The foundation of a sailor's skill lies in one's ability to maneuver the vessel. Before anything else, one has to be able to control her craft - be it off a mooring, away from a dock, around a mark, or through a tack. The tiller extension with a universal fitting allows sailors to maximize use of weight and sail trim while maintaining control of the rudder. Over time, sailors have established "best practices" for how to sail the boat in a way that maximizes the use of weight, sail trim, and rudder. The boat-handling pages here are intended to help sailors learn how to maximize those three forces during each boat-handling maneuver.
Explore the links within this page to learn more about tacking, rounding the windward mark, sailing downwind and jibing, rounding the leeward mark, and completing penalty turns.
Beginner sailors think of the rudder, which is controlled by the tiller, as the primary tool for steering. However, as you develop your skills, you want to shift to using weight and sail trim as your primary steering tools while minimizing the use of the rudder. When sailing in a straight line, the rudder should remain centered as much as possible, while weight and sails steer the boat.
Rudder - The rudder redirects the flow of water beneath the hull and turns the boat. The tiller is used to control the rudder. When the boat is moving forward, the boat will turn the opposite way you move the tiller. For example, if you want to turn to port move the tiller to starboard. While the rudder can give an immediate response to the boat's direction, it can also stall the flow of water under the boat causing the boat to slow down. When moving slowly, the boat may not respond to the rudder at all. In those instances, it will be essential to use weight and sail trim to maneuver the boat.
Sail Trim - Sails power the boat by creating lift. The wind passes from the edge of the sail closest to the wind (the luff) and exits the sail from the edge furthest from the wind (the leech). Just as wind passing over and under an airplane wing creates lift to push the plane into the sky, wind passes in front of and behind the vertical "wing" of the sail to push the boat forward. Your sails act as foils and are most effective when wind is passing over both sides of the sail. Looking at the jib, you will see tell-tales on the windward side of the sail (the side facing where the wind is coming from) and the leeward side of the sail (the side away from where the wind is coming from). If those tell-tales are flying straight back on both sides of the sail, then the sail is creating effective lift.
Steering with Sail Trim - While sailing, it is highly effective to use your sails to help you steer the boat. For example, if you want to turn away from the wind, try easing your mainsail (the aft most sail) aggressively - even allowing it to luff. Keep the jib trimmed. With this setup the jib will drive the bow to leeward and the lack of pressure on the mainsail will further allow the boat to drive to leeward. The reverse can be done for heading the boat towards the wind. Try trimming the mainsail aggressively while delaying the jib trim. This will help turn the bow towards the wind.
Weight - The third factor that has a significant impact on steering the boat is shifting body weight laterally from one side of the boat to the other. The boat will want to turn opposite the placement of weight. For example, if you shift your weight to port, the boat will turn to starboard. Shifting your weight changes the angle of the keel in the water. The keel is an underwater foil creating lift in the water just like your sails do in the air. When you change your angle of heel, the underwater foils (keel and rudder) turn the boat to port or starboard, or track the boat straight.
Putting all three together - Your water foils (keel and rudder) and sail foils (mainsail and jib) work in concert with each other. When the boat is going straight with the tiller in the center you've achieved that harmony. When you change the aspect of your water foils (via weight) or sail foils (via sail trim) the boat will turn even while the tiller is centered. Once you have this mastered you will find that you use the rudder as a trim tab rather than as a primary means for steering the boat. This will keep you going faster and in better control as you will minimize stalled air on the sail plan and stalled water on the foils. One of the best ways to practice this is with a rudderless sailing drill. Learn more about this on the Rudderless Sailing Practice page.
The pages to follow go through boat handling for each maneuver. Thank you to Dave & Betsy Perry for providing this catalog of boat-handling video for our use. These videos are also embedded in the relevant pages of the site.