Virtual Voyages - Sailing Skills - On the Water Skills

LESSON 2: ABOUT WIND ANGLES

UNDERSTANDING WIND ANGLES

The face of a clock can help explain what happens when we make a major change in course. It will also help you understand how to steer a sailboat at the best angle to the direction of the wind and how to set the sails.

Take the hands off the clock's face and, instead, put a sailboat right in the middle of the clock where the hands belong.
Think of the boat and the clock (face up) as floating on the surface of the water and moving together across the surface so that wherever the boat goes, it will always be in the center of the clock.
Think of the wind as always blowing from the 12 on the clock toward the 6.

The triangle indicates the wind. 12 is always our orientation point, the direction from which the wind blows.

Although the boat is pointing towards the wind source at 12, all the numbers represent possible directions.

The numbers represent different directions on the horizon. For example: if 12 is North, (as it would be in a North Wind) then 3 will be East, 6 will be South, and 9 will be West. Go over these descriptions of the boat in the center of the clock and look at the diagrams until you are comfortable with this idea. It will help you understand some things about sailing by using the geometry of a clock instead of using a lot of sailing terms (for now).

BEING IN IRONS

The boat will not be able to sail toward the 12, the 11, or the 1 because these numbers are too close to the source of the wind. If we steer the boat in that direction, the sail will just flutter like a flag, the boat will slow down, and soon it will stop moving forward. Then it will begin to drift backwards. The boat won't go, and we won't be able to steer. This is called "being in irons" (like a prisoner chained to the wall of a dungeon). However, if the boat is headed in any other direction on the clock from 2 to 10, the sails can fill and the boat will move forward.

Picture Showing Directions in Which your Boat Will Be in Irons

The yellow area shows the directions in which you can't sail with respect to the wind, where your boat will be in irons.

SAILING CLOSE HAULED

To be a little more precise, the sails will fill when the boat is headed in a direction 45 degrees or more from the direction of the wind. This is halfway between the 10 and 11 (10:30) and halfway between the 1 and 2 (1:30). Sailing to 1:30 or 10:30 is called "sailing close hauled" because, in order to go in this direction, the sails must be hauled in as close to the center of the boat as possible. It can also be called "pointing", "beating" or "sailing upwind".

Diagram Showing Directions for Close Hauled Sailing

Sailing close hauled at a 45° angle to the wind towards 1:30, the sails are pulled in close to the center. If you were sailing the other close hauled course, toward 10:30, the sails would be on the opposite side of the boat.

THE WIND AND YOUR SAILS

Now, here is what makes steering a sailboat a lot more complicated than steering your bicycle:

When headed for 1:30 or any other point up to 6 on the perimeter of the clock, the port (left) side of the boat is the windward (toward the source of the wind) side. The boat is said to be on the "port tack", and the sails must be on the opposite side of the boat.
When headed for 10:30 or any other point down to 6, the starboard (right) side of the boat is to windward and the boat is said to be on the "starboard tack". Now the sails have to be on the port side of the boat.

Diagram Showing Directions of Starboard Tack

The first picture shows the port tack. The port side of the boat is always shown in red. The boat could move in any of the directions marked in yellow, and it would still be on a port tack. The port side is windward, and the starboard side is leeward on a port tack.

The second picture shows the starboard tack. The starboard side is always shown in green. The boat could move in any of the directions marked in yellow, and it would still be on a starboard tack. The starboard side is windward, and the port side is leeward on a starboard tack.

Whichever side of the boat is closest to the source of the wind (the 12) is called the windward side and the opposite side is called the leeward side. On port tack (between 1 and 6) the leeward side is the starboard side and that is where you will find the sails. On starboard tack (between 6 and 11) the leeward side is the port side - and that is where the sails must be.

So changing direction - if it involves a change that points the boat toward a whole different side of the clock - means that the sails must change sides on the boat.

When headed for the 6 the sails can be out on either side because the wind is coming directly over the stern (back) of the boat. When sailing for the 6, if the sail is out on the left side, the boat is said to be on the starboard tack and the right side of the boat is still considered the "windward" side. If the sail is out on the right side, then port is considered "windward" and the boat is said to be on the port tack.

Some of you have probably already realized that with a combination of starboard and port tacks upwind, our sailboat can make its way toward the 12. This technique, called "coming about", will be discussed in Lessons 3. For this lesson, it is just important that you understand the basic steering considerations posed by the wind and the purpose of sailing close hauled. Congratulations! You have just finished Lesson 2. Move on to Lesson 3 to find out more about tacking.

On to Lesson 3: Tacking -->