Push the tiller the opposite way to the way you want the bow to go: push it towards the sails to turn towards the wind, and pull it towards you to turn away. Use small, smooth movements, and remember the rudder only works when the boat is moving.
The tiller is a lever attached to the top of the rudder. When you move it one way, the rudder blade moves the other way, so the bow turns the opposite way to the tiller. Push the tiller to port and the bow swings to starboard; push it to starboard and the bow swings to port. It feels backwards at first, but soon becomes natural.
The helmsman normally sits on the windward side, facing across the boat, with the tiller in the aft hand and the mainsheet in the forward one. From there you can see the sails, the jib telltales and the water ahead, and you can feel the boat heel. From that position:
- Pushing the tiller away from you, towards the sails, turns the boat towards the wind (heading up).
- Pulling the tiller towards you turns her away from the wind (bearing away).
Some points that make steering easier:
- Small, smooth movements. At speed, a few degrees of tiller is enough. Give the boat time to respond before moving it again. Over-steering, swinging the tiller back and forth, is the commonest beginner’s habit, and it slows the boat.
- Steer by something. Pick a point on the shore or a cloud ahead and keep the bow on it, or, close-hauled, steer by the jib telltales.
- The rudder needs water flowing past it. At low speed you need much bigger movements, and when the boat is stopped the rudder does nothing.
- Feel the helm. A well-balanced boat needs only light pressure on the tiller. If it pulls hard, the boat is usually heeling too much or the mainsail is pulled in too tight: ease the mainsheet and the helm will lighten.
When going astern, under power or drifting backwards, the rudder works the other way round, and the stern moves to the side opposite the tiller. Practise in open water before you need it in a marina.
More in the book: Chapter 6, Steering and tacking