Tacking — How to Turn Through the Wind Without Getting Hit by the Boom
Tacking is basically changing sides of the boat while someone swings a boom over your head. Fortunately, there is a method.
If you watched somebody tacking a dinghy for the first time without knowing what was happening, it might look surprisingly chaotic.
The helm pushes the tiller across.
The boat turns.
The sails flap.
The boom sweeps across the cockpit.
Everybody ducks.
People move from one side of the boat to the other.
Then, rather suddenly, the sails fill again and the boat sets off in a completely different direction.
For an experienced sailor, the whole thing may take only a few seconds.
For a beginner, those few seconds can initially feel extremely busy.
But tacking is not really one complicated manoeuvre.
It is a sequence of several very simple actions carried out in the correct order.
Once that sequence becomes familiar, tacking changes from something you consciously think through into something that happens almost automatically.
And it is one of the first moments when a beginner begins to feel that they are actually sailing the boat rather than simply travelling in it.
What Is a Tack?
A sailing boat cannot normally sail directly into the wind.
There is an area immediately upwind where the sails cannot produce enough useful driving force. This is often called the no-go zone.
But the boat can sail at an angle towards the wind.
So if your destination lies directly upwind, you sail towards it in a zig-zag pattern.
You sail on one tack.
Then turn the bow through the wind.
Then sail away on the other tack.
That turn through the wind is called tacking.
Before the manoeuvre, the wind may be coming over the port side of the boat.
Afterwards, it may be coming over the starboard side.
The sails change sides.
The boom crosses the boat.
The crew change sides.
And the boat continues towards its destination.
Why Do We Need to Tack?
Imagine that your sailing club is directly upwind of you.
You cannot simply point the bow at the clubhouse and sail straight towards it.
If you try, the sails begin to flap and the boat slows down.
Eventually you may simply stop.
Instead, you sail perhaps 40 to 50 degrees away from the direction of the wind.
After travelling some distance, you tack.
You then sail approximately the same angle on the opposite side of the wind.
Each change from one side to the other is a tack.
A racing sailor may perform dozens of them during a race.
A cruising sailor may tack repeatedly while working up a narrow river.
A beginner may initially be delighted simply to complete one without stopping the boat completely.
All are doing fundamentally the same manoeuvre.
Before You Tack: Look Around
One of the most important parts of a tack happens before you move the tiller.
Look around.
Check where you are going.
Is another boat nearby?
Is somebody overtaking?
Are you approaching the bank?
Is there enough room to complete the manoeuvre?
On an inland river this matters particularly because space can disappear surprisingly quickly.
You may have another sailing boat behind you, a cruiser approaching from ahead and a riverbank becoming increasingly close.
Good sailing is not simply controlling your own boat.
It is constantly being aware of what is happening around you.
Step One: Get the Boat Sailing Properly
Do not begin a tack with the boat already struggling.
Ideally, you want the boat moving reasonably well before turning.
A boat travelling through the water has momentum.
That momentum helps carry the bow through the wind while the sails temporarily stop producing useful drive.
If you are already moving slowly, the boat may run out of momentum halfway through the manoeuvre.
The sails flap.
The boat stops.
And you find yourself sitting head-to-wind wondering why nothing is happening.
This is sometimes called being in irons.
So before starting the tack:
establish a steady course;
trim the sails;
allow the boat to build some speed;
look ahead;
make sure there is room.
Speed going into the tack usually makes everything easier.
Step Two: "Ready About?"
Traditional sailing commands exist for a reason.
They give everybody on the boat a clear warning about what is about to happen.
The helm calls:
"Ready about?"
This means:
"I am about to tack. Is everybody prepared?"
The crew check that they are ready to move.
They may need to prepare a jib sheet.
They may need to move their feet.
They may need to make sure they are not sitting on a rope.
They may simply need to stop looking at the scenery and pay attention.
The crew then replies:
"Ready."
Only then should the helm begin the manoeuvre.
On a small single-handed dinghy, of course, you may be talking to yourself.
That is perfectly acceptable.
Sailors do it surprisingly often.
Step Three: "Lee-Oh!"
The traditional command announcing the actual tack is:
"Lee-oh!"
Depending on club tradition and instructor, you may hear slightly different wording.
But the purpose is the same.
The boat is about to turn.
The helm then moves the tiller to leeward.
Because a tiller steers in what initially feels like the opposite direction, this is one of those moments where beginners often have to think very carefully.
To make the bow turn towards the wind, the tiller is pushed away from the direction in which you want the bow to move.
This still feels unnatural during your first few sailing sessions.
Eventually your hands begin doing it without asking your brain for permission.
Step Four: Put the Tiller Across — But Not Too Much
The helm begins moving the tiller.
The rudder turns.
The bow starts coming towards the wind.
This should normally be a positive but controlled movement.
Beginners often make one of two mistakes.
They either move the tiller much too far...
...or hardly move it at all.
Push it too aggressively and the rudder acts partly like a brake.
The boat may turn sharply, lose considerable speed and emerge from the tack badly positioned.
Move it too little and the boat turns so slowly that it loses momentum before reaching the other side of the wind.
The goal is not:
"Move the tiller as far as possible."
It is:
"Use enough rudder to turn the boat smoothly through the wind."
This takes practice.
Different boats respond differently.
A light dinghy may spin quickly.
A heavier boat may need a little more encouragement.
Step Five: Watch the Sails
As the bow approaches the direction the wind is coming from, the sails begin to lose their aerodynamic shape.
They start flapping.
This is completely normal.
For a few seconds you are passing through the no-go zone.
The sails cannot drive the boat properly while it is pointing almost directly into the wind.
The boat is relying partly on its existing momentum to continue turning.
This is why entering the tack with reasonable speed matters.
You may hear the sails flogging quite dramatically.
Do not panic.
They are doing exactly what you would expect.
Step Six: Duck!
Now comes the part beginners remember.
The boom crosses the boat.
On most dinghies, you need to move beneath it as you change sides.
The important word here is beneath.
Not beside it.
Not through it.
Beneath it.
Getting hit by the boom is rarely a desirable part of a sailing lesson.
The easiest habit is to begin moving as the boom starts crossing.
Keep your head low.
Move calmly.
Do not stand upright in the middle of the cockpit just as the boom arrives.
One of the slightly amusing aspects of learning to sail is that everybody eventually develops an instinctive reaction to the boom moving.
Experienced sailors duck without consciously thinking about it.
Beginners tend to watch it approaching with growing concern.
After a few tacks, the movement becomes much more natural.
Step Seven: Change Sides
As the boat changes tack, the correct side for the helm and crew also changes.
Normally you want to sit on the windward side of the boat.
So during the tack you cross the cockpit.
On a simple dinghy the sequence might be:
Start the turn.
Watch the bow move towards the wind.
Move across the boat.
Duck beneath the boom.
Sit down on the new windward side.
Swap tiller extension and mainsheet hands as required.
Initially this can feel rather like trying to change seats while controlling a moving vehicle.
Which, in fairness, is exactly what you are doing.
The trick is not to rush.
Smooth movements are usually better than frantic ones.
The Classic Beginner Hand Problem
Suppose you are holding:
the tiller extension in one hand;
the mainsheet in the other.
During the tack you move across the boat.
Now your hands appear to be on the wrong side.
Some beginners simply swap everything immediately.
Others tie themselves into a surprisingly impressive human knot.
There are several techniques instructors use for changing hands smoothly.
The precise method may depend on the type of dinghy you are sailing.
The important principle is this:
Keep steering the boat first. Sort your hands out second.
Do not let go of everything because you are worried that your hands are technically in the wrong position.
Maintain control.
Allow the boat to settle.
Then organise yourself.
Step Eight: Straighten the Rudder
This is one of the most important parts of the tack.
And one of the most commonly forgotten.
Once the bow has passed through the wind and reached the new course, straighten the rudder.
If you leave the tiller pushed across, the boat simply keeps turning.
This produces the classic beginner tack.
The instructor says:
"Tack."
The boat turns through the wind.
Everything is going beautifully.
Then it keeps turning.
And turning.
And turning.
Until the boat has completed something approaching a U-turn.
Sometimes almost a complete circle.
The solution is simple:
As the boat reaches the new course, bring the tiller back towards the centre.
The rudder should spend relatively little time at a large angle.
Step Nine: Allow the Sails to Fill
Once the boat has crossed the no-go zone, the sails begin working again.
The mainsail fills on the opposite side.
If you have a jib, it will also need adjusting.
On many dinghies the jib sheet on the old side is released and the new sheet is pulled in.
Initially, do not worry about perfect sail trim.
First get the boat moving correctly on the new course.
Then trim the sails.
Remember the simple rule from our previous lesson:
Ease the sail until it starts to complain, then pull it in just enough to make it happy.
Once the boat has settled, look at the sail and make the final adjustment.
A Complete Tack in Slow Motion
Let us put everything together.
You are sailing close-hauled on starboard tack.
You want to turn onto port tack.
You:
1. Look around.
Check that the manoeuvre is safe.
2. Build some speed.
Make sure the boat is sailing properly.
3. Call "Ready about?"
Your crew prepares.
4. Crew replies "Ready."
Everyone knows what is happening.
5. Call "Lee-oh!"
Begin the turn.
6. Move the tiller across.
The bow turns towards the wind.
7. Watch the sails begin to flap.
The boat passes through head-to-wind.
8. Move across the boat.
Duck beneath the boom.
9. Allow the bow to continue onto the new course.
Do not stop too early.
10. Straighten the rudder.
Prevent the boat continuing to turn.
11. Settle onto the new side.
Organise mainsheet and tiller extension.
12. Trim the sails.
The boat accelerates away.
Congratulations.
You have tacked.
Why Beginners Often Do Not Turn Far Enough
The first common problem is stopping the turn too soon.
The bow reaches the wind.
The sails flap.
The beginner thinks:
"Something has gone wrong."
So they straighten the tiller immediately.
Unfortunately the boat is still pointing into the no-go zone.
It stops.
The answer is to allow the bow to continue turning until the sails can fill on the opposite side.
You are not simply turning towards the wind.
You must turn through it.
Why Beginners Often Turn Too Far
The opposite problem is equally common.
The helm puts the tiller across.
The boat turns successfully through the wind.
But the tiller stays across.
The boat therefore keeps turning.
Instead of emerging close-hauled on the new tack, it may end up on a beam reach or even heading downwind.
The boat may suddenly accelerate.
This can be entertaining.
But it is not necessarily what was intended.
The cure is anticipation.
Do not wait until the boat is already pointing in the desired direction before thinking about straightening the rudder.
Begin bringing the tiller back as the bow approaches the new course.
A Helpful Mental Picture
Imagine you are trying to drive the bow through an invisible doorway.
The doorway is the wind direction.
You need enough momentum to pass through it.
Once through, you do not keep turning indefinitely.
You straighten up and sail away.
That simple mental image can help beginners enormously.
Do Not Stare at the Tiller
Another common beginner habit is staring down into the boat.
Tiller.
Mainsheet.
Feet.
Boom.
Ropes.
Hands.
Everything seems to demand attention.
But the most useful place to look is still largely outside the boat.
Look where the bow is pointing.
Look at the water.
Look at the wind direction.
Look at other boats.
The boat itself will tell you a great deal simply by watching where it is going.
This is similar to learning to drive a car.
You do not improve your steering by staring at the steering wheel.
The First Few Tacks May Be Untidy
This is worth saying clearly.
Your first tack does not need to look elegant.
Neither does your fifth.
Perhaps not even your tenth.
You may:
lose too much speed;
pull the tiller too hard;
turn too slowly;
sit on the mainsheet;
forget to straighten the rudder;
duck far earlier than necessary;
move onto the wrong side;
emerge pointing in completely the wrong direction.
Almost every sailor has done these things.
The objective during early lessons is not perfection.
It is recognition.
After each tack ask:
What happened?
Did we lose speed?
Did we turn too far?
Did we stop head-to-wind?
Did we forget the jib?
Did I leave the tiller over?
That process of observing and correcting is how sailing becomes intuitive.
Practice Makes the Sequence Disappear
At first your internal commentary may sound something like:
"Ready about... move tiller... watch boom... duck... move across... where is the tiller extension?... straighten up... mainsheet... sail... where am I going?"
Eventually it becomes:
"Tack."
And your body performs the sequence almost automatically.
That is one of the pleasures of learning practical skills.
Something that once required complete concentration gradually becomes instinctive.
A Useful Training Exercise
If conditions allow, practise repeated tacks between two imaginary lines.
Sail close-hauled.
Complete one tack.
Allow the boat to settle.
Sail perhaps twenty or thirty metres.
Tack again.
Do not rush.
Concentrate on one aspect at a time.
For example:
First few tacks
Concentrate only on steering smoothly.
Next few
Concentrate on moving across the boat.
Next few
Concentrate on straightening the rudder at the correct moment.
Finally
Put the whole sequence together.
An instructor or experienced club sailor can often identify one small change that immediately improves everything.
The Crew's Job During a Tack
On a boat with a jib, the crew has an important role.
As the bow passes through the wind, the jib must transfer from one side of the boat to the other.
The old jib sheet is released.
The new jib sheet is pulled in.
Timing matters.
Release too early and the sail flaps unnecessarily.
Release too late and the jib may resist the turn.
With practice, helm and crew begin working almost unconsciously together.
A good crew senses the boat turning and knows exactly when to move the sail.
This teamwork is one of the great pleasures of sailing.
Communication Matters
The traditional calls:
"Ready about?"
"Ready."
"Lee-oh."
might sound slightly old-fashioned.
But clear communication matters enormously.
On a quiet training session, everyone may know exactly what is happening.
Add stronger wind, several boats, racing pressure and a noisy river and suddenly those simple calls become extremely useful.
A manoeuvre is easier when nobody is surprised by it.
What Happens if the Tack Goes Wrong?
Sooner or later, one will.
Perhaps you lose all your speed and stop head-to-wind.
Perhaps you turn too far.
Perhaps you forget the jib.
Perhaps everybody ends up on the wrong side.
The important lesson is:
Do not panic.
Most beginner sailing mistakes happen quite slowly.
Take a moment.
Work out which way the wind is coming from.
Get the sails filling again.
Recover the boat.
Then try again.
Sailing rewards calm correction far more than frantic movement.
Tacking on a River
River sailing adds another interesting challenge.
You may not have unlimited room.
At a club such as Upper Thames Sailing Club, sailing on the Thames means constantly judging:
the width of the river;
other sailing boats;
motor cruisers;
current;
wind shadows;
moored boats;
trees;
riverbanks.
Sometimes you tack because you want to.
Sometimes you tack because the river is rapidly running out.
That teaches you to prepare early.
Waiting until the bank is only a few metres away before deciding to tack can make the whole manoeuvre unnecessarily exciting.
Smooth Is Usually Fast
Racing sailors spend years refining tacking technique because every tack costs some speed.
When the boat passes through the wind, the sails briefly stop producing drive.
Too much rudder creates drag.
Poor crew movement disturbs the boat.
Bad sail handling slows acceleration afterwards.
Beginners do not need to worry about racing-quality tacks yet.
But there is already a useful lesson:
Smooth movements usually preserve speed better than violent ones.
You do not need to throw the tiller across.
You do not need to leap from one side of the boat to the other.
You do not need to pull the sails in with enormous force.
A well-executed tack can feel surprisingly quiet.
The Moment It Suddenly Works
There is often a satisfying moment during early sailing lessons when a student performs a tack almost without instruction.
The approach is good.
The command is given.
The tiller moves.
The bow passes through the wind.
The sailor ducks.
Changes sides.
Straightens the rudder.
The sail fills.
And the boat accelerates away on the new tack.
Nothing dramatic happens.
Which is precisely why it feels so good.
The manoeuvre has stopped being an emergency and become part of sailing.
A Five-Frame Photographic Guide
This lesson would work extremely well as a short photographic sequence.
Frame 1 — Preparing
Boat sailing close-hauled.
Caption:
"Look around — Ready about?"
Frame 2 — Turning
Helm begins moving the tiller.
Caption:
"Lee-oh — turn towards the wind."
Frame 3 — Head-to-Wind
Sails beginning to flap.
Boom starting to cross.
Caption:
"Duck — the boom is coming across."
Frame 4 — Changing Sides
Helm crossing cockpit.
Caption:
"Move to the new windward side."
Frame 5 — Sailing Away
Boat settled on new tack.
Caption:
"Straighten the rudder and trim the sails."
That five-image sequence could become a very useful reference for beginners.
The Simple Version to Remember
If everything in this article feels like too much information, remember five things:
Look.
Turn.
Duck.
Cross.
Straighten.
Everything else can be refined later.
Final Thought
Tacking initially feels complicated because several things happen at once.
The boat changes direction.
The sails change sides.
The boom crosses the cockpit.
The helm changes sides.
The crew changes sheets.
The tiller changes hands.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you are supposed to remember where you were trying to go.
But sailing is full of skills that become easier through repetition.
After a few sessions, the movement becomes familiar.
After a few more, you stop consciously thinking about most of it.
Eventually someone simply says:
"Ready about?"
And without hesitation comes the reply:
"Ready."
A few seconds later you are sailing smoothly away on the opposite tack.
That is when you begin to realise something important.
You are no longer merely learning the parts of a sailing boat.
You are beginning to sail it.
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 lesson we can look at the other major turning manoeuvre:
Gybing — turning with the stern through the wind.
It looks superficially similar to tacking.
It is not.
And that boom deserves considerably more respect.
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