Steering Relative to the Wind

You cannot steer anywhere you want.

Think of the wind as a clock in front of your boat.

Between 10 and 2 is the no go zone.

Just outside that zone on either side is upwind.

At 3 and 9 is a beam reach.

At 6 is downwind.

Your heading describes how close or far you are from the wind.

When sailing upwind, the sail is trimmed in all the way.

When sailing downwind, the sail is eased all the way out.

As you move from upwind toward downwind, you ease the sail gradually.

If you steer too close to the wind:

• The sail will luff
• The boat slows down

If you steer too far from the wind while sailing upwind:

• The sail will remain full and may seem correct
• But your heading has changed
• When you turn away from the wind, you must ease the sail out
• If you do not ease, the boat will slow down

Proper heading means steering the correct distance from the wind and trimming the sail to match.

Steering and trim always work together.