How Sailboats Actually Turn (Pivot Points, Counter Steering & the Angle Game)

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Hello boys.

[00:00:03]Welcome to our first lesson of the week.

[00:00:06]We are going to feel how this boat is maneu- [ __ ] We're going to feel how this boat is maneuvering, how this boat is turning, how this beautiful boat reverse, how the throttles are, and everything. We are here nice, organized.

[00:00:25]It's a beautiful day.

[00:00:27]The drone is up. The first thing I want us to feel and see is what happens to the boat when we just are stationary, okay?

[00:00:36]I'm going to start the drone. I want Are you into the wind? Yes, we are directly into the wind.

[00:00:45]Okay, [ __ ] I am going to start this video. We are in neutral.

[00:00:51]Going to neutral, I started recording the drone.

[00:00:55]Sweet.

[00:00:55]What do you think is going to happen to the boat now?

[00:01:00]>> You're going to go into the face into the wind and start to slow down.

[00:01:04]>> We're facing the wind. We're starting to slow down.

[00:01:07]Right? What happened once we slow down completely?

[00:01:13]>> The wind will push us.

[00:01:14]>> The wind will push us. We like to say that the wind is going to push the bow, right? You un- You understand what that means?

[00:01:21]>> Yeah.

[00:01:22]>> Yeah. Why Why do we say that the wind is going to push the bow?

[00:01:26]>> Because it's the lighter >> It's the lighter part of the boat.

[00:01:29]>> Part that is the highest >> Um Yeah, you know what? Yeah, it's also because it's a little bit higher. It has more windage, but it's lighter part. Here it's more heavy.

[00:01:43]This part is going to blow down. There's probably more reasons to it. Um Maybe because of the keel position or stuff like that.

[00:01:51]I don't know.

[00:01:53]The thing is that the bow is going to fall. Also on catamarans, okay?

[00:01:56]But now we're facing into the wind, so of course the bow is going to fall. But, if we even do the same experiment and um go, for example, 90° to the wind, you will see that once we are stopped, the bow is going to fall. Okay? But, as you can see, it takes time. Another thing I want you to try, Miguel. Try to spin the wheel right now. Try to take it to the left. Yeah, you know what? Take it to to starboard. Right?

[00:02:22]Does it do anything?

[00:02:23]>> No.

[00:02:24]>> Take it to the left.

[00:02:26]Do you feel any increase in speed, maybe, or something?

[00:02:31]>> It's just pushing me more.

[00:02:32]>> Right now, it's just the wind. So, try it the other side, for example. Yeah, nothing's going to happen. Why is that?

[00:02:39]>> Cuz we don't have any steerage.

[00:02:40]>> Why don't we have any steerage?

[00:02:42]>> Cuz we're drifting.

[00:02:43]>> We're drifting. We're not moving over the water, right? So, when we're not moving over the water, um basically, there's no water flowing on the rudder. If there's no water flowing on the rudder, we don't have maneuverability.

[00:02:56]On top of that, on this boat, we have twin rudders. You might not even see it.

[00:03:05]So, that means that, look, on monohull, for example, with a single rudder, if I take the helm all the way to the right, and I give forward, the boat will go into the wind.

[00:03:20]Wait, no, we started moving a little bit, so that's why.

[00:03:23]Or maybe there's a little current here?

[00:03:27]Wait.

[00:03:28]Let's see.

[00:03:31]Just a sec.

[00:03:33]I want us to be completely stationary.

[00:03:35]Right there, like this.

[00:03:38]Let's be helm in the center.

[00:03:41]Okay?

[00:03:43]And now, if I give forward and I turn the helm all the way to the right, it doesn't create the same effect that as you would have on a single rudder.

[00:03:52]Because our propeller is situated somewhere over here below us, our rudder is over here, and when we're giving forward and sending a chunk of water backwards, it does not hit the rudder.

[00:04:03]The only time it hits the rudder Sorry, the only time that the rudders are effective is if we are starting to move forward.

[00:04:13]Yeah?

[00:04:14]And there is water flowing on the rudder. That's why docking is going to be a little bit more harder with this boat. Let me try and to track.

[00:04:24]>> Why does the boat want to head up then when the sails are up and when the sails are down it wants to fall away? Does that make sense?

[00:04:31]>> Sorry? Oh, nice. I managed to do this.

[00:04:34]What was the question?

[00:04:34]>> Why does the boat Well, I think if the sails are up and like like you let the boat go it will try and head up into the winds.

[00:04:41]>> The question was if the sails are up >> Yeah, and when you're like like you're overpowered >> You're overpowered, yeah?

[00:04:46]>> the wheel you will head up in the wind.

[00:04:48]>> Yes.

[00:04:48]>> But if everything's dropped so so >> Yes, so This the phenomenon that you're describing of having the sails up and the boat trying to pull you into the wind is called weather helm. This is because the on most boats I you see I'm doing it like this because it's not really on most boats, but on most boats the main is more powerful than the head sail than the jib.

[00:05:16]And you will see now from the exercise that we'll do where is the turning point of the boat.

[00:05:22]And if the the turning point of the boat is around the keel. So, if you have more power in the back area of the boat it will Imagine the pivot point is the keel and there is more power to push the boat behind that pivot point, it will want to make the boat go upwind cuz the wind is coming from over here pushing it and then the wind is coming from over here pushing it, and then the boat will want to go upwind.

[00:05:51]>> more power in the front, so it's more >> Now there's no power at all here. Yes, yes, yes, there more power more force on the on the front, but not on the sails, but on the the body of the hull, pretty much. There's more resistance here, so that's why it's harder for it um to pull. Okay?

[00:06:07]Great. The next thing we're going to do and it's uh still recording here. I am going to have a big, big, large file afterwards.

[00:06:15]Now we're going to be playing with the boat a little bit, okay? We cannot start practicing docking before we feel our boat. So you guys already got the hang of our little throttle when we left the marina right now. You're going to of course play with it a little bit more.

[00:06:29]Right now we're in neutral. If I give forward there's a slight delay and then the boats goes to action.

[00:06:37]On normal, you need to really feel where the throttles are. Where is the neutral position? How soft or how hard they are.

[00:06:47]And if it's not an electrical um um throttle you really need to engage the throttle when you're putting it in forward or when you're putting it back to neutral.

[00:06:57]When you're putting it in reverse, you need to do it with determination, okay?

[00:07:01]Not like very, very slow, half a step, half a step, and then engage it because then you will hear it going like like it doesn't kick in.

[00:07:12]You need to do it with determination, and then you raise RPMs slowly on normal throttles.

[00:07:19]>> Okay, so the initial move should be >> The initial from when you are engaging in gear. So when you're going from neutral to forward from forward to neutral, from neutral to backwards, and from backwards to neutral, you need to do it with determination, I call it. So like you're not like half-assing it, not easy soft.

[00:07:37]Later when you raise RPM, you do it softly.

[00:07:40]But engaging, you do it with determination, not fast, just determination.

[00:07:45]>> deep, just enough when we feel that >> Yes, you'll need to feel it, so it doesn't like took, very fast, and it's not like took, took, took.

[00:07:55]Took.

[00:07:55]>> Like for instance, when we were coming out >> No, but this is this is a different throttle.

[00:08:00]Here, it's electronic. So, basically, I'm just putting it forward, it just sends an electrical signal. So, it doesn't matter how Yeah. So, this, technically, you can have a little necklace that you do forward, backward, forward, backward.

[00:08:13]It's just it does it like this, so it doesn't matter how soft or strong, determined or not determined you're doing it. But, this causes a little delay.

[00:08:25]And that delay we will learn later when we're going to do docking, um how important it is to, um >> to >> to keep your initial momentum and know what you're doing before you do it. And that will really force you guys to do stuff at controlled speed, which is terrific, okay? Now, can we just put the fenders up, please?

[00:08:48]Just throw them in.

[00:08:50]Okay, because we're going to do some turning, and I don't want them to touch the Go, go help Eric. There's like four over there, only three here. I got this one.

[00:09:04]Great.

[00:09:07]I'm going to do a walk-through of this beautiful Beneteau First 44.

[00:09:12]Um we have a code zero, we have some interesting stuff, and I cannot wait to see how she sails, this pretty girl.

[00:09:21]Okay.

[00:09:22]So, what we're going to do now is practice the angle game. It's an angle game. It's a game that I like to start at the beginning of the week. We played it in the British Virgin Islands before. Now, Now going to play it here in Croatia.

[00:09:37]Basically, everything on the boat starts with angles. Angles to the wind, angles to the dock.

[00:09:44]And I found that that sometimes students struggle not because they don't understand something, it's because their conception of angles is just not adjusted to the boat. Like if I ask you, "What is 60° right now from the bow?"

[00:10:00]What What do you say? 60°. Like 6 0. So, this is 0. Where is 90?

[00:10:06]90 is there. So, where is 60? Yeah.

[00:10:08]Yeah, exactly. Perfect. You did it. You did it right. So, what we're going to do is we're going to pick some points here.

[00:10:12]And then, according to these points, I'm going to tell you to turn.

[00:10:16]And I want to see your estimation of what is the angle to that um to that subject. Is the drone still following? Great.

[00:10:25]I want to uh to know what is the angle to that uh thing is.

[00:10:32]And according to that Um just a sec, I need to fix the drone.

[00:10:38]And according to the compass, I'm going to tell you if you're right or wrong.

[00:10:41]But the most important thing that I want you to do is to practice start practicing your steering.

[00:10:50]Okay?

[00:10:52]>> Okay.

[00:10:54]>> What do I mean by steering? So, basically, the boat turns because the rudders pivot.

[00:11:00]When the rudders pivot, there is water pushing and creating some turning force.

[00:11:07]Okay, let's look how the boat turns.

[00:11:14]Yeah. Put it here. Okay? Pretty much I'll look at them.

[00:11:20]Let's see how the boat turns.

[00:11:22]Try to look at the water. Okay? I want you to Right now, come. Stand up. I want you to look and try to visualize where is the pivot point of the boat. This is what we're trying to do right now.

[00:11:34]>> Okay.

[00:11:35]>> See, you see it?

[00:11:36]>> Uh-huh.

[00:11:36]>> You see it? Where is it?

[00:11:38]>> It's uh between the mast and the uh >> Between the mast and the >> And the How do you call this? The uh cowl.

[00:11:51]How do you call the opening?

[00:11:53]I forgot.

[00:12:02]>> I would say it's directly on the mast pretty much cuz like Look at like a a foam. Look at the foam, or give a little spit in the water, or put something to float, and see how we're turning around it.

[00:12:15]You can see that here.

[00:12:18]Okay?

[00:12:19]Like you can really uh slow down a little bit, maybe?

[00:12:30]>> I think that it's here.

[00:12:32]>> You think that it's here?

[00:12:33]>> Yeah.

[00:12:34]Look.

[00:12:38]>> Yeah?

[00:12:39]>> Yeah.

[00:12:39]>> Yeah, yeah, okay.

[00:12:40]>> I think it's here.

[00:12:41]>> A little bit forward, I would say.

[00:12:43]>> Yeah, I I think it's between this and this.

[00:12:44]>> Yeah, between this and this. Great.

[00:12:47]Now, the funny thing about the pivot point, it changes according to your speed, and according to um if you're going forward or reverse. Let's try to give higher speed and see what's up.

[00:13:04]Hold on tight, please. Yeah?

[00:13:06]>> [laughter] [snorts] >> Look now, more forward.

[00:13:12]More forward, right?

[00:13:14]We're going to check it later with the drone, but I think it's more forward. It feels more forward.

[00:13:19]Yeah, right?

[00:13:21]Interesting, right? Let's see on the drone.

[00:13:28]Sweet. I'm going to slow down.

[00:13:32]See if the pivot point changes.

[00:13:37]>> Moving this way. Moving this way.

[00:13:39]>> Moving this way?

[00:13:40]>> Yeah.

[00:13:41]>> Like the logic of the physics.

[00:13:43]>> More in star.

[00:13:44]>> Yeah.

[00:13:45]Okay? And the more reverse you go, the more it's going to the back.

[00:13:51]>> Oh.

[00:13:51]>> Okay?

[00:13:53]Now, we did this. Miguel, please come back.

[00:13:58]>> [snorts] >> Now, understand how the steering works.

[00:14:04]If I need to turn, and let's say I want to face the end of that island over there to my left.

[00:14:12]>> Okay.

[00:14:13]>> I want to turn fast, so I'm turning fast.

[00:14:16]And before I reach my point, I need to counter steer.

[00:14:22]I'm counter steering so that when I'm finishing my turn, >> You're there.

[00:14:26]>> You're there.

[00:14:28]So, the more I take my helm, the more I take my helm to the left, the more faster you're spinning, the more spinning momentum, and when you're bringing it back to the center, you are still turning, but less radical. And when the helm is in the center, you stop turning.

[00:14:46]>> So, we need to start earlier reverse >> Counter steer, it's called. Okay? So, I'm going to tell you that tower over there. You see it?

[00:14:55]>> Yep.

[00:14:55]>> What's the angle?

[00:14:57]>> Uh about 60 degrees.

[00:14:58]>> About 60 70 degrees, yeah?

[00:15:00]>> Yeah.

[00:15:00]>> This one, 70 degrees from the bow. This is a close reach on the points of sail.

[00:15:05]And then I want you to do a fast turn and stop directly on the point. You see how I counter steered before?

[00:15:16]>> Yeah.

[00:15:16]>> Great.

[00:15:17]>> Like 50% of the >> Yeah, cuz if you stop when you're on it, it's going to take a lot more time.

[00:15:23]Okay?

[00:15:24]Let's go one by one. Miguel, you start.

[00:15:26]>> Okay.

[00:15:27]What do I do?

[00:15:28]>> Right now, keep course. Keep course. And when I'm talking, I want you to keep course. What is to keep course?

[00:15:34]>> Stay.

[00:15:34]>> Stay. So, go to the tower.

[00:15:49]Great.

[00:15:50]Now, Miguel, tell me. Can you pull the main sheet tight? This is the main sheet, yeah.

[00:15:56]Miguel, tell me.

[00:15:58]At the crane, you see the crane over there?

[00:16:00]>> Yes.

[00:16:00]>> How much?

[00:16:02]>> Uh about 60°.

[00:16:03]>> Uh this is already on the 90.

[00:16:06]This is the beam reach.

[00:16:08]Okay? Yeah, 90. Go.

[00:16:14]Woohoo!

[00:16:19]Uh You turned a little bit earlier.

[00:16:26]Good.

[00:16:28]Um big cargo ship over there.

[00:16:31]>> Okay.

[00:16:32]>> How much?

[00:16:33]>> Uh 45.

[00:16:35]>> Go.

[00:16:36]>> 30.

[00:16:37]>> 50.

[00:16:38]>> 50.

[00:16:39]>> Yeah, yeah.

[00:16:40]30 is the shroud. Usually, 30 is like around the shroud, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90.

[00:16:50]120 is like this.

[00:16:53]>> Over here.

[00:16:53]>> 180, so 160, something like that. Turn.

[00:16:56]Go. This is the game that we're going to play right now.

[00:16:59]Um basically, teaching the students how to steer, how to counter steer, to understand angles a little bit, to get the feeling of this boat before we jump into the next exercise, which is going to be the same thing in reversing, so that they can feel how the reverse work.

[00:17:15]And afterwards, we're also going to go and practice some docking in an open space dock.

[00:17:21]Right before we start docking in tight spot. And one of you is already taking us back in the marina today.

[00:17:28]Um yeah, thank you for watching and uh stay tuned for the next lesson cuz I'm going to record a lot. We only have two students now. So, you know, chill.