Editing Tacking (sailing) (section)

{{short description|Sailing maneuver}}
[[File:Wende (Segeln).png|thumb|upright|Tacking: Sailing the craft into the wind from the port tack to the starboard tack.]]
[[File:beating to windward.svg|thumb|Beating to windward on a series of port and starboard tacks, tacking between each at points 1, 2, and 3.]]
'''Tacking'''  or '''coming about''' is a [[sailing]] maneuver by which a sailing craft ([[Sailing ship|sailing vessel]], [[Iceboat|ice boat]], or [[Land sailing|land yacht]]), whose next destination is into the wind, turns its [[bow (ship)|bow]] toward and through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side of the boat to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Keegan |first=John |author-link=John Keegan |title=The Price of Admiralty |publisher=Viking |date=1989 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg/page/n312 281] |isbn=0-670-81416-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg }}</ref> Sailing vessels are unable to sail higher than a certain angle towards the wind, so "beating to windward" in a zig-zag fashion with a series of tacking maneuvers, allows a vessel to sail towards a destination that is closer to the wind than the vessel can sail directly.

A sailing craft whose course is downwind [[jibes]] (or "wears" if [[square-rig]]ged) by having the [[apparent wind]] cross the stern from one tack to the other.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sailing |first=American |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SEWEDwAAQBAJ&dq=tacking+a+sailboat&pg=PA50 |title=Sailing Made Easy: The Official Manual For The ASA 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing Course |date=2010-01-01 |publisher=American Sailing |isbn=978-0-9821025-0-3 |pages=48–51 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="McEwen2006">{{cite book |last=McEwen |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kdHyM6_egMwC&pg=PA186 |title=Boater's Pocket Reference: Your Comprehensive Resource for Boats and Boating |publisher=Anchor Cove Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-9774052-0-6 |pages=186–}}</ref> [[High-performance sailing|High-performance sailing craft]] may tack, rather than jibe, downwind, when the apparent wind is well forward.