Sailing Basics Archives

Tag Archive for: Sailing Basics

Heaving To in a Sailboat is a Practiced Skill

August 8, 2011/by Grant Headifen

While books say to tack the boat with the head sail cleated to windward and turn the wheel to windward, there’s more to know about heaving to

Learning to Sail with the Tell Tales

June 3, 2011/by Grant Headifen

Take a look at some footage of the tell tales on the head sail as a NauticEd student turned the boat through various wind angles.

NED the world’s coolest sailing instructor – teaching people to learn to sail

February 14, 2010/by Grant Headifen

This is a FREE learn to sail application which the NauticEd team developed. We’ve made it so that anyone can have access to it for free. The application is called NED. When you’re first getting started in sailing, trying to figure out how the sails should be set according to the wind angle can be […]

Anchoring a sailboat

March 6, 2009/by Grant Headifen

Learning to anchor a boat is an integral part of your learn to sail lessons. There are lots of considerations. Here we’ll cover one of those considerations – swing! Care must be given to swing. As the wind changes during the night your boat will move with the wind and can put you into a […]

Understanding true vs apparent wind

February 4, 2009/by Grant Headifen

Here is an easy description of true wind and apparent wind. Put you hand outside the window of your car traveling at 60 miles per hour on a still day and your hand will feel a 60 mile per hour wind. That’s apparent wind yet the true wind is zero. What if the car was […]

Sailboat Rigging and Some Nomenclature

January 24, 2009/by Grant Headifen

Learning to sail can be a bit overwhelming at the start because of the nomenclature. But don’t worry it’s just a matter of learning a few at the start then adding to them as you progress in your sailing education. The following illustration shows the parts of the sail and associated control lines. Of note […]