Developing a Sense of Wind

By Ian Savidge 

Elsewhere we have discussed developing a sense for safety and for weather, and how these 

can add both security and enjoyment to a sailing outing. This time I would like to address 

the development of a sense for wind – because it is surprising how long you can get by on 

the water as a crew without ever really having a sense for the wind and its direction. You 

just simply trim the sheets as requested by the skipper, and make sure that the sails do not 

flutter. It is only when you take the tiller that you find that you are having difficulty in 

setting different points of sail, and after a few abortive and possibly embarrassing sessions, 

you may come to the conclusion that having a sense for the wind is like having a sense of 

direction – that you have to be born with one to succeed. 

Nothing is further from the truth – both skills, a sense of wind and of direction, can be learned just like knots – 

some people may just catch on more quickly than others. In fact, I would consider it a failure of instruction, not 

of person, if you have finished a sailing course without a clear understanding of wind and boat direction. In 

whatever way it happens, if you find that you really do have difficulty in finding points of sail or in feeling the 

wind, take heart, because the solution is as simple as finding a sympathetic skipper with some patience. 

(Hopefully, there are lots of sympathetic skippers at the club, but if you are having trouble locating one, come to 

a mentoring session or go out with a duty skipper). 

And all that your sympathetic skipper needs to do is to put you on the helm, and get you repeatedly, and I mean 

repeatedly, to go onto a beam reach. Call it beam reach bootcamp – or whatever. The point is that if you are 

asked continuously to get the boat onto a beam reach, then you will soon learn to feel the direction of wind at 

right angles to the boat, and to trim the sails at forty-five degrees to the boat. At first your sympathetic skipper 

will make it easy for you, by waiting until you are close-hauled before asking you to drop down to a beam- 

reach, but eventually you will be able to find a beam-reach instantly from any point of sail. 

You can even practice a beam-reach on land! Just walk down the road and feel the wind around your head – if 

you are facing forward and you feel the wind in your ear, then you are on a beam-reach! 

And once the beam-reach is anchored in your mind, you just point up for a closehaul, and down to go on a broad 

reach or run – and the real beauty of going through beam-reach bootcamp is that doing crew-overboard exercises 

becomes a snap, because finding a beam-reach instantly is the absolutely pre-requisite for a successful crew- 

overboard maneuver. 

 Last reviewed February 19, 2008.dc 

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