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SailPolars
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Sailing guide

Choose a side: shifts, pressure and current

Compare oscillating wind, a continuing shift and stronger wind on one side. Build a course plan from observations and revise it as conditions change.

By the SailPolars team · Updated

SailPolars sailing simulator practice scene

Identify the pattern

An oscillating wind changes direction back and forth around a mean. A continuing shift develops mainly in one direction. These patterns need different plans.

In an oscillation, useful tacks can keep you on the lifted tack upwind. In a continuing shift, your position relative to the developing wind matters. One short observation does not prove either pattern.

Compare the sides

Stronger wind can favour one side even when its angle is less useful. Current can also change the ground covered during a leg. Compare direction, speed and distance together.

The game's left, centre and right wind samples show current observations and recent history. They do not reveal future weather. Use them to test a prediction rather than treat them as a guarantee.

Keep a route back

A plan for one side still needs a route to the mark. A layline is the track from which a boat can reach the mark without another tack or gybe in the current conditions.

Leeway and current affect that track. Changes in wind can move it. Avoid sailing far beyond it while waiting for the forecast you hoped to see.

Practise this idea

  1. Open Pick a side: oscillations.
  2. Observe more than one wind reversal before naming the pattern.
  3. Choose a route and leave room to return to the target.
  4. Repeat in Pick a side: a continuing shift.
  5. Compare both with Pick a side: pressure.
Open the matching lesson

Avoid this mistake

Do not call every change a continuing shift. Revise the plan when new observations contradict it.

Check your understanding

Can you explain the evidence for your chosen side? Test that explanation in fresh weather without hints.

Continue learning

This guide follows the SailPolars sailing school and guided practice lessons. Game controls describe the simulator. They do not replace practical instruction on a real boat.

Next: Sailing race starts: distance, speed and timeAll practice lessons