Tacking is when, in a
sailboat, the
wind moves across the
bow. (that's what us
sailors call the
front.) Compare to
jibe, which is what happens when the wind moves across the
stern.
FoxtrotJuliet seems to be
confused about this distiction; tacking is harmless compared to jibing. Let me
explain. When you are tacking, you are probably
going to windward, e.g. trying to get to the place the
wind is coming from. That means the
apparent wind is probably 20-40 degrees off your
bow. Now, if the wind gets closer to your bow, the boat will
luff - that is, the
sails flap wildly. While they do that, the
boom will shake - but the worst it will do is give you a bruise. The
tack is only completed when you pass through the wind and
head down with the sails on the other side.
Now consider
jibing. In this case you're going nearly
down wind. If you head
all the way down and start
heading up, you
jibe. Note, however, that you do not
luff in the middle. When the sails are ready to go to the other side, they do so on their own ... FAST. Now remember that
large metal beam called the
boom attached to them. This how many careless
sailors meet their
untimely fate.
Another thing worthy of mention is the
roll tack. Due mainly to that whole
luffing thing,
tacking is
slow.
Roll tacking is faster, and is therefore the prefered method of taking
420's,
FJ's,
Laser's, and pretty much any
boat small enough. Though it's really about
feel for the boat and
practice, the basics are like this: when you're about to turn through the wind, shift your
weight to
leward, e.g. the side of the boat that is not facing the
wind. Then, while you're
turning like hell, shift your weight back ... but wait, you're weight is on the leward side again because you tacked. Here's the
key. Shift your weight again. This time doing so swings the sails into the wind, now all lined up on the new
point of sail. This is sort of like an
artificial gust, and makes you
accelerate.
Trust me, it's
superfast.