How To Use Windshifts

Seeing what the wind is doing on the water can aid passage-making for the cruiser and win regattas for the racer. Helena Lucas has some advice

- Helena Lucas

Adapting your sail trim or course to a windshift is often seen as the preserve of racing folk, and it is, but don’t underestimate the value of doing so on a cruising passage between, say, Southampton Water and Cherbourg, where a tweak here and there as the wind veers left or right can greatly speed your passage and maintain comfort on board. Whatever kind of sailing you do, knowing how to spot a windshift is crucial, and it’s a knack you never lose. Here are some tips to help cruisers and racers spot windshifts and use them.

Oscillating shifts

There are four types of shift – oscillating shifts, a wind bend, a persistent shift and a permanent shift.

Let’s start with oscillating shifts. I like to break these down into two types. Firstly, the kind you would typically find in an onshore breeze, when the wind is coming from the sea blowing onto the land. Secondly, the kind you would find with an offshore breeze, when the wind is blowing off the land, also in a landlocked area such as a lake.

In an onshore breeze the wind will shift back and forth either side of a mean. The shifts may be small, only five degrees mostly, but there may be the occasional one of up to 20 degrees. There is a pattern, however, and if it shifts one way you can guarantee it will shift back the other way.