You Can Sail — So What Makes Someone a Good Sailor?
The biggest improvement in your sailing may come when you stop looking at the boat.
If you have followed my first series on learning to sail, you may now know how to do many of the things that once seemed mysterious.
You can hold a course.
You understand the points of sail.
You can tack.
You can gybe.
You know what the mainsheet does.
You can trim the jib.
You can sail upwind.
You can slow the boat down and, hopefully, bring it back somewhere reasonably close to where you intended.
At that point it is tempting to think:
"I can sail."
And you can.
But there is another stage beyond simply being able to make a sailing boat go where you want it to go.
It is the difference between sailing a boat and becoming a good sailor.
That difference is much less about pulling ropes and moving the tiller.
It is about:
awareness;
observation;
anticipation;
balance;
judgement;
communication;
and increasingly, making decisions before they become necessary.
This second series is going to explore those skills.
Because once the basic actions become automatic, sailing becomes much more interesting.
At First, Almost Everything Happens Inside the Boat
Think back to your first few sails.
Your attention is probably almost entirely inside the boat.
Where is the tiller?
Where is the mainsheet?
Which rope is the jib sheet?
Why is the sail flapping?
Why is the boom coming towards me?
Where should I sit?
Why has the boat suddenly stopped?
Why are we leaning over?
And somebody beside you may be saying something helpful such as:
"Look where you're going."
Which sounds obvious.
But it isn't.
A beginner has an enormous mental workload.
There are so many unfamiliar things happening that almost all their concentration is being used simply operating the boat.
That is perfectly normal.
Gradually, however, something changes.
You stop having to think consciously about every little action.
You feel the boat heel and automatically move your weight.
You hear the sail begin to flap and realise that either your course or sail trim needs changing.
You approach a tack and instinctively prepare the sheet.
Your hands begin doing things before you have consciously instructed them.
And that frees up something extraordinarily important.
Your attention.
The Good Sailor Starts Looking Outside the Boat
This may be one of the biggest steps in learning to sail.
Instead of staring continuously at sails, ropes and telltales, you begin looking further away.
You start noticing:
the water ahead;
other boats;
the riverbank;
wind on the surface;
approaching gusts;
quieter patches of water;
clouds;
bends in the river;
obstructions;
the next mark;
boats further up the course;
and what the wind seems to be doing to them.
Suddenly the world outside your own cockpit becomes important.
That is where much of good sailing begins.
A sailor who reacts only to what is happening to their own boat is always slightly behind events.
A sailor who notices what is about to happen can prepare for it.
Reaction Versus Anticipation
Imagine two boats sailing towards a stronger gust.
In the first boat, the helm is looking mainly at the sails.
The gust arrives.
The boat suddenly heels.
The helm pulls the tiller.
The crew scrambles across.
The mainsheet is released.
The boat changes direction.
Eventually everything is brought back under control.
Nothing disastrous has happened.
But the boat has lost speed and direction.
Now imagine another crew approaching exactly the same gust.
They have already seen the darker patch of water moving towards them.
The crew shifts weight slightly before it arrives.
The helm is ready.
The sails may be adjusted.
When the gust reaches the boat, it accelerates rather than becoming an emergency.
That is the difference between reacting and anticipating.
And anticipation is one of the defining characteristics of an improving sailor.
Start Reading the Water
One of the things I increasingly notice when sailing is how much information is written on the surface of the water.
You can sometimes see the wind approaching you.
A darker patch of rippled water may indicate stronger wind.
A surprisingly smooth patch can indicate less.
On a river, this becomes especially interesting because the wind is rarely perfectly uniform.
Trees, buildings, bends and gaps in the bank can all influence what reaches the boat.
The wind you are sailing in now may be quite different from the wind 100 metres ahead.
So rather than asking:
"What is the wind doing?"
a good sailor increasingly asks:
"What is the wind about to do?"
That is a much more useful question.
Watch Other Boats — They Are Free Wind Indicators
Another excellent source of information is other sailing boats.
Suppose you are sailing up a river and see a boat 50 metres ahead suddenly heel.
There is a very good chance that whatever caused that boat to heel is heading towards you.
If several boats ahead suddenly slow down, you might be approaching a lull.
If boats are changing direction without tacking, there may have been a wind shift.
If boats on one side of the river appear to be sailing significantly faster than those on the other, there may be more pressure there.
You do not need sophisticated instruments.
You already have dozens of wind indicators scattered around the sailing area.
They are called other boats.
Balance Is More Than "Don't Capsize"
Beginners often think of balance as simply preventing the boat from falling over.
But boat balance affects performance long before capsize becomes remotely likely.
A dinghy may still be perfectly safe while heeled considerably.
But it may not be sailing efficiently.
Excessive heel can change the underwater shape of the hull.
It can alter the effectiveness of the rudder and centreboard.
It can create additional drag.
It can make steering more difficult.
Good crews therefore constantly make small adjustments.
Perhaps only a few centimetres at a time.
They move forwards.
They move aft.
They move inboard.
They move outboard.
Sometimes the movement is so small that an observer might barely notice it.
Yet the boat feels different.
This is particularly obvious in lighter boats where crew movement can represent a significant proportion of the total weight of boat and sailors combined.
The Boat Talks to You
One of the fascinating things about gaining sailing experience is that you begin to recognise that the boat is continually giving you information.
You feel pressure building on the tiller.
You hear the sound of water changing.
The boat begins heeling more strongly.
The sails feel loaded.
The jib starts fluttering.
The boat becomes sluggish.
The bow starts pushing water differently.
Some of this information is visual.
Some is heard.
Much of it is simply felt.
Experienced sailors sometimes appear to respond almost instantly to these changes.
That can look mysterious to a beginner.
It isn't.
They have simply experienced the signal often enough to recognise what usually happens next.
The Tiller Is Not Just a Steering Wheel
One sign of improving sailing is that the tiller starts becoming a source of information rather than simply a control.
A beginner understandably uses the tiller to make the boat turn.
But eventually you start feeling what the rudder is telling you.
If there is considerable pressure on the tiller, ask why.
Is the boat heeling excessively?
Is the sail trim creating too much weather helm?
Has the balance of the boat changed?
Are you trying to steer constantly instead of allowing the boat to sail?
One of the goals of good boat trim is often to reduce unnecessary rudder movement.
Every large rudder movement is effectively putting a brake into the water.
Sometimes that braking effect is necessary.
But constantly steering left and right is rarely quick.
A well-balanced boat can feel remarkably light through the tiller.
Steering Less Can Mean Sailing Better
This can initially seem strange.
Surely a better sailor should be steering more accurately?
Yes — but accurate steering does not necessarily mean constantly moving the tiller.
Large rudder movements create drag.
Often the fastest route through the water comes from making small corrections and allowing the hull, sails and foils to work together.
That means controlling direction with more than the rudder.
Small changes in:
mainsheet;
jib trim;
heel;
crew position;
sail balance;
and boat speed
all influence where the boat wants to go.
The tiller becomes only one part of the system.
Judgement Cannot Be Reduced to a Single Rule
This is where sailing becomes particularly interesting.
There are many situations where two apparently contradictory pieces of advice can both be correct.
Should you point higher or sail faster?
It depends.
Should you ease the mainsheet in a gust?
Sometimes.
Should you head up?
Perhaps.
Should you bear away?
Possibly.
Should you tack now?
That depends on what the wind is doing, what the river is doing, where the other boats are and where you ultimately want to go.
Sailing gradually becomes less about memorising instructions and more about developing judgement.
And judgement comes from observation followed by experience.
Learning in Our RS Toura
I have found the RS Toura particularly useful for seeing this transition from simply operating a boat to thinking about what the boat is doing.
It is a forgiving boat.
That matters when people are learning.
There is time to make a decision.
There is time to correct something.
And with someone experienced aboard, a newcomer can concentrate on one or two skills without every mistake becoming dramatic.
When I am crewing, for example, I can concentrate on the jib, weight distribution and what is happening around us while the helm concentrates on steering.
That division of jobs also demonstrates something important.
Good sailing is not necessarily centred on the person holding the tiller.
A good crew may see a gust first.
They may spot another boat.
They may notice the jib becoming inefficient.
They may suggest moving weight.
They may see that the next tack needs preparing.
Sailing becomes teamwork.
Then There Is Champagne
Our A-Rater Champagne takes that idea considerably further.
Champagne is a very different boat from the RS Toura.
Long, narrow and powerful, an A-Rater does not give you quite the same amount of time to wonder what is happening.
Things often need to be anticipated.
The crew and midhand must be ready.
Weight movement matters.
Communication matters.
Sail handling matters.
Where the next gust is coming from matters.
And what the boat is about to do may be more important than what it is doing at that exact moment.
That has reinforced something for me.
A more demanding boat does not simply require you to perform the same actions faster.
It encourages you to think further ahead.
The longer I sail, the more I realise that anticipation is one of the most important sailing skills of all.
Look Up, Look Ahead, Look Around
There is a simple exercise that an improving sailor can practise.
Every few seconds, deliberately move your attention.
Look at:
The boat
Are the sails trimmed?
Is the boat balanced?
Is everything under control?
Then look at:
The water immediately ahead
Any obstructions?
Any changes in wind?
Any other boats?
Then:
Further ahead
What is happening where you will be in 20 or 30 seconds?
Then:
Around you
Where are the other boats?
Where is the shore?
Has anything changed?
Then:
Up
What are the clouds doing?
Where is the wind appearing to come from?
Then return briefly to the boat.
This scanning pattern gradually becomes automatic.
Pilots do something similar in aircraft.
Drivers do something similar on the road.
Good sailors do it on the water.
Start Asking "What Happens Next?"
This may be one of the simplest ways to improve your sailing.
Whenever you have a moment, ask yourself:
What happens next?
You are sailing towards the bank.
What happens next?
A gust is approaching.
What happens next?
Another boat is coming towards you.
What happens next?
You are approaching the windward mark.
What happens next?
The river bends.
What happens next?
The wind has just shifted.
What happens next?
You are 20 metres from the pontoon.
What happens next?
This changes sailing from a sequence of reactions into a sequence of planned actions.
A Good Sailor Has Spare Brain Capacity
One of the easiest ways of recognising an experienced sailor is that they often appear rather relaxed.
That does not mean they are doing nothing.
Usually quite the opposite.
They are processing a great deal of information.
But many of the basic actions have become automatic.
The beginner thinks:
"I need to tack. Move the tiller. Duck under the boom. Change sides. Release this sheet. Pull that sheet."
The experienced sailor may simply think:
"Tack now."
The mechanical actions largely take care of themselves.
That leaves mental capacity available for the bigger questions.
Where is the next gust?
What is the wind doing?
Where are the other boats?
Which side of the river looks stronger?
What happens after the tack?
That spare thinking capacity is enormously valuable.
Good Sailing Is Not Necessarily Fast Sailing
There is another distinction worth making.
A good sailor is not simply someone who wins races.
Racing is an excellent way to improve because it exposes weaknesses very quickly.
If another boat repeatedly sails past you, there is probably something to learn.
But somebody can be an excellent sailor without ever entering a race.
A good sailor may be the person who:
keeps their crew safe;
anticipates changing conditions;
treats other water users considerately;
brings the boat back without drama;
notices deteriorating weather;
knows when conditions are unsuitable;
looks after the equipment;
helps less experienced sailors;
and makes sensible decisions.
Speed is only one measure of sailing skill.
Judgement may be far more important.
Experience Is Really Pattern Recognition
People sometimes talk about sailing experience as though it were simply a matter of accumulating years.
But I think experience is more useful when we think of it as building a library of patterns.
You have seen a dark patch of water before.
You know what followed.
You have felt the tiller suddenly load up before.
You know what caused it.
You have watched a boat slow dramatically approaching a particular stretch of river.
Next time you look for the reason.
You have approached a mark badly before.
Next time you plan earlier.
Every sail adds a few more patterns.
Eventually you begin recognising situations before they fully develop.
That is anticipation.
And anticipation is what makes difficult sailing begin to look effortless.
The Second Stage of Learning to Sail
The first stage of sailing is about answering questions such as:
What does this rope do?
How do I tack?
How do I gybe?
How do I make the boat go faster?
How do I stop?
The next stage asks different questions:
Where should I be looking?
What is the wind about to do?
Why did the boat suddenly feel different?
Why is that boat going faster than us?
What will happen in 30 seconds?
Could I have prepared earlier?
That is where sailing begins becoming something much richer than simply operating a boat.
The Biggest Improvement May Come When You Stop Looking at the Boat
Of course you still need to look at the sails.
You still need to check the sheets.
You still need to watch the telltales.
You still need to know what the boat is doing.
But eventually those things become part of a much larger picture.
Your attention begins moving outside the boat.
Across the water.
Up the river.
Towards the clouds.
Towards the other boats.
Towards what is about to happen.
And that may be the moment when you begin changing from somebody who can sail into somebody who is becoming a sailor.
Over the next few weeks on pmrsailing.uk, I will explore some of those next-stage skills: reading gusts, recognising wind shifts, understanding boat balance, using telltales properly, steering efficiently, choosing the best route and developing the judgement that makes sailing smoother, safer and ultimately faster.
Because once you can make a boat sail, the really interesting part begins.
Learning to make it sail well.
In the Next lesson we look at
The rain starts…and suddenly the sails go limp.
Coincidence? Often not.
Cloud, cooling and reduced atmospheric mixing can make the surface wind on an inland river almost disappear — although a vigorous shower can do exactly the opposite.
The real sailing skill is learning to spot which is coming.
Return to pmrsailing.uk https://pmrsailing.uk/sailing-lessons/How-to-sail-better.html
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