Roll tack for experienced dinghy sailors: entry, middle and exit, what racing rule 42.3 allows and which mistakes cost you speed – with a practice plan.
The honest answer upfront: the roll tack is a tack in which you let the boat roll on purpose and use your body weight so that the momentum of the heel supports your speed after the tack. The class association ILCA describes the tack in three phases – entry, middle part, exit – and calls the technique “roll tack” because it shortens the time without drive [1]. Anyone who masters it loses less speed when tacking.
The roll tack is not a show but a clean rhythm of steering, weight and sail.
This guide leads you through the sequence, with a clear eye on the rule: in racing, rolling is only allowed within narrow limits [2].
Master the standard tack first. RYA teaching notes that tack technique should be built so that it can later be developed into the roll tack; anyone who steps across the boat too early can no longer roll later [3]. Milestone: you tack three times without noticeable loss of speed.
The entry starts from close-hauled and always begins with heading up by pushing the tiller away. On flat water that can be a slow movement because no waves stop you; on waves you time the movement with the waves [1]. That way you use the momentum and gain height without losing much speed. Milestone: you head up without the boat braking abruptly.
The middle part begins as soon as the boat is head to wind. The longer you wait to change sides, the more the boat heels in the tack; in light wind you want that, in strong wind you do not [1]. A common problem is ducking under the boom; tip: shift your body weight backwards before you duck under the boom, then you turn sideways instead of forwards [1]. Milestone: you duck under the boom without stumbling.
The exit begins as soon as you are on the new tack and your body sits on the new windward side. If you created a lot of heel, you now bring the boat flat again; in light wind that gives acceleration [1]. Finish by changing hands. Milestone: you sail close-hauled again without the boat wobbling.
In strong wind you want no heel at all: change sides as early and as quickly as possible [1]. Milestone: you adapt the roll tack to the wind strength.
in the first session you do ten normal tacks in light wind and concentrate only on clean hand changes. In the second session you wait one to two seconds longer before changing sides and feel how the boat heels more. In the third session you deliberately bring the boat flat again after the tack. In the fourth session you adjust the waiting time to the wind: shorter in gusts, longer in a lull. Have yourself filmed and watch the sequence before you step up further.
The roll tack is a manoeuvre with the boom and weight shift. For beginners and recreational sailors, injuries often result from impacts with the boom and equipment during manoeuvres [5]; in Olympic classes the back (29 to 45 percent) and knees (13 to 22 percent) are the most common overuse complaints [6].
This guide explains and motivates, but it does not replace supervised training with an instructor.
Do a ten-tack series: tack ten times in a row and for each concentrate on only one point: tiller, weight, boom, hands. A US coach describes for his class: roll tacks until you are hiking, then quick tacks in which you cross over before the sail fills [4]. That is a class-specific hint.
A roll tack is a tack in which the boat is deliberately heeled and brought upright again so that speed is retained after the tack. The class association ILCA describes it as a tack in three phases [1].
In racing yes, within narrow limits: rule 42.3(b) allows exaggerating the rolling when tacking if the boat is not faster afterwards than it would have been without the tack [2].
In light wind you wait longer to change sides so more heel develops; in strong wind you change as early and as quickly as possible [1].
Master the normal tack first, practise in light wind with an instructor and build up the rolling slowly. RYA teaching warns that crossing the boat too early prevents the roll tack later [3].
Roll Gybe: Gybing With Heel and Weight So the Boom Crosses Cleanly