Points of Sail

Points of sail describes a sailing boat's course in relation to the wind direction.

There is a distinction between the port tack and the starboard tack. If the wind is coming from anywhere on the port side, the boat is on port tack. Likewise if the wind is coming from the starboard side, the boat is on starboard tack. Except when head to wind, a boat will be on either port or starboard tack while on any point of sail. For purposes of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and the Racing Rules of Sailing, the wind is assumed to be coming from the side opposite that which the boom is carried.

Read more about Points Of Sail:  No-go Zone, In Irons, Close Hauled, Reaching, Running Downwind

Famous quotes containing the words points and/or sail:

    If I were in the unenviable position of having to study my work my points of departure would be the “Naught is more real ...” and the “Ubi nihil vales ...” both already in Murphy and neither very rational.
    Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)

    To place absolute trust on another human being is in itself a disaster, both ways, since each human being is a ship that must sail its own course, even if it go in company with another ship.
    —D.H. (David Herbert)