NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Setting a course when sailing into the wind.
From: UNK
Date: 2016 Jul 28, 09:26 -0700
From: UNK
Date: 2016 Jul 28, 09:26 -0700
Conversely, in light dinghies, a skillful crew can actually accellerate by roll-tacking; heeling the boat to initiate the tack, then hiking hard to keep the sail full, then hiking hard on the other tack to re-fill the sail. By healing back and forth and back again you shift and increase the apparent wind seen by the sail. Controvercial when folks started doing it, now de rigueur.
Years ago during a dead calm I got a good laugh watching an athletic Laser sailor roll-tack around the starting area while everyone else sat still with limp sails.
