[Steely Jim]

I love my rank 3 Tacking, and my only issue with the skill is that I won't be able to justify a 5th point in Tacking and I won't have a chance to put a 4th point in it until about my 23rd Sailing point.

I love the skill, but it isn't very exciting to watch when it works and it only does what it says: for each point invested, you 'll reduce your turning radius by 3% per point. If you just want a skill to allow to flip your ship around quickly to bring the other broadside to bear, then you're better off investing a point or two in the Come About skill.

Tacking really comes into play when you're doing maneuvers like: a series of "S" turns out in front of a ship with no forward cannons. Another maneuver I like to pull is the oblique run end-around where I cruise by one end (usually the aft end) at an oblique angle and at high speed, as I pass the ship I make a hard turn to bring myself quickly around to hide in the gun shadow out in front of the bow. I'm at my most vulnerable when I'm making the turn, especially when I'm showing the largest part of my ship, but Tacking helps get through the worst part of the turn faster.

Still, I am affected by other elements of my build, such as not having any points in Windjammer; I can create short bursts of combat speed with Full Sail, but my preference is to stay in the thick of the fight and use erratic maneuvers to avoid damage. If I let the battle get away from me, then I might not be able to catch up to it before someone else sinks the ship.

That's what the Tacking skill is really for: performing erratic maneuvers. Sometimes that means tacking out of harm's way, and other time times that means being able to turn inside the ship I'm following on an intercept course.