Neha Patil (Editor)

Five essentials of sailing

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Five essentials of sailing

The five essentials of sailing describes the five key things that a dinghy sailor uses to sail the boat as efficiently as possible. The five essentials are:

  • Boat balance - which side the sailor sits on and how far out to make sure the boat sails level.
  • Rigging - lifting the daggerboard up when sailing downwind and putting it down when sailing upwind. Also changing the outhall
  • Course made good (C.M.G.) - taking the most efficient route from one point to another depending on the direction of the wind.
  • Sail setting - pulling the sail in when sailing upwind and letting it out when sailing downwind.
  • Trim - sitting at the front of the boat when sailing upwind and at the back when sailing downwind.

    • Some of the essentials may have alternative names. For example: Course made good may also be known as 'Course Steered'.

    Description

    A useful mnemonic is "Can This Boat Sail Correctly?" the first letters of which refer to Center/daggerboard, Trim, Balance, Sheet/Sail and Course.

    References

    Five essentials of sailing Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA