Tacking for speed
The situation
In steady wind and flat water, a coach notices a sailor tacking and gybing again and again, seeming to squirt the boat forward each time with the turn.
The question
Is there a limit on how often you can tack or gybe?
The ruling
Yes. Tacks or gybes that aren't justified by wind shifts or tactics are prohibited propulsion under rule 42.2(e) — you can't spin your way upwind. Tacking on a shift, to cover a rival, or for a clear tactical reason is completely fine; turning the boat purely to gain speed through the water is not. In steady wind and flat water, rapid-fire tacking with no tactical purpose breaks rule 42.
Tack and gybe as tactics demand — but spinning repeatedly just to gain speed breaks rule 42.2(e).
Opens the situation on the boat-length grid — scrub it and see exactly how the boats meet. Free, no account needed.
Rules cited
Related cases
- The lee-bow tack · Upwind / Beating
Crossing on port, Tom decides to tack onto starboard right on the lee bow of an oncoming starboard-tack boat, hoping to slow her and roll over the top. He tacks close ahead and to leeward.
- Two Optis tack at once · Upwind / Beating
On a big shift, two boats near each other both tack onto the new tack at the same moment. As they come out of their tacks close together, who had to keep clear?
- Pinned and can't tack · Upwind / Beating
Mid-fleet upwind, Theo is pinned: a boat sits right on his windward hip, so he can't tack without hitting her, and he's stuck in bad air.
- Tacking too close (the lee-bow) · Upwind / Beating
Red, on port, tacks onto starboard close ahead and to leeward of Green, who is on starboard. As Red passes head to wind and settles, Green has to change course to avoid her.