Steering: the groove, the telltales and a light hand.

Hold the tiller lightly

The US Coast Guard Auxiliary advises holding the tiller lightly so you can feel pressure changes, and says a drop in helm pressure signals a change in the wind. If you find yourself correcting constantly, the Auxiliary says you are probably over-steering.

Coach Luther Carpenter, in a US Sailing coaching paper, makes the same point from the speed side: extra rudder movement slows the boat. Pip Hare, writing with Doyle Sails, recommends tiny corrections and a steady heel angle.

What the telltales are showing you

Telltales and wind vanes show the apparent wind, which is the true wind combined with the wind made by the boat's own motion. They only show the true wind when the boat is stopped. That matters for steering because apparent wind moves forward as the boat speeds up. SailTrain's example: on a beam reach in 10 knots of true wind at 6 knots of boat speed, apparent wind rises to about 12 knots and swings forward to about 60 degrees, so the sails need trimming in as the boat accelerates.

Steering upwind and the groove

North Sails' method for upwind steering uses the lower jib telltales. Head up until you are just short of the inside (windward) telltales lifting. The band of a few degrees where the telltales flow is what sailors call the steering groove.

• Too high: the inside telltales lift, and then the sail itself luffs.
• Too low: the outside (leeward) telltales stall, and you lose power and pointing.

Skip Dieball of North Sails describes the groove as the range of a few degrees where the boat sails most efficiently at a consistent heel and speed. A narrow groove lets you point high in flat water. A wide groove is more forgiving in waves and gusts but points lower. Sail shape changes the width: Dieball says an open, twisted mainsail leech widens the groove, while a straighter leech narrows it and allows higher pointing at the cost of needing faster reactions. More on that on sail trim.

Sailing World adds a rule for the leeward side. In light wind or waves both windward and leeward jib telltales should stream aft. In strong wind on flat water you can sail slightly inside the windward telltale, but the leeward telltales should never stay stalled for more than a second or two.

Heel as a steering guide

In moderate to heavy wind, North Sails says heel becomes the main thing to steer by. Feather up slightly in puffs and foot off a few degrees in lulls. Hare's advice works alongside this: if speed drops, make a quick, small bear-away, because losing speed is easier than building it back.

North Sails also says that if you are fighting the helm or the rail is in the water, flatten the sails or head up to reduce power. Depowering in more detail is on reefing and depowering.

Steering in waves

• Chop upwind. North Sails advises bearing off until the outside telltales dance, and adding twist to widen the groove and keep the bow down.
• Big waves. On modern flat-bowed boats, Hare suggests steering gently up the face of a wave and bearing away slightly off the crest to avoid slamming.
• Look ahead. Carpenter recommends starting to steer around wave sets 6 to 10 boat lengths before you reach them.

Reaching and running

On a reach, Hare advises heading up in lulls and bearing away in gusts. When you are overpowered she recommends easing the mainsail rather than fighting the rudder. Downwind, she notes that if the boat keeps slowing down, the usual cause is over-steering. Downwind angles are covered on downwind.

Helm balance

Dieball defines helm as the rudder's tendency to turn the boat toward the wind (weather helm) or away from it (lee helm). The aim is a little weather helm. Balance comes when the sails' center of effort lines up with the hull's center of lateral resistance. If the center of effort moves aft, weather helm increases; if it moves forward, lee helm appears.

Several things push weather helm up:

• Heel. Dieball says extra heel increases weather helm, and hiking hard is the most reliable way to keep the boat flat.
• An over-sheeted main. Rupert Holmes (Sail) says over-sheeting increases both weather helm and heel.
• Centerboard depth. On centerboard boats, Dieball keeps the board fully down in light to moderate wind and raises it gradually in heavier air to reduce helm.

How much weather helm is right? Gary Jobson (Cruising World) puts it at 3 to 5 degrees for efficient sailing, though that figure comes from a single source. The Coast Guard Auxiliary adds that modern boats sail best with little or no heel, and that heavy heeling suggests the sails are set too tight.

Getting out of irons

US Sailing describes being in irons as being stopped while pointing into the wind, with the sails luffing and the boat hard to steer. Its fix is to back the jib to the side away from where you want to go (or push the boom out on a mainsail-only boat) so the bow is pushed off, then release the backed sail and trim once the wind fills the windward side. The Coast Guard Auxiliary notes catamarans and heavy boats are more prone to getting stuck. The no-go zone itself is explained on points of sail.

Handing over to an autopilot

Before switching on an autopilot, North Sails recommends reducing sail loads, setting a slight weather helm and adding a little twist so the pilot has some steering latitude.