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Points of sail: the shaded area is the "no-sail" zone. Beating to windward on short (P1), medium (P2), and long (P3) tacks, each with a progressively wider corridor over the water. Sails are limited in how close to the direction of the wind they can power a sailing craft. The area towards the wind defining those limits is called the "no-sail zone".
For many sailing craft 45° on either side of the wind is a no-go zone, where a sail is unable to mobilize power from the wind. Sailing on a course as close to the wind as possible—approximately 45°—is termed beating, a point of sail when the sails are close-hauled. At 90° off the wind, a craft is on a beam reach.
Sailing into the wind is a sailing expression that refers to a sail boat's ability to move forward despite being headed into (or very nearly into) the wind. A sailboat cannot make headway by sailing directly into the wind ( see "Discussion," below); the point of sail into the wind is called " close hauled ".
Velocity made good, or VMG, is a term used in sailing, especially in yacht racing, indicating the speed of a sailboat towards (or from) the direction of the wind. [1] [2] The concept is useful because a sailboat cannot sail directly upwind, and thus often can not, or should not, sail directly to a mark to reach it as quickly as possible.
A tack is the windward side of a sailing craft (side from which the wind is coming while under way)—the starboard or port tack. Generally, a craft is on a starboard tack if the wind is coming over the starboard (right) side with sails on port (left) side. Similarly, a craft is on a port tack if the wind is coming over the port (left).
Sailing with the wind coming across the vessel's beam. This is normally the fastest point of sail for a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel. beam sea A sea in which waves are moving perpendicular to a vessel's course. [24] beam wind A wind blowing perpendicular to a vessel's course. bear A large, squared-off stone used with sand for scraping wooden ...
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Sailing across the wind; i.e. bearing anywhere between about 60° and 160° relative to the direction from which the wind is blowing. Reaching can be further subdivided into "close reaching" (about 60° to 80°), "beam reaching" (about 90°), and "broad reaching" (about 120° to 160°). Compare beating and running. reaching sail