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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Definition of term
From: John Titterton
Date: 2003 Jan 24, 08:44 +0200
From: John Titterton
Date: 2003 Jan 24, 08:44 +0200
After reading the information on the correct naming convention for a ship, I too am in dispute with others regarding the nautical term "back" or "backing" (the opposite of "veer"). British reference books all appear to define the term as: The wind is said to back when it changes direction anticlockwise. (Note that there is no reference to the different hemispheres) US reference books all appear to define the term as: A change in wind direction in reverse of the normal pattern, or counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Who is correct? What is the correct definition? John Titterton Cape Town