Zen and the Art of Roll Tacking

I know. It's plagiarism. Unless, that is, you haven't read the original. (You should all read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

Anyways, this is mostly for skippers. You should all try the Zen Tack. If your boat is set up properly, then it should tack itself. If you don't know how to know if your boat is set up properly, read the next post.

Here's how it works, just hold the tiller loosely cradled in your hand. Let the boat naturally move through the tack, while you just focus on trimming your main. One good hard roll, and you have a perfectly neutral-helmed tack. If you never move the tiller, then you can't over-steer. See what I mean?

To make this work, it takes patience. The boat moves up through the tack slowly (obviously, this is not a move to throw in a critical situation). Once you feel how the boat naturally wants to tack, you can start to add a little tiller to speed it up.