14. Coming Home — How to Slow Down, Stop and Arrive Where You Intended
Every successful sailing trip needs one final skill: stopping where you intended to stop.
For a beginner, getting a sailing boat moving can feel like the great achievement.
You have rigged the boat, pushed away from the bank, found the wind, trimmed the sails and discovered that the boat really does go where you point it.
Eventually, however, another question occurs.
How do I stop it?
There is no brake pedal.
There is no reverse gear conveniently sitting beside the tiller.
You cannot simply take your foot off the accelerator.
And unlike a car, a sailing boat does not instantly stop producing power simply because you want it to.
The good news is that a sailing boat can be slowed remarkably effectively once you understand how to remove the driving force from the sails.
The even better news is that good sailors rarely think simply about stopping.
They think about planning an approach.
That distinction is important.
Whether you are returning to a pontoon, sailing towards a mooring, approaching a landing stage or simply coming back to the riverbank at the end of a session, the aim is not to arrive at the destination at full speed and somehow stop at the last moment.
The aim is to arrange the final few boat lengths so that the boat is progressively losing power and arrives almost stopped.
That is what we are going to learn.
A Sailing Boat Does Have Brakes — They Are Just Different
Your first sailing lesson may have taught you that the sails make the boat go.
Now we can use exactly the same idea in reverse.
If properly trimmed sails produce driving force, then deliberately allowing them to stop producing driving force slows the boat down.
The simplest method is usually:
Ease the sails.
Let the mainsheet out and the sail begins to flap rather than drive the boat strongly forwards.
But there is an even more effective way.
Turn the bow towards the wind.
As the boat heads closer towards the wind, the sails lose their ability to generate useful driving force.
Turn completely head to wind and the sails will normally flap.
The boat slows.
Eventually it stops.
So the beginner's first braking system is remarkably simple:
Turn towards the wind and let the sails go.
Try This Before You Go Anywhere Near a Pontoon
One of the best exercises for a beginner is simply learning what stopping feels like in open water.
Do not make your first experiment with stopping while approaching something expensive.
Choose an area with plenty of space.
Sail along on a comfortable reach.
Then:
Look around and make sure the area ahead is clear.
Ease the mainsheet.
Gently turn the boat towards the wind.
Allow the sail to flap.
Keep the boat pointing approximately into the wind.
Notice how far the boat continues travelling before it stops.
Then do it again.
And again.
Try beginning at slightly different speeds.
You will quickly discover something very important:
A sailing boat does not stop instantly.
It has momentum.
Even when the sail stops driving, the boat continues moving through the water.
That distance varies enormously depending upon:
boat speed;
boat weight;
wind strength;
current or tide;
waves;
whether the sails are still partly filled;
the type of boat.
Learning that stopping distance is rather like learning the braking distance of a car.
You develop a feel for it.
The Secret Is Not Stopping — It Is Arriving Slowly
Beginners often concentrate almost entirely on the destination.
There is the pontoon.
There is the bank.
There is the mooring buoy.
So they steer directly towards it.
Unfortunately, steering directly towards something does not necessarily produce a good sailing approach.
Imagine sailing towards a pontoon with the wind directly behind you.
The sails are full.
The boat is accelerating.
The pontoon is getting closer.
You ease the mainsheet.
But the sail may still remain full because the wind is pushing it forwards.
Suddenly the pontoon is very close indeed.
This is where sailing can become surprisingly exciting.
A better sailor starts planning much earlier.
Instead of thinking:
"How do I get to the pontoon?"
think:
"From which direction would I like to make the final approach?"
That one change in thinking makes an enormous difference.
Whenever Possible, Finish Into the Wind
If conditions allow, approaching approximately into the wind gives you a tremendously useful control.
The closer you point towards the wind, the less power the sails can generate.
That means that if you are going too fast, you can head slightly more towards the wind.
If you are slowing too early, you may be able to bear away slightly and allow the sails to fill again.
You are effectively controlling your speed by changing how much power the sails are allowed to produce.
A nice final approach might therefore look something like this:
Sailing normally -> begin final turn -> ease sails -> head towards wind -> lose speed -> arrive almost stopped
That is far more controlled than:
Sail quickly towards pontoon -> panic -> pull tiller somewhere -> hope
The second technique is surprisingly popular during first sailing lessons.
But Wind Is Not the Only Thing Moving the Boat
On rivers, estuaries and tidal waters there is another factor to consider.
Current.
A boat can have almost no speed through the water and still be moving over the ground because the water itself is moving.
This is why experienced sailors consider both:
wind direction;
direction and strength of current or tide.
Sometimes the tide or river flow may matter more than the wind.
The principle remains the same.
You generally want the final approach to be against the dominant force wherever practical because that gives you greater control and reduces your speed relative to the destination.
On relatively sheltered inland water, the wind may dominate.
On a strongly tidal river, current can become extremely important.
This is something beginners gradually learn to recognise.
A Very Useful Beginner Exercise — Stop Beside a Buoy
Before trying to arrive perfectly alongside a pontoon, practise with something forgiving.
A buoy makes an excellent target.
Choose one where practising is permitted and where there is plenty of clear water around it.
Start several boat lengths away.
Approach on a course that allows you gradually to turn towards the wind.
Your goal is not to hit the buoy.
Your goal is to make the boat stop beside it.
On your first attempt you may stop five metres short.
Fine.
On your second you might sail straight past it.
Also fine.
You are learning.
After several attempts you begin to judge how much momentum your particular boat carries.
Eventually you will find yourself easing the sails and making the turn almost instinctively.
That is when an important change begins to happen.
You stop merely steering the boat.
You start anticipating what the boat will do next.
That is one of the real milestones in learning to sail.
Think Three Boat Lengths Ahead
When beginners first sail, their attention is often concentrated on the boat immediately around them.
The tiller.
The mainsheet.
The boom.
Their feet.
Which side they are supposed to sit on.
Whether someone has just shouted something they were expected to understand.
As confidence grows, your vision needs to move further ahead.
When approaching a landing place, start asking questions several boat lengths before you arrive.
Where is the wind coming from?
What is the current doing?
Where are the other boats?
Where will I turn?
When will I ease the sail?
What happens if I stop too early?
And perhaps most importantly:
What is my escape route?
Always Have an Escape Route
This may be one of the most useful habits you can develop in sailing.
If the approach is wrong, abandon it.
Sail away.
Go around.
Try again.
There is absolutely no prize for completing a bad approach simply because you started it.
If you are approaching too quickly, too steeply or from a direction that no longer feels comfortable, turn away while you still have space.
Reset the boat.
Make another approach.
I have always thought this is an important lesson for beginners because there is a temptation to believe that once you have committed yourself to approaching the pontoon, you somehow have to finish the manoeuvre.
You do not.
Experienced sailors abandon approaches too.
The difference is that they normally recognise the problem earlier.
Prepare the Boat Before the Final Approach
Coming ashore becomes much easier if the boat and crew are ready before you reach the destination.
Do not wait until you are alongside the pontoon before remembering that the painter is buried beneath three lifejackets and somebody's lunch.
Before the final approach, decide:
where you are going;
which side of the boat will come alongside;
who will step ashore if necessary;
which rope will be used;
whether centreboard or daggerboard depth needs adjusting;
whether the rudder needs lifting in shallow water;
what will happen to the sails.
If sailing with a crew, communicate clearly.
Something as simple as:
"We're coming in on the starboard side. Could you have the bow line ready?"
is much better than suddenly shouting instructions two seconds before arrival.
Do Not Jump for the Shore
This deserves its own section because it is such a common temptation.
The pontoon is nearly within reach.
The boat is still moving.
Someone decides to leap ashore carrying a rope.
For a moment this can resemble an Olympic long-jump competition taking place from a moving dinghy.
It is usually unnecessary.
A well-planned approach should bring the boat close enough and slowly enough that somebody can step ashore.
If you have to jump, the approach probably was not quite finished.
There is another reason.
Jumping out suddenly removes your weight from the boat.
In a small dinghy, that can dramatically affect stability.
If the person staying aboard is not prepared, the result may be rather more entertaining than intended.
So the objective is simple:
Step ashore. Do not launch yourself ashore.
Never Use Your Hands or Feet as Fenders at Speed
If the approach goes wrong, there is another instinctive reaction to avoid.
Do not put a hand, arm, leg or foot between the boat and the pontoon in an attempt to stop the boat.
Boats can be repaired.
Fibreglass can be repaired.
Woodwork can be repaired.
People are rather more valuable.
If contact is unavoidable, control the boat as far as possible and let proper fenders or the boat's structure deal with it.
The real answer, however, remains the same:
approach slowly enough that significant impact should not occur.
What About Sailing Onto a Beach?
A beach landing introduces another set of considerations.
You need to know:
how shallow the water becomes;
whether there are rocks or other obstructions;
whether the centreboard can be raised;
whether the rudder can be lifted;
whether waves are present;
what the wind will do once you arrive.
A small dinghy approaching a gently shelving beach may need the centreboard progressively raised as the water becomes shallower.
The rudder may also need lifting before it strikes the bottom.
But remember what happens when you raise the centreboard.
The boat loses some of its resistance to sideways movement.
Handling can change.
Again, preparation matters.
Coming Onto a Mooring
Picking up a mooring buoy is another excellent exercise in controlled stopping.
The principle is similar.
Plan an approach that lets the boat lose power as it reaches the buoy.
The crew prepares the mooring line or boat hook.
The helm controls speed.
You want to arrive with very little forward movement.
One important point is that the bow is normally the most useful place from which to secure the boat.
If you attach the boat incorrectly from the stern in unsuitable conditions, the boat may not lie naturally to the wind or current.
For the beginner, the important lesson is simpler:
arrive slowly, stop beside the mooring, then secure the boat calmly.
The Boat Has Not Finished Moving Just Because You Have Reached the Pontoon
There is another stage beginners sometimes overlook.
The boat may be alongside.
But the manoeuvre is not finished until it is secure.
The wind may immediately begin pushing the bow away.
The current may start moving the stern.
Another boat may pass and create wash.
So once alongside, secure the boat promptly.
Exactly which lines are required depends upon the boat and situation, but you should at least understand the purpose of:
bow line;
stern line;
springs on larger boats or where necessary.
On a small club dinghy making a brief stop, the arrangement may be extremely simple.
The important thing is not to relax completely until the boat can no longer unexpectedly sail away without you.
What Happens If You Stop Too Soon?
This is one of the nicest things about practising away from obstacles.
You discover that stopping too soon is not a disaster.
If you are still able to sail, bear away slightly.
Allow the sail to fill.
Regain a little speed.
Then try again.
With experience you begin using very small adjustments.
A little more towards the wind.
A little more sail eased.
A tiny amount of power restored.
That is much more elegant than alternating between full speed and completely stopped.
It is rather like learning to park a car.
Initially every movement feels enormous.
Later everything becomes smaller and smoother.
What Happens If You Are Going Too Fast?
Act early.
Ease the sails.
Head more towards the wind if there is room.
If the approach has clearly gone wrong, sail away and try again.
Do not wait until the final metre before deciding something must be done.
One of the most valuable sailing habits is developing the ability to recognise a problem while there is still plenty of space in which to solve it.
The "Go Around" Is Not Failure
I would emphasise this particularly strongly to anyone learning to sail.
Sometimes beginners seem slightly embarrassed when they abandon an approach.
They feel they have somehow failed.
Actually, recognising that an approach is wrong and starting again is a sign of good seamanship.
The dangerous sailor is not the person who goes around.
It is the person who knows the approach is wrong but continues because they do not want to admit it.
There will always be another attempt.
A Simple Practice Session
If you are learning at a sailing club, try making an entire session around controlled approaches.
Exercise 1 — Stop the Boat
Sail on a reach.
Ease the mainsheet.
Turn into the wind.
Observe stopping distance.
Repeat several times.
Exercise 2 — Stop Near a Buoy
Choose a safe buoy.
Try to stop one boat length away.
Then half a boat length away.
Then alongside without touching it.
Exercise 3 — Recover From Stopping Too Early
Deliberately stop short.
Bear away.
Fill the sail.
Move forward.
Stop again.
This teaches you that an approach is adjustable.
Exercise 4 — Abandon the Approach
Begin an approach.
Then deliberately decide that it is wrong.
Sail away.
Circle around.
Start again.
That may sound like an odd exercise, but it builds a very valuable habit.
Exercise 5 — Return to the Pontoon
Only when the previous exercises feel comfortable should you use exactly the same skills to approach the real landing place.
The Crew Has a Job Too
A good landing is teamwork.
The helm should not be desperately steering while simultaneously searching for ropes and trying to climb onto the pontoon.
Before the approach, agree roles.
The helm controls:
direction;
speed;
sail power;
final positioning.
The crew can help by:
preparing ropes;
watching the distance;
checking the landing area;
stepping ashore when safe;
securing the boat.
Clear communication makes everything calmer.
And sailing is usually much better when nobody needs to shout.
Your First Good Landing Feels Surprisingly Satisfying
There is something very satisfying about a good sailing arrival.
The boat approaches.
The sail begins to flutter.
Speed disappears.
The bow arrives exactly where you intended.
Someone steps gently onto the pontoon.
A line goes around a cleat.
And suddenly everything is quiet.
No collision.
No jumping.
No desperate grabbing.
No frantic reversing engine because, of course, there isn't one.
Just a properly controlled sailing boat.
When I watch beginners develop, this is one of those moments that shows they are beginning to understand the boat rather than simply react to it.
They have learned to think ahead.
The Bigger Lesson: Sailing Is About Managing Energy
There is a useful principle hiding underneath all of this.
Much of sailing is really about managing energy.
When you want speed, you arrange the sails and boat so that the wind gives you energy.
When you want to slow down, you remove that driving force.
When you approach a destination, you gradually reduce the amount of energy the boat is carrying.
That is why experienced sailors often look so calm.
They are making decisions early enough that they do not need dramatic corrections later.
Coming Home Is Part of the Sail
It is tempting to think of returning to the pontoon as something that happens after the sailing has finished.
It isn't.
The final approach is part of the sail.
It combines many of the skills we have already learned:
reading the wind;
steering accurately;
trimming and easing sails;
judging speed;
planning ahead;
communicating with the crew;
understanding momentum;
staying aware of other boats.
And it introduces something even more important.
Seamanship.
Seamanship is not simply the ability to make a boat move quickly.
It is the ability to operate the boat safely, calmly and intelligently.
Sometimes that means sailing fast.
Sometimes it means sailing slowly.
And sometimes the most impressive piece of sailing you will do all afternoon is arriving at the pontoon at almost zero knots.
Because eventually every successful sailing trip needs one final skill:
stopping exactly where you intended to stop.
PMR Sailing Beginner Series
By this stage in the series, we have moved from simply discovering a sailing club to actually handling a boat with purpose.
We have looked at:
what makes a sailing boat sail;
points of sail;
steering;
sail trim;
tacking;
gybing;
sailing upwind;
and now slowing down and coming safely home.
The next steps can begin to bring these individual skills together into complete sailing trips — leaving the shore, choosing a course, responding to changing wind and eventually returning confidently without needing someone on the pontoon to catch you.
That is when sailing really starts to feel natural.
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 Next
In the next part of our beginner sailing series. Every experienced sailor has been stuck head-to-wind, lost steering, run aground, suffered an unexpected gybe — and quite possibly capsized.
Learning to sail isn't learning never to make mistakes.
It's learning how to recover from them.
Return to https://pmrsailing.uk/Lessons.html
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