What is tack in sailing?

Answer 1

It's what you hammer into the planks to build a boat. ;)

Tack: v. To purposely change the direction of the boat by moving the sails to the opposite side, in order to avoid shallows, rocks or other hazards or simply to avoid sailing too far away from the rhumbline. When tacking the boat is sailing back and forth over the rhumbline which is the line from point a to point b on that particular leg of the course.

Tack: n. This refers to the windward side of the vessel. When the boat is on a starboard tack the starboard side of the boat is the one the wind is coming over. This is also known as the high side and the one you want to be sitting on. :)

Tack: n. The lower corner of the leading edge of a sail. In the case of the mainsail it is the lower corner that is up against the mast.

Tacking consists of the following steps: 1. The helmsman determines the new course heading based on the fact that you need to mirror your current point of sail, only you will be turning through the wind in order to cross the rhumbline. It generally works out to be a 90 degree turn. If you are steering 300 degrees for example and you add ninety you get 390, a nonexistent compass heading. You would then subtract 360 from 390 leaving you with 30 degrees. 2. The helmsman announces his intention to tack to make sure the crew is ready to release and pull in the sheets. I was taught to say "Ready about!" 3. Once the crew affirms the command by responding "Ready!" you begin to turn to the new course. 4. Just before you turn you give everyone the final warning by saying "Hard Alee!". 5. On the helmsman’s command “Le’o” the crew lets go of the headsail sheet(s) and the mainsheet on the leeward side and pulls them in on the windward side. 6. Normally, when the boom(s) and headsails come to the middle you release the taut sheets and pull in quickly on the slack sheets. This is the initial sail trim. 7. The helmsman turns to the proper compass course. 8. The crew makes the final sail trim adjustments to maximize speed. “Le’o” in 5 above is an abbreviation for “Let go”. The reason the crew needs to wait until the helms gives the “Le’o” command before releasing the sheet(s) is that, the helmsman may need the head sail(s) to be “backed” in order to complete the manoeuvre and avoid getting stuck in “irons” “backed” is when a sail is held against the wind. ‘irons” is when a sailing vessel becomes stuck “head into wind”