Tacking and Gybing There are two main manoeuvres in sailing :  Tacking  as we’ve already discussed,means  putting the front of your boat through the wind. Gybing  is turning the other way – putting the  back of the boat through the wind.  With both manoeuvres, the turn will put the wind  on the other side of the boat (you will be on the  other tack).  This means you must do something with your  sails or they will flop about uselessly.  To tack the boat, the helmsman turns the wheel or pushes the tiller and the boat turns through the wind. But what about the sails?  After a tack, the sails will be on the wrong side of the boat and the boat will stop. Someone must move the  sails to the correct side of the boat. The mainsail will largely take care of itself. It will flop over to the other  side. But the jib must be moved across manually. Someone will have to let the  working sheet  off and pull in  the  lazy sheet  to make that the new working sheet.  Timing is important - because the boat has to turn through the wind, if it does it slowly, it might stop.  Coordination is the key :  With an inexperienced crew a skipper might say “Lee-ho!” (or something) at step #4 - to let them know when  to move the jib. The timing is important. If they go too soon the boat will stop. If they leave it too long the boat  will stop as well. It’s also a good idea to have a bit of speed up before you try this as the momentum will help  carry you through the turn. Gybing is more dangerous than tacking.  In fact gybing can be downright scary.  Why? Well, when you tack the boom only has a  little way to move. With gybing it’s different. But look at Figure 6 – a gybe – see where the  boom is in position A? And see where it will end  up, after the gybe, in position B?  It has to swing nearly 180° across the boat.  If you do this wrong, you could rip the mast out of the boat or knock someone overboard. The procedure is the same as for tacking with some important additions :  If you’re a novice, don’t try this in strong winds. It’s easier just to do a long loop and tack (think about it!) Tacking 1. The skipper announces a tack - “Ready to tack?” or “Ready about?” 2. The crew prepare, usually one takes the lazy sheet and one the working sheet 3. The skipper starts to turn announcing - “Coming about!” or “Helm’s-a-Lee!” or some such jargon 4. As the jib luffs (flaps) the working sheet will go slack and the crew member can let it go, at the same  time the lazy sheet can be pulled in (quickly!) 5. If necessary the lazy sheet (now the new working sheet) can be tightened by using the winch 3a. As the skipper turns, someone pulls in the mainsheet until the boom is in the middle of the boat 4a. At the point where the jib kicks over the mainsheet is released (slowly and with control) until the  mainsail is out wide and the boat is moving again. Gybing Wind A B Figure 8 Wind Tacking Gybing Figure 7 