Beating In An Optimist

Book Extract

Beating - Sailing a zigzag course towards the wind.

Tacking - Changing direction through the wind while sailing towards the wind. (The boom crosses the boat as the wind goes from one side of the boat to the other.)

You can’t sail straight into the wind. If you try to, the boat just stops. The only way to sail towards the wind is to follow a zigzag course (so you are never sailing directly into the wind). This is beating. Changing direction between each leg of the zigzag is tacking.

Sit in the boat so that your front leg touches the midship beam.

Do not sit too far forward (because the bow will dig in to the water), or too far back (because the stern will drag through the water).

Use your weight to balance the boat in windy weather.

Windy weather. As the wind picks up, sit on the gunwale to balance the boat.

Extremely windy weather If the wind gets even stronger, think about leaning out (hiking) to balance the stronger force of the wind.

Practise Beating

Tacking
Tacking is a vital part of beating – it lets you to go from one zigzag leg of the beat to the next.

© Not to be reproduced without written permission from Fernhurst Books Limited.

Sailing For Kids is written by Steve Kibble & Tim Davison. Tim has owned 20 Lasers over 40 years and medalled at World and European championships. He has won the British Moth National Championships 5 times and cruised extensively from Sweden to Turkey and across the Atlantic. He is author of over 18 sailing books, with The Laser Book being his first and most successful, and the title that launched Fernhurst Books when first published in 1979.