There are two ways to turn a boat around.

For your first sail, you should turn the bow of the boat through the wind. This is called

tacking. The other way of turning, which you should

avoid to start with, is called gybing. This is where the bow of the boat turns away from

the wind. When tacking the boat will slow significantly, and it is for this reason that

you should use this manoeuvre on your first sail.

Don’t worry too much about your technique just now the full tacking procedure is the

subject of another video. To tack round you should be sailing along

your beam reach. In preparation look around and make sure that the immediate area is clear

from other vessels or hazards. The object of the exercise is to sail back along the

track from where you have just come.

Check once again that your turning area is safe, you can then start the manoeuvre. Gently

push the tiller towards the boom. The boat will immediately start to turn. Duck under

the boom and move across onto the other side of the boat. Once the boom has passed overhead

keep turning until you have gone through 180 degrees. You should now be on a beam reach

once more. Sit down, straighten the tiller and swap your hands over and resume the dagger

grip once more like this. The sail is then adjusted once more to find the point where

it just stops flapping.

Now let’s take another look.

Sailing along on the beam reach point of sailing, take a quick look to decide where you plan

to end up heading and check the area is clear. Gently push the tiller towards the boom and

turn the bow of the boat through the wind, stepping across the boat ducking under the

boom keeping the rudder in the same turning position, once you have turned 180 degrees,

straighten the tiller, swap the hands on the tiller and resume to the dagger grip.

You can then find the point where the sail just stops flapping.