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When sailing down wind, let's say on a broad reach, if you were to "head up" would you stear up to a beam reach and if you were to "fall off" you would stear to a run?
When I was in earlier stages of learning, I often got confused which way to go when the instructor said 'head up' when I was on a run. I realized that my memory of the term was linked to a kinesthetic sense of easing up on the tiller (like I would be doing close hauled). I think my brain wires make some strange connections.
We use this as the textbook in the teaching program at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle. It answers questions like this very nicely, is easy to browse and read, and is not expensive.
When I first learned how to sail I would keep two copies handy, one on the boat and one at home. I was constantly thumbing through it.
I have to say I do find a lot of the terminology very confusing. Once you get it down pat it becomes second nature. Then you start to understand why the terms are used. I never understood why, then when early on I was on a boat and someone said to turn right, and the answer was "your right or mine" well port/starboard really clarifies it and there is no doubt in the end. Kind of reminds me when I was resetting a password for someone and it was "Uppercase B, lowercase a, 2" and she responds "is that an upper case or lower case 2?" I thought about it, and thought better of making a snide remark as she was one of the top 25 executives at IBM and just sail lower case...
A concise unique vocabulary can be hard to learn, really almost like another language, but avoids a lot of confusion in the end.
I have to say I do find a lot of the terminology very confusing. Once you get it down pat it becomes second nature. Then you start to understand why the terms are used. I never understood why, then when early on I was on a boat and someone said to turn right, and the answer was "your right or mine" well port/starboard really clarifies it and there is no doubt in the end. Kind of reminds me when I was resetting a password for someone and it was "Uppercase B, lowercase a, 2" and she responds "is that an upper case or lower case 2?" I thought about it, and thought better of making a snide remark as she was one of the top 25 executives at IBM and just sail lower case...
A concise unique vocabulary can be hard to learn, really almost like another language, but avoids a lot of confusion in the end.
Actually, when in steering situations aboard ships. You use left and right for directions when giving helm orders on the bridge. "left 10 degrees" "right hard over" etc. This is due to it being simple for the helmsman who are usually O/S or A/B and may not have the port starboard down yet. I could be wrong with its reason but that is what I remember from the Academy.
In sailing terminology, the wind is thought of as a force in much the same way as gravity. So, like gravity, 'up' is against the force and 'down' is with the force. Therefore, 'Turning down', or 'falling off' is turning away from the wind. 'Heading up' is turning towards the wind.
"Wear Ship" actually has relevance today with modern pleasure sailboats. In very light air (e.g., <1 kt), wearing ship can be more efficient and faster than trying to tack. In the later case, getting stuck in irons is often the result.
I learned the effectiveness of wearing ship last summer in a race. The capt of the boat on which I was crewing did it with great result. Blew me away. Ya can always learn something.
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