RULE Lab
Wind shift — tack on the header
Headed on port? Tack. The boat that tacks onto the lifted tack reaches the mark; the one that holds sails away.
Both boats start on port. A right shift heads them — they now point further from the mark. Green does the right thing and tacks onto starboard, which the same shift has LIFTED, and rides it almost to the mark. Red holds the headed port tack and sails off to the side. The maxim: tack on the headers, sail the lifts. Drag the shift's amber timeline marker to change when the header comes.
Play this on the board
Opens the animation on the boat-length grid — scrub it, edit it, or use it as a starting point. Free, no account needed.
wind shiftheadertackingupwindkinematictactics
How it interacts with other rules
- Rule Lab — Wind shift — one lifts, one heads · see also
Why a header on one tack is a lift on the other.
- Rule Lab — Kinematic beat — laylines, bias & shift · see also
Shift timing as a teaching variable.