I would ask. “No, but there is a line of pressure ahead I want to get into before we tack,” our tactician might respond with confidence. That is a great reason to sail the short tack.

If you’re late, tack and sail upwind, then tack back again, fully racing upwind. If the pin is favored and you need to close distance on the line, for example in a last-minute left shift ...

Louis Friedman, executive director of The Planetary Society, discusses the society's plans for a sailing spaceship prototype. You're listening to SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR News. I'm Ira Flatow.

The first time I remember sailing was with my dad. It was in the early 1990s and we went for a trip to the Virgin Islands, a series of small islands that pepper the Caribbean several dozen ...