. More accidents to sailboats have resulted
from a tangled or fast sheet than from any other one cause.

When hoisting sail the sheet should be left slack enough to allow the
sail to swing freely from side to side, but it should not be entirely
free or the sail may swing out at right angles and strike some
neighboring boat or obstruction, or it may even wrap itself about the
mast and cause no end of trouble.

It is best to commence sailing “on the wind” or with the wind from one
side or partly over the stern, for this is the easiest and safest kind
of sailing. In this position most boats sail their best and obtain their
greatest speed. If the wind is directly from one side the sail should be
eased off until the forward edge commences to flutter, but if the wind
is over the quarter the sail must be trimmed in order to be at as nearly
a right angle to the wind as possible, as shown in the diagrams.

If, when sailing with a beam or quarter wind, you wish to turn about you
should always haul in your sheet, push the tiller to leeward—away from
the wind—and bring the boat up into the wind until the sail swings to
the other side, when you may gradually ease-off the sheet until sailing
as before.

If you attempt to turn about without doing this the sail will swing
violently across from one side to the other, or in sailors’ parlance,
will _jibe_ and while an experienced hand will jibe a boat with perfect
safety an amateur is very likely to capsize or to carry away masts and
rigging.

It may seem at first as if sailing right before the wind would be the
easiest thing to accomplish, but this is a great mistake. To sail before
the wind, save in very light airs and with a small sail, requires a
great deal of care and not a little skill.

A great many boats have a tendency to _yaw_ or to swing wildly from side
to side when thus sailing and when this is the case the sail is very
likely to jibe with serious results. Even if this does not happen the
sail may bag out and make the boat steer hard or the boom may “kick u