Storm Tactics Archives

Boating’s Deadly Dozen – The Top Causes of Accidents on the Water

June 18, 2024/by Grant Headifen

Discover the most common causes of accidents on the water and learn how to prevent them. Stay safe while enjoying your time on the water.

Top 10 Sailing Superstitions

October 13, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Sailors have long believed that certain things can bring good or bad luck on a voyage. And many still believe these sailing superstitions!

Predicting the Wind and Weather

December 18, 2020/by Grant Headifen

NauticEd International Sailing Education forms a strategic partnership with Predict Wind. Read this full article and learn how to get a FREE 3-month subscription to Predict Wind. All that would be pretty cool – right? Well, welcome to the 21st century! And welcome to the Predict Wind App! Predict wind is a company that has […]

All about Inflatable Life Vests

April 6, 2016/by Grant Headifen

Inflatable PFD’s Chances are that you will be switching over to an inflatable PFD pretty soon given that they are so comfortable. Here the adult is wearing a Type II inflatable PFD while the Child is wearing a comfortable Type III PFD. Inflatable PFD’s are available in a variety of styles (and colors) and are […]

Forereaching animation: How to sail in big waves

October 19, 2015/by Grant Headifen

This post was inspired by the conversation I had with a student sailing off shore in big waves. He was wanting to know how to keep his sails full and have a more comfortable ride whilst sailing downwind. See that conversation here: Wave and Forereaching. In our storm tactics course, we talk about how forereaching is […]

Waves and Forereaching

October 7, 2015/by Grant Headifen

Here is a great question from a student with our answer below. QUESTION: Hey Grant! Any chance you can email me the barber hauler article direct? I’m at sea, on a out new-to-us 40′ Leopard Cat on a 1200nm journey and have been really struggling to get the headsail to set right while running downwind. […]

High Wind Docking Maneuvers

August 22, 2015/by Grant Headifen

How to back your sailboat into a slip with a high cross wind against the direction of propwalk. If you like this post please like us on facebook over there ——-> Watch this animation. It deals with an extremely high wind situation. The trouble is that you are wanting to turn the boat against propwalk […]

Sailing in High Winds

April 18, 2014/by Grant Headifen

You’ve got to understand balancing the forces and what are the effects of each available sail control when sailing in high winds.

How to Handle Wind Gusts and Rounding Up

February 17, 2014/by Grant Headifen

Rounding up is so – so – so dangerous. Last weekend we were out sailing and a speed boat came ripping by at about 20 knots to the windward of us and only about 60 ft away. Yes they are stupid – yes they should know better and yes they should be shot – but […]

Man Overboard

May 30, 2013/by Grant Headifen

In this post I want to tell a few stories that will alert you to the fact that MOB is going to happen to you, and often when you least expect