It must not be supposed that it is a good thing for a vessel to be sailed with her rail under and the water nearly up to her skylights ; but in sailing on a wind she should not be idled up for the mere sake of getting her out of such a condition if it is only a passing puff that has laid her in ; luffing, as a rule, in close-hauled sailing, is to take advantage of free puffs; but occasionally when the puff is very strong, and neither free nor foul, advantage may be taken of its strength to do a little luffing, and at the same time clear the lee deck of water; in such luffing the chief care of the helmsman will be not to get the vessel so near the wind as to much stop her way or risk getting in irons.
Frequently in match sailing a vessel is found to be heading for her mark, and the hope of the helmsman will very properly be that she will fetch without making a tack ; but he must not get anxious about it, and hug the wind ; if he does the vessel's way will be deadened, she will make an unusual amount of leeway, and it will be a hundred to one against her fetching. He must sail her along boldly, not courting another tack, but exercising all his care in keeping her an exact full, and she will probably fetch ; never mind if her head now and again falls to leeward of the mark, it will probably come to windward of it again ; but on no account get nervous and try to geer for the mark. If such an attempt is made, the
mark will not be fetched, and the attempt will be quite contrary to the principle of the art of close-hauled sailing, which art cannot be regulated by steering for fixed marks. There is an old saying that " keep a vessel full and she will eat herself to windward, but by trying to sail her in the wind's eye she will crab to leeward." Occasionally a little "niggling," as it is called, may be indulged in if the mark is very near ; but even then the vessel must not be sailed so fine as to cause the head sails to actually lift ; and when within fifty yards or so of the mark she should be ramped along a good full and shot up to windward of the mark with good way on, as if she be gilled up to the mark with little way on; and got met at the last moment by an unfriendly puff, a collision with the mark would be almost a matter of certainty. This, although a most humiliating spectacle, very often happens, as skippers will do almost anything to save a tack ; but it is only the smartest of them that can judge when a tack can be profitably saved and when not. (See " Over reaching.")