Martin wrote:
$author = "Walt " ;

I think you have it backwards. First you have to recognize a shift and
*then* tack, if appropriate. If you're really good, you'll see the
header coming and tack before it gets to you.

Actually, it pays to sail a little into the knock before tacking. Granted
you still need to assess whether the shift is persistent enough to tack on,
but it pays to hold off on the tack until you have seen at least 50% of the
heading change.

This depends on the conditions and the boats. I mostly sail dinghys on
inland lakes where a "header" might be a puff that comes with a 20 or 30
degree change in direction, increases the windspeed by a factor of two,
and lasts all of ten seconds. If you wait till it arrives to tack,
you've missed it.

Bigger boats, more steady wind, and you're probably right.

--
//-Walt
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