Let's talk about tacking and jibing! 'Tack' comes from the Old Spanish taco, meaning 'plug'. In olden days the windward corner of a course or square sail was also called the tack. When a shop passed through the wind she was changing tacks.

Nowdays, tack describes a boat's relatinship to the wind. When wind comes over the starboard side of your sailboat, you are on a starboard tack. When the wind comes over the port side of the boat you are on a port tack.

Tacking describes the act of tacking or 'coming about', by making your boat's bow go from one side of the wind to the other side.

The forward corner of the sail where it is attached to a stable fitting is called the tack. It is tacked down to a permanent position.

Jibing... next blog!

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