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
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“Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam—
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—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
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—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
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—Anonymous. Quoted in Richard Chevenix Trench, On the Study of Words, lecture 1 (1858)