Points of Sail — Your First Sailing Road Map
Once you understand the points of sail, sailing suddenly starts to look less like magic and more like navigation.
One of the first things a new sailor discovers is that a sailing boat cannot simply point in any direction, pull the sails in and expect everything to work.
The direction of the wind matters.
A lot.
Change the angle of the boat to the wind and you also have to change the position of the sails. Some directions make the boat feel fast and lively. Others are calmer and easier to understand. Point too close to the wind and eventually the sails begin flapping and the boat stops.
That relationship between the direction of the boat and the direction of the wind is what sailors mean when they talk about the points of sail.
At first the names can sound like another batch of mysterious sailing terminology:
close hauled;
close reach;
beam reach;
broad reach;
run.
But there is a surprisingly simple way of understanding them.
Imagine a clock.
Put the wind at 12 o'clock.
Suddenly the whole thing starts to make sense.
The PMR Sailing Clock Face
Imagine looking down from directly above your sailing dinghy.
The wind is blowing towards you from 12 o'clock.
Your boat can sail around much of the clock face, but there is an important area near 12 o'clock where it cannot sail directly.
If you remember the previous lesson, this is the no-go zone.
A conventional sailing boat cannot simply point straight into the wind and continue sailing forwards. Get too close to the wind and the sails stop producing useful driving force.
But turn the boat slightly away from 12 o'clock and everything changes.
On either side of the no-go zone we begin with close hauled.
Turn further away and we move through:
Close hauled -> close reach -> beam reach -> broad reach -> run
And as we move around that clock face, there is another very useful rule.
The further away from the wind you turn, the further out the sails normally go.
That one idea will take a beginner an extraordinarily long way.
1. Close Hauled — Sailing as Close to the Wind as We Can
Imagine the wind is coming from 12 o'clock.
Your boat might be heading approximately towards 1:30 or 10:30.
You are not sailing directly into the wind, but you are sailing as close towards it as the boat can efficiently manage.
This is called close hauled.
The sails are pulled in relatively tightly towards the centreline of the boat.
You will probably hear someone say:
"Sheet in."
That means pulling the sheet so that the sail comes further towards the boat.
On many dinghies, close hauled feels quite purposeful. The boat may heel as the wind loads the sails, and everything suddenly feels much more like what newcomers imagine "proper sailing" to be.
It is also the point of sail that lets us make progress towards somewhere that lies upwind.
Not directly towards it — but gradually, by sailing a zigzag course.
More on that shortly.
What should the sails look like?
On close hauled:
the mainsail is pulled in relatively tightly;
the jib is also sheeted in;
the sails should be reasonably smooth rather than flapping;
the boat is pointing fairly close towards the wind.
Do not make the common beginner mistake of assuming that "tighter must always be better".
If the sails are pulled in too far, they can become inefficient.
Sailing is often about finding the right position rather than simply pulling harder.
2. Close Reach — Turn Away a Little
Now turn the boat slightly further away from the wind.
Perhaps on our imaginary clock the bow is pointing somewhere around 2 o'clock or 10 o'clock.
You are now on a close reach.
The sails need to be eased out a little.
This is an important beginner lesson.
If the boat changes direction but the sailor does nothing with the sheets, the sails may no longer be correctly adjusted.
So as the boat bears away from the wind:
ease the sails.
Not necessarily dramatically.
Just enough to keep them working efficiently.
A close reach is often a comfortable and fairly quick point of sail. The boat still feels positive, but compared with close hauled it may feel slightly less demanding.
3. Beam Reach — The Beginner's Best Friend
Now imagine the wind is still coming from 12 o'clock but the boat is pointing towards 3 o'clock.
Or 9 o'clock.
The wind is now coming more or less directly across the side — or beam — of the boat.
This is a beam reach.
For beginners, this is one of the most useful points of sail to learn first.
Why?
Because several things become easier to recognise.
The wind direction is relatively obvious.
The sails are neither pulled in tightly nor completely let out.
The boat normally makes good forward progress.
And if you turn a little towards or away from the wind, you can immediately see how the sail trim needs to change.
That makes the beam reach a wonderful teaching position.
What should the sails look like?
On a beam reach, the sails are normally eased considerably compared with close hauled.
As a very rough beginner's picture, think of the sails as being somewhere around halfway out.
The exact position depends on the boat, the wind and the conditions, so this is not a measurement to be taken literally.
The more useful technique is:
Ease the sail slowly until it just begins to flap at the front edge, then sheet it back in slightly until the flapping stops.
That begins to introduce the real skill of sail trimming.
You are not memorising one fixed rope position.
You are looking at the sail and responding to what it tells you.
A Simple Practical Exercise: Start on a Beam Reach
If I were introducing someone to steering and sail control for the first time, I would normally want them to experience a beam reach quite early.
Imagine we are sailing across a fairly open piece of water with plenty of room.
The first exercise might be very simple.
Put the boat onto a beam reach.
Hold a steady course.
Look at where the wind is coming from.
Ease the mainsheet slightly.
Watch the front of the sail.
When it begins to flap, pull the sheet in gently until the flapping disappears.
Keep looking ahead rather than staring permanently at the sail.
That small exercise teaches several things simultaneously.
You are steering.
You are feeling the wind.
You are adjusting the sail.
You are seeing the effect of your adjustment.
And, most importantly, you are beginning to understand that sailing is a continual conversation between the boat and the wind.
4. Broad Reach — Let the Sails Out Further
Continue turning away from the wind.
Your boat may now be pointing towards roughly 4:30 or 7:30 on our sailing clock.
This is a broad reach.
The wind is now coming from behind the boat, but still from one side.
The sails are eased out further.
Broad reaching can be tremendous fun.
In a decent breeze the boat may accelerate noticeably. In some dinghies it can feel beautifully balanced and fast.
But there is something important happening here.
The boom is now further away from the centreline of the boat.
That means that if the boat changes direction or the wind shifts, the boom can move through a much larger arc.
Beginners therefore need to start developing an awareness of where the boom is.
Sailing instructors develop a remarkable habit of automatically ducking.
There is a reason.
5. Run — Sailing Away from the Wind
Finally, turn until the boat is travelling approximately in the same direction as the wind.
On our clock face, with the wind coming from 12 o'clock, the boat is now heading towards 6 o'clock.
This is called a run or sailing downwind.
The sails are eased well out.
It looks as though this should be the easiest possible point of sail.
After all, the wind is simply behind you.
And in some respects it is simple.
But beginners can sometimes find running less comfortable than expected.
Why?
Because when the wind comes directly from behind, small changes in direction can cause the sail and boom to move from one side of the boat to the other.
If that happens unintentionally, the boat may perform an accidental gybe.
That can make the boom cross the boat very quickly.
So although sailing downwind may appear easy, it requires awareness.
For the beginner, a broad reach is often more controlled than sailing dead downwind.
The Simple Sail-Position Rule
If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this:
Towards the wind: sails in.
Away from the wind: sails out.
Or, using our sailing clock:
Close hauled — sails well in
Close reach — ease slightly
Beam reach — ease further
Broad reach — sails well out
Run — sails almost completely out
That is not a perfect scientific rule.
Sail trim is a much richer subject, and later we can talk about telltales, sail shape, twist and airflow.
But for someone stepping into a dinghy for the first few times, it is an extremely useful mental map.
But How Do We Sail Somewhere Upwind?
This is where the points of sail suddenly become much more than vocabulary.
Imagine the place you want to reach lies directly towards 12 o'clock.
Unfortunately, the wind is also coming from 12 o'clock.
You cannot simply point the boat there.
So instead you sail close hauled on one side.
Then you turn the bow through the wind — a manoeuvre called tacking.
You then sail close hauled on the other side.
Your route becomes a zigzag.
You are never sailing directly into the wind, but each leg takes you partly towards your destination.
This is one of those moments when sailing begins to feel slightly miraculous.
You can use wind coming from the direction you want to travel to help you get there.
Not directly.
But very effectively.
Heading Up and Bearing Away
There are two more expressions worth learning because instructors use them constantly.
If you turn the bow towards the wind, you are heading up.
If you turn the bow away from the wind, you are bearing away.
These movements immediately affect sail trim.
If you head up:
sheet in.
If you bear away:
ease out.
Again, this is a simplified beginner's rule, but it creates an excellent habit.
Imagine turning gradually around our clock face.
Starting on a run at 6 o'clock and heading towards 3 o'clock:
the sails progressively come in.
Continue towards close hauled:
they come in further.
Turn back towards 6 o'clock:
they progressively go out again.
That connection between steering and sail position is one of the foundations of sailing.
Don't Stare at the Ropes
One of the easiest beginner habits to develop is looking down into the boat.
You start thinking:
"Where should this sheet be?"
So you stare at your hands.
Meanwhile the boat gradually turns through 30 degrees.
Now the wind angle has changed.
Which means the sail position you were carefully adjusting is wrong anyway.
Try instead to develop a simple sequence:
Look ahead.
Feel the wind.
Look at the sail.
Adjust the sheet.
Look ahead again.
Eventually the process becomes almost automatic.
The Boat Will Tell You When Something Is Wrong
Sailing becomes much easier once you realise that the boat constantly gives you information.
If you turn too close towards the wind:
the sail begins to flap.
If you bear away without easing:
the sails may feel heavily loaded and badly positioned.
If you ease too far:
the front of the sail may begin flapping.
If everything is roughly right:
the sail fills smoothly and the boat accelerates.
Beginners sometimes imagine that experienced sailors somehow know the perfect sail position by calculation.
Usually we are doing something much simpler.
We are constantly observing.
The wind changes.
The boat changes direction.
We adjust.
Then we adjust again.
A Useful Exercise: Sail the Clock Face
Once you can steer reasonably confidently, try turning the idea into a practical exercise.
Start on a beam reach.
Then gradually head up towards a close reach.
Sheet in slightly.
Continue towards close hauled.
Sheet in further.
Now bear away again.
Ease the sail.
Return through the beam reach.
Continue to a broad reach.
Ease further.
Eventually approach a run.
Then reverse the exercise.
You are effectively sailing around the PMR Sailing Clock Face.
Do it slowly.
The objective is not speed.
The objective is to make the connection:
Boat direction -> wind angle -> sail position -> boat response.
Once that connection settles into your mind, a great deal of sailing suddenly becomes logical.
What Beginners Often Get Wrong
"I've turned the boat, but nothing has happened"
You probably forgot to adjust the sails.
Steering and sail trim work together.
"The sail is flapping"
You may be too close to the wind, or the sheet may be too loose.
Look at the wind direction before simply pulling ropes.
"The boat suddenly slowed down"
Again, check your angle to the wind.
A perfectly good sail setting can become wrong because the boat has changed direction.
"We're going downwind, so surely I pull the sail in to catch more wind?"
Usually the opposite.
As you turn away from the wind, the sails generally need to be eased further out.
"I thought sailing downwind would be easiest"
It can be straightforward, but watch the boom and be aware of accidental gybes.
For early practice, a beam reach is often much easier to understand.
Why the Beam Reach Is Such a Good Starting Point
For a beginner, I would much rather establish control on a beam reach than immediately insist on perfect close-hauled sailing.
A beam reach lets someone experience what a working sailing boat feels like.
You can steer.
You can see the effect of the mainsheet.
You can feel acceleration.
You can turn gently towards and away from the wind.
And because you are not right on the edge of the no-go zone, small steering errors are usually more forgiving.
That confidence matters.
There is plenty of time later for precise tacking angles and perfect sail trim.
The first objective is to make the boat respond predictably.
Try This Next Time You Are at the Club
Before launching, stand beside the water and work out where the wind is coming from.
Imagine the clock face floating over the sailing area.
Ask yourself:
Where would 12 o'clock be?
Where would a beam reach take me?
Which direction would be close hauled?
Where is directly downwind?
Where is the no-go zone?
Then, when you get into the boat, see whether the picture still makes sense.
It probably will.
And that is when sailing starts becoming much less mysterious.
Instead of simply pulling ropes and hoping for the best, you begin to know why the boat is behaving as it does.
Your First Sailing Road Map
The points of sail are not merely names to memorise for a sailing course.
They are your first genuine map of how a sailing boat moves through the wind.
With the wind at 12 o'clock:
Close hauled: sail as close towards the wind as the boat allows.
Close reach: turn a little further away and ease the sails slightly.
Beam reach: sail across the wind with the sails further out.
Broad reach: the wind comes increasingly from behind and the sails are eased further.
Run: sail downwind with the sails well out.
And sitting above it all is the no-go zone — the part of the clock where the boat cannot sail directly.
Once that picture is fixed in your mind, many other sailing skills become easier.
Tacking starts to make sense.
Sail trimming starts to make sense.
Planning a route starts to make sense.
Even instructions shouted from another boat begin to sound less mysterious.
"Bear away!"
"Ease the main!"
"Come onto a beam reach!"
You suddenly know what everyone is talking about.
And perhaps that is the real moment when learning to sail begins.
The boat has not changed.
The wind has not changed.
But now you have a road map.
Understand the wind. Understand where the boat sits on the clock face. Adjust the sails to match — and suddenly sailing stops looking like magic.
My name is Philip. I started sailing when I was 65.
I joined a club and because my son had already been part of a club for many years - borrowing all types of boat. He knew what we needed and the type of boat I would require.
So we did by an RS Toura - a virtually unsinkable dinghy which has given me the confidence to experiment and learn and take my RYA exams and become a competent sailor and then to move up to the boat of my dreams - the A-Rater.
Coming up Next Lesson Lesson 9: Your First Ten Minutes at the Helm.
Your first few minutes steering a sailing dinghy can be wonderfully confusing.
Want the boat to go left?
Move the tiller right.
Then overcorrect.
Then correct the correction.
Then discover you've invented sailing in zig-zags.
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