close reach = beating? - Page 3

sailingdog · #21 06-12-2007

My boat is berthed on the Acushnet river, just north of New Bedford Harbor.

Sailormon6 · #22 06-13-2007

There are only three basic points of sail – a beat, a reach and a run. A beat is when a boat sails as close to windward as it can efficiently. Beating to windward is synonymous with sailing close hauled. A run is when a boat sails directly downwind, and a reach is everything in between. If a boat is not on a beat or a run, it is reaching. The reach is broken down into a close reach, a beam reach and a broad reach. If you’ll think about all the points of sail diagrams you’ve seen in your life, they all show a beat as sailing at approximately 45 deg. to windward – no more and no less. A beat is not whenever you’re sailing closer to the wind than a run, and it’s not whenever you’re sailing closer to the wind than a beam reach. You’re only on a beat when you’re sailing close hauled.

nolatom · #23 06-13-2007

I teach sailing as a sideline gig, and I agree with Sailormon if I'm keeping it simple for the new sailors. I also with Yotphix and Sailingdog, but might withold this concept until they understand the points of sailing, get a feel for doing it out on the water, and are semi-ready to sail in heavier breezes and chop.

Then, I might point out that "cracking off" a little from close-hauled might actually be more comfortable to windward and provide enough more speed, less leeway and less chance to accidentally get caught aback, to be worth the extra real estate you've just bought. That's a balancing act that's learned only with experience.

The difference between a 101 and a 301 course at college, I guess..

doctom · #24 06-13-2007

then why say "beating to windward"? if beating means sailing as close to the wind as efficient then windward is the only way you can beat right?

or am i missing something? maybe a squaresail that cant make better than 90degrees to weather needs to diffierentiate beating to and off the wind?

mike

T37Chef · #25 06-13-2007

AND NOW...ROUND 7???? Ding Ding

Go sailing

Nice description Sailormon & SD !

sailingdog · #26 06-13-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailormon6

There are only three basic points of sail – a beat, a reach and a run. A beat is when a boat sails as close to windward as it can efficiently. Beating to windward is synonymous with sailing close hauled. A run is when a boat sails directly downwind, and a reach is everything in between. If a boat is not on a beat or a run, it is reaching. The reach is broken down into a close reach, a beam reach and a broad reach. If you’ll think about all the points of sail diagrams you’ve seen in your life, they all show a beat as sailing at approximately 45 deg. to windward – no more and no less. A beat is not whenever you’re sailing closer to the wind than a run, and it’s not whenever you’re sailing closer to the wind than a beam reach. You’re only on a beat when you’re sailing close hauled.

You've got a contradiction here... not all boats sail most efficiently to windward when they are close-hauled, as I pointed out earlier. Many boats, gain significant speed when sailing on a close reach, and this can more than make up for the extra distance travelled. Yet, you define beating as sailing close-hauled and also as when a boat sails as close to windward as it can efficiently—but these may not be the same thing.

Sailing close hauled depends on the boat... some boats point higher than others... and sailing close-hauled on one may be at 45˚ off the wind, and on another it may be 60˚ off the wind... and sailing close-hauled on some boats is not the most efficient way to move to windward, since it can be much slower than a close reach and cause the boat to make much more leeway.

Sailormann · #27 06-14-2007

I think that there may be a little colloquial variance in the use of the terms... On the East Coast, when we talk about "beating to windward", we can be either close-hauled or on a reach anywhere forward of the beam. We use the term "beating" to indicate that we had to tack to get to where we wanted to go. If we didn't tack, then we wouldn't use the term "beating"...

Here, in Uppity Canada, the term "beating" does not seem to be used very frequently, but when I think about it, I have not heard it used to describe a particular (or general) point of sail, rather it seems to be used to indicate a series of tacks...

Mind you, I have not been to all, or even most of the clubs and marinas here, so again, it might be more common or used differently in other parts of Ontario...

sailingdog · #28 06-14-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailormann

Mind you, I have not been to all, or even most of the clubs and marinas here, so again, it might be more common or used differently in other parts of Ontario...

What sailormann isn't saying is that most of the clubs have his picture posted by the door with specific instructions... I believe most said "shoot on sight".

USCGRET1990 · #29 06-14-2007

[QUOTE=USCGRET1990]In my wayward book, it means heading into the wind and waves...yukky[

I stand by my original and MUCH simpler post

sailingdog · #30 06-14-2007

[quote=USCGRET1990]

Quote:

Originally Posted by USCGRET1990

In my wayward book, it means heading into the wind and waves...yukky[

I stand by my original and MUCH simpler post

LOL, but not very clear....