clear water, sail on a steady course.

First, pull the jib sheet too tight.

Observe:

the tell-tales;
boat speed;
heel;
helm feel.

Then ease it too far.

Observe the same things.

Finally, gradually trim towards the point where the airflow looks best and the boat feels fastest.

Do the same with the mainsail.

This is extremely valuable because students begin to associate what they see with what they feel.

A textbook can tell you that a sail is over-sheeted.

Actually experiencing an over-sheeted sail teaches the lesson much more effectively.

Use the Boat as an Instrument

Eventually, you should not need to stare at the sails every second.

The boat itself begins providing clues.

Has the tiller suddenly become heavy?

Has the boat stopped accelerating?

Has the heel increased?

Has the bow started making more wash without any obvious increase in speed?

Has the boat suddenly felt lively after a tiny ease of the jib?

These are all pieces of information.

Good sailors gradually combine:

what they see + what they feel + what the tell-tales show + what the boat does

That is sail trim.

Do Not Chase Perfection Every Second

There is another important point, particularly for sailors who are still learning.

You do not need to spend the entire sail frantically moving sheets by millimetres.

The aim is not nervous constant adjustment.

It is awareness.

If the wind is steady and the boat feels fast, leave things alone.

When the conditions change, respond.

The better you become, the earlier you notice those changes.

You may see the gust on the water.

You may feel the pressure change through the sheet.

You may notice a tell-tale beginning to lift.

Eventually the adjustment happens almost automatically.

Sail Trim Is Really Airflow Management

The phrase “trim the sails” can make the process sound like tidying them up.

But that is not really what we are doing.

We are controlling aerodynamic surfaces.

We are trying to maintain useful airflow.

We are adjusting power.

We are controlling heel.

We are responding to apparent wind.

And we are balancing several parts of the rig so that they work together rather than against one another.

The mainsheet is not simply a rope that pulls the boom in.

The jib sheet is not simply something that stops the jib flapping.

The tell-tales are not decorative pieces of wool.

And the leech is not just the back edge of the sail.

They are all part of an aerodynamic system.

That is why two boats with identical sails can travel at completely different speeds.

One crew may have pulled the sheets in until everything looks right.

The other crew is still listening to what the sails are telling them.

And very often, that is the boat sailing away.

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