Editing Tacking (sailing) (section)

==Beating to windward==
[[File:Points of sail.svg|thumb|Points of sail: the shaded area is the "no-sail" zone.]]
[[File:Tacking Intervals.svg|thumb|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". To travel towards a destination that is within the no-sail zone, a craft must perform a series of zig-zag maneuvers in that direction, maintaining a course to the right or the left that allows the sail(s) to generate power. Each such course is a "tack". The act of transitioning from one tack to the other is called "tacking" or "coming about".<ref name=":0" /> Sailing on a series of courses that are close to the craft's windward limitation ([[close-hauled]]) is called "beating to windward".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jobson |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKTrrP3wA-cC&q=beating |title=Sailing Fundamentals |date=2008-09-08 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-3678-2 |pages=73 |language=en}}</ref>

=== For various sailing craft ===
The method for tacking of sailing craft differs, depending on whether they are [[Fore-and-aft rig|fore-and aft]], square-rigged, a [[Windsurfing|windsurfer]], a [[Kiteboarding|kitesurfer]], or a [[proa]].
* ''Fore-and-aft rig'' – A fore-and-aft rig permits the wind to flow past the sail, as the craft head through the eye of the wind. Modern rigs pivot around a stay or the mast, while this occurs. For a [[jib]], the old leeward sheet is released as the craft heads through the wind and the old windward sheet is tightened as the new leeward sheet to allow the sail to draw wind. [[Mainsail]]s are often self-tending and slide on a traveler to the opposite side.<ref name="Jobson22">{{cite book |last=Jobson |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKTrrP3wA-cC |title=Sailing Fundamentals |date=2008 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-3678-2 |edition=Revised |pages=224}}</ref> On certain rigs, such as [[lateen]]s<ref name="Lateen2">{{Citation |last=Campbell |first=I.C. |title=The Lateen Sail in World History |url=http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh/jwh061p001.pdf |periodical=Journal of World History |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=1–23 |year=1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804061252/http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh/jwh061p001.pdf |access-date=2017-06-16 |archive-date=2016-08-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[lugger]]s,<ref name="Lugger2">{{cite book |last=Skeat |first=Walter W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeeGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA351 |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language |date=2013 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-31765-6 |edition=Reprint |series=Dover language guides |page=351}}</ref> the sail may be partially lowered to bring it to the opposite side.
* ''Square rig'' – Unlike with a fore-and-aft rig, a square-rigged vessel's sails must be presented squarely to the wind and thus impede forward motion as they are swung around via the yardarms through the wind as controlled by the vessel's [[Running rigging#Adjusting angle to the wind|running rigging]], using [[Brace (sailing)|braces]]—adjusting the fore and aft angle of each [[Yard (sailing)|yardarm]] around the mast—and [[Sheet (sailing)|sheets]] attached to the [[Parts of a sail#The corners|clews]] (bottom corners) of each sail to control the sail's angle to the wind.<ref name="Biddlecombe2">{{cite book |last=Biddlecombe |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/artrigging00steegoog |title=The Art of Rigging: Containing an Explanation of Terms and Phrases and the Progressive Method of Rigging Expressly Adapted for Sailing Ships |date=1990 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486263434 |series=Dover Maritime Series |page=[https://archive.org/details/artrigging00steegoog/page/n33 13]}}</ref> The procedure is to turn the vessel into the wind with the hind-most fore-and-aft sail (the [[Spanker (sail)|''spanker'']]), often pulled to windward to help turn the ship through the eye of the wind. The main (and often mizzen) sails are braced around onto the new tack as the ship approaches the eye of the wind. Once the ship has come about, the remaining sails are adjusted to align properly with the new tack. Because square-rigger masts are more strongly supported from behind than from ahead, tacking is a dangerous procedure in strong winds. The ship may lose forward momentum (become ''caught in stays'') and the rigging may fail from the wind coming from ahead. Under these conditions, the choice may be to ''wear ship''—to turn the ship away from the wind and around 240° onto the next tack (60° off the wind).<ref name="Findlay2">{{cite book |last=Findlay |first=Gordon D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzFWjOMvGs4C&pg=PA138 |title=My Hand on the Tiller |date=2005 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781456793500 |page=138}}</ref>
* ''Windsurfer rig'' – Sailors of [[windsurfer]]s tack by walking forward of the mast and letting the sail swing into the wind as the board moves through the eye of the wind; once on the opposite tack, the sailor realigns the sail on the new tack. In strong winds on a small board, an option is the 'fast tack', whereby the board is turned into the wind at planing speed as the sailor crosses in front of the flexibly mounted mast and reaches for the boom on the opposite side and continues planing on the new tack.<ref name="Hart2">{{cite book |last=Hart |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-JKCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT380 |title=Windsurfing |date=2014 |publisher=Crowood |isbn=978-1-84797-963-6 |pages=176}}</ref>
* ''Kitesurfer rig'' – When changing tack, a [[Kite surfing|kitesurfer]] rotates the [[kite]] end-for-end to align with the new apparent wind direction. Kite boards are designed to be used exclusively while planing; many are double-ended to allow an immediate change of course in the opposite direction.<ref name="Gratwick2">{{cite book |last=Gratwick |first=Andy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pELTBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 |title=The Kiteboarding Manual: The essential guide for beginners and improvers |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4081-9204-7 |page=106}}</ref>
*''Proa –'' Double-ended sailing vessels, such as [[Proa|proas]], may tack by [[Shunt (sailing)|shunting]]: turning off the wind, switching the sails and steering mechanism end-for-end and then proceeding on the opposite tack with the former stern functioning as the new bow, and with the outrigger on the windward side as before.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=World |first=Yachting |date=2021-04-08 |title=Jzerro: The oceangoing Pacific proa |url=https://www.yachtingworld.com/extraordinary-boats/jzerro-the-oceangoing-pacific-proa-130899 |magazine=Yachting World |language=en-US |access-date=2021-11-12}}</ref>
{{Expand section|tacking procedure for dipping lug, standing lug, lateen, crab claw|date=September 2023}}

=== Navigating ===
The bearing from a sailing craft's current location to a destination or racing mark that lies within the no-sail zone, may lie on one side or other of being directly upwind. The tack on that side is "favored", because the destination lies closest to the craft's highest point of sail—its "best course" is close-hauled on that tack. Wind shifts that improve the angle towards the destination are called "lifts"; those that increase the angle away from the destination are called "headers". A sufficiently large wind shift may cause the destination to lie on the opposite side of the direction from which the destination or mark lies and indicate a tack to the favored side—tacking on a header.<ref name = Royce>
{{cite book
 | last = Royce
 | first = Patrick M.
 | title = Royce's Sailing Illustrated
 | publisher = ProStar Publications
 | volume = 2
 | edition = 11
 | date = 2015
 | pages = 161
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mtqgsWaWciMC&q=sailing+header+footer&pg=PA97
 | isbn = 9780911284072 }}</ref>

=== Apparent wind sailing ===
High-performance sailing craft, such as [[Catamaran|sailing catamarans]], [[Sailing hydrofoil|sailing hydrofoils]], [[Iceboat|ice boats]] and [[Land sailing|land-sailing craft]], may be capable of speeds exceeding the true wind speed, sailing off the wind. Because the speed of the craft is a dominant contributor to the apparent wind, the apparent wind angle shifts forward. Such sailing craft may tack, while going downwind, under the principle of [[High-performance sailing#High-performance sailing|apparent wind sailing]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Bethwaite |first=Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTRLAAAAQBAJ&q=Higher+Performance+Sailing+-+Google+Books |title=Higher performance sailing |date=2008 |publisher=Adlard Coles Nautical |isbn=978-1-4729-0131-6 |location=London |oclc=854680844}}</ref>