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Richelieu River

The Richelieu River is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly known by the French as the Iroquois River and the Chambly River, and was named for Cardinal Richelieu, the powerful minister under Louis XIII.

This river was a long a key route of water transport for trading, first by indigenous peoples, and then for cross-border trade between Canada and the United States. With 19th-century construction of the Champlain Canal (1823) south of Lake Champlain and the Chambly Canal (1843) to the north, the Richelieu provided a direct route from the Saint Lawrence River to New York via Lake Champlain, the canals, and the Hudson River. The construction of rail transport in the mid-19th century competed with such river/canal routes and ultimately succeeded them, because of faster service with greater freight capacity.

Because of the river's strategic position between New France and New England, several military fortifications were erected on its course. It served as a key pathway for several military tours and was the scene of several battles between the end of the 17th and early 19th centuries, first between the French and the Iroquois; then between the French and the English, during the regime of New France; and finally between the British and the rebel Americans after 1760.

Geography and hydrography
The Richelieu River has a drainage basin of 23,720 km2 – including those of Lake Champlain 19,925 km2 and Missisquoi Bay (1289 km2). Of this, 19,600 km2 are in the United States, originating in the western slopes of the Green Mountains and the eastern slopes of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. The Champlain Valley makes up most of the drainage basin.

With a length of 124 km, the Richelieu River takes its source at the north end of Lake Champlain, now on the border between Canada (Quebec) and the United States (Vermont and New York state). The river flows through many towns in Quebec: Lacolle, Île aux Noix, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Chambly, Beloeil, Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Ours and Sorel-Tracy, where the river empties into the Saint Lawrence River, around 40 km northeast of Montreal and southwest of Quebec City.

The Richelieu River is the largest tributary of the south or right shore of the Saint Lawrence River and drains a large area of southern Quebec. The Quebec portion of the watershed (about 15% of its total area) includes 18 lakes and ponds, as well as forty rivers and tributary streams of the Richelieu. The main Richelieu tributaries are rivers: Acadia, South Huron and Lacolle. The river's mean discharge is 330 m3/s.

Nearly 340,000 people across eight Regional county municipalities (RCM in English or MRC in French) and 65 municipalities, live in the Quebec portion of the watershed of the river. The population density (140 inhabitants per km2) is very high compared to that of most other regions of the province of Quebec. Just over 70% of this area is used for agricultural purposes.

With the opening of the Chambly Canal in 1843, navigation became possible on the Richelieu between the Saint Lawrence River and Lake Champlain. At the southern end of the lake, New York had built the Champlain Canal (opened in 1823), which allows for navigation to the Hudson River and, downstream, the city of New York, a major market and port. There the Hudson flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a major international trading port.

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Chambly, Beloeil, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, and Sorel-Tracy are important communities on its route.

River course and hydrology
The average slope of the Richelieu River is 0.19 m/km, but 24 m in elevation between Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Chambly for an average flow of 330 m3/second.

By convention, the Richelieu is generally divided into three main sections:

 * The Haut-Richelieu (upper Richelieu, between Lake Champlain and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu). It is characterized by a very low drop (0.3 m over 35 km). With a width of about 1.5 km at its southern end, it becomes increasingly narrow (width of about 250 m in its most narrow areas). It passes through the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which now includes Iberville and Saint-Luc (merged in 2001).
 * The Chambly Canal (of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to Chambly). Due to its significant drop in this area – 25 m over 12 km – the river has many rapids. The channel consists of nine locks and a length of nearly 19 km, allowing boats to navigate past the rapids. In Chambly, the river widens and forms the Chambly Basin, a popular area for nautical activities.
 * The Bas-Richelieu (lower Richelieu, between Chambly and the Saint Lawrence River). In this section, the river passes the cities of Otterburn Park, Beloeil, Mont-Saint-Hilaire and municipalities McMasterville, Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu. In Saint-Ours, the river is again characterized by a sudden drop before emptying into the Saint Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, southwest of Lake Saint-Pierre.

Several river islands are along the route of the Richelieu River. Arguably the most famous, Île aux Noix is in the Haut-Richelieu and houses Fort Lennox, considered a national historic site of Canada. Downstream, the Sainte-Thérèse Island near Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (in Saint-Luc's sector), is the largest island on the Richelieu (its length is about 4 km and a maximum width of 1 km). Formerly agricultural, it is now largely residential. It previously was the site of Fort Sainte Thérèse, built in 1665, but this was abandoned at the end of the 18th century and has now disappeared.

The Richelieu is one of three rivers flowing from Quebec south to north, the other two being the Châteauguay and Chaudière. Ice jams can form in the spring with the melting of ice in the south while the north is still frozen, causing floods.

Tributaries in Quebec part

 * 1) Acadia River (Rivière l'Acadie), 82 km Mouth: Carignan.
 * 2) River of the South (Rivière du Sud), 39.1 km. Mouth: Henryville.
 * 3) Amyot River (Rivière Amyot), 11.7 km. Mouth: Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu.
 * 4) Lacolle River (Rivière Lacolle), 24 km. Mouth: Lacolle.
 * 5) Hurons River (Rivière des Hurons), 33 km. Mouth: Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu.
 * 6) Iroquois River (Rivière des Iroquois), 10.1 km. Mouth: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
 * 7) Bernier River (Rivière Bernier), 12.9 km. Mouth: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
 * 8) Massé Stream (Ruisseau Massé). Mouth: Carignan.
 * 9) Bernard Stream East (Ruisseau Bernard). Mouth: Otterburn Park.
 * 10) Bernard Stream West (Ruisseau Bernard). Mouth: McMasterville.
 * 11) North Stream (Ruisseau Nord) in (Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil)
 * 12) South Stream (Ruisseau Sud) in (Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil)

Geology
The valley of the Richelieu river is based on sedimentary rocks formed during the Cambrian of the Paleozoic era around 450 million years ago. The bedrock consists of shale clay and sandstone. The shales are sedimentary rocks from the mechanical disintegration of preexisting rocks. The sandstones are composed of quartz grains joined together and are always the result of deposition of shoreline.

The Utica shale usually contain an abundance of mica flakes and important content of quartz. The Utica shale is especially conducive to shale gas exploitation. Those of Lorraine group are dark gray color, and contain also sandstone lenses up to 5 cm thick. These are the rocks of the Lorraine Group (sub-formation Breault) that cover most of the area. This group (sub-formation Chambly) contains the younger sedimentary rocks of the region: a series of shales and "calcaireuses" that turn red in the upper parts.

Historically, the formation of rocks in the region is due to its immersion, towards the end of the Ordovician geological era, which led to the establishment of marine sediments. Then raised by tectonic forces, the entire region has been subjected to a long erosion since the end of the Ordovician to the late Tertiary. Subsequently, after being covered with a thick layer of ice during the Quaternary, the lowlands of the St. Lawrence was overwhelmed by the Champlain Sea in the wake of the collapse of the foundation underlying, therefore, the weight of glaciers. After dropping clays and sands, the sea had to decline, following the recovery of the base, and left the area in its current state.

The valley has a few pronounced relief that is covered with a large clay deposit of up to 50 m thick. The lowlands were once part of plain of alluviums of St. Lawrence valley, greater than it is today. In a relatively recent geological time, glaciation changed the relief which subsequently was reduced by sediment deposits dating from the post-glacial of Champlain Sea. The most prominent of the watershed of the river geological formation is also formed by the Monteregian Hills. In addition, nearly half of the banks of the Richelieu River are kept in natural state.

Regarding the hydrogeology of the area, there are two major classes of surficial: permeable and little or no permeability. In the first case, we find sand and gravel formations for the establishment of wells that can theoretically power a community network or industry. In the second case, there are formation that permit at most the implementation of individual wells. A third category has emerged, that of permeable surficial buried underlying impermeable horizon, which are often highly productive aquifers. Permeable surficial sand and gravel together from various sources and represent 18 percent of the entire region. The little furniture or not permeable deposits consist of unconsolidated sediments which occupy 62 percent of the area. It includes the compact clay or silty matrix till, glaciolacustrine sediments for the Champlain Sea clay, fine current and organic sediment floodplain sediments.

History
Indigenous occupation

The Richelieu River is territory of the Iroquois and Abenaki, confederacies whose peoples were primarily based to the west and south, and the east and north, respectively.

French explorers

In 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered the mouth of Richelieu River, during his second voyage in New France (Canada). Samuel de Champlain and his team reached the mouth of the river in 1603. Champlain returned to the river in 1608 and in 1609, exploring upriver and through Lake Champlain to modern-day Albany, New York.

Toponymy

The river was formerly known as "Masoliantekw", which means "water where there is plenty of food" in Abenaki. Because of their encounters with the Iroquois nations along this way, the French called it the Riviere Iroquois at the beginning of the colony. Some early journals and maps refer to the lower river as the Sorel River. It was named for the powerful Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), Minister of Louis XIII, who is also the namesake of Fort Richelieu. Cardinal Richelieu's tenure as chief minister coincided with much of the early period of the permanent French settlement of the Quebec region of New France in the first half of the 17th century.

Five forts

Already an important pathway for the Iroquois, particularly the easternmost nation of the Mohawk, the Richelieu River soon became one for French traders as well. The French regime built five forts along its length: Fort Richelieu at its mouth, Fort St. Louis (or Fort Chambly) in Chambly, Fort Sainte Thérèse and Fort Saint-Jean upriver, and Fort Ste. Anne on the Isle La Motte, Vermont, in Lake Champlain near its source.

In the 17th century, the repeated attacks by the Iroquois endangered the existence of New France. The colonists built their first military posts: Fort Richelieu in Sorel and Fort Saint-Jean. The latter, built in 1666, became the developing center of the city of Saint-Jean, today Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

In the 18th century, the region was a strategic location increasingly coveted by both the French and British colonial empires. The two powers wanted to expand their territory and control the lucrative fur trade. After defeating France in the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in North America), Great Britain took over its territory of New France east of the Mississippi River in 1763.

Between 1819 and 1829, the British built Fort Lennox on an island of the Richelieu River, near the Canada-U.S. border, to prevent against possible attacks from Americans, whom they had fought during the War of 1812. The British and French built large fortified posts, as shown by Fort Lennox at Île aux Noix, Fort Sainte Thérèse, and Fort St. Louis (or Fort Chambly).

The security offered by the forts and the fertile lands of the river attracted farmers. In the early nineteenth century the region of Haut-Richelieu got its nickname, the "Valley of the strongholds" (Vallée des forts).

After the period of the British conquest of New France in 1759–1760, and after the American War of Independence by the Thirteen Colonies (1776–1783), the Crown offered British military and Loyalists land for their service and in compensation for losses in what was now the United States. Numerous new settlers chose the banks of the Richelieu. During the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, the battles of Saint-Denis and Saint-Charles occurred along the Richelieu.

Economy

During the 19th century, the Richelieu became an important economic thoroughfare instead of a path for war. In 1843, the construction of the Chambly Canal was completed, bypassing the rapids and allowing easier transportation of export products such as sawlogs, pulp, hay, and coal from Canada to the United States. Following the first channel, a network of channels was formed. These allowed those traversing the Richelieu to access the Hudson River and then New York. Sorel and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which were both incorporated in the 1850s, arose as a direct result of the increased traffic on the Richelieu.

Railroad development

However, by the end of the 19th century railroads had largely replaced the river as commercial arteries. A tragic intersection of the two modes of transport occurred in 1864 when a train plunged off a swing bridge into the river after missing a red signal, killing 99 people.

Tourist industry

Tourists visit New York and Montreal through the river. Its contribution to regional prosperity is crucial and, in the middle of the century, Saint-Jean became the most important inner harbour of Quebec and Canada. The resort has largely replaced the business generated by the Richelieu which is considered a "heritage corridor".

The river, which crosses densely populated areas as well as several agricultural areas is ecologically challenged, especially in the Chambly Basin. Measures concerning wastewater treatment reduced the presence of certain pollutants in recent years.

The Richelieu River caused extensive flooding during the spring of 2011, damaging or destroying more than 3,000 homes in Quebec and at least 750 in Vermont.

Recreation
Although its commercial significance has waned, the Richelieu has remained an important recreational waterway. The Chambly Canal (9 locks) permits pleasure boats to bypass the rapids at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Chambly. The Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain form the U.S. portion of the Lakes to Locks Passage, linking with the Hudson River and allowing navigation using the Richelieu between the St. Lawrence River and New York City and the Erie Canal.

The Piste cyclable du Canal-de-Chambly is a 20 km bicycle path that follows the towpath along the canal. The bike path is part of Quebec's Route Verte bicycle path network. The canal is a national historic site operated by Parks Canada. The agency also manages other national historic sites along the river: Fort Chambly, Fort Ste. Thérèse, and St. Ours Canal.

Given the rich historical past of the region, the Richelieu River brings in its banks and its islands several sites, some of which are owned by Parks Canada National Historic Site Canal Chambly National Historic Site the Fort Lennox, the Fort Saint-Jean. As for the national historic site of Fort Chambly, it receives every year thousands of visitors during the 20Bière% 20and% 20Saveurs http://www.bieresetsaveurs.com/ celebrated the first days of September. In addition, the curious visitor to learn more about the history of the region could go to 20of% 20Top-Richelieu http://www.museeduhaut-richelieu.com/accueilmhr.html, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Fishing

The Richelieu, which is home to more than 50 species of fish, offers excellent sport fishing opportunities. Important sport species include northern pike, longnose gar, bowfin, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, carp, and black crappie. But the Richelieu also hosts several threatened or endangered species, such as the copper redhorse, river redhorse, and lake sturgeon, so fishing seasons and capture limits are regulated.

Since agricultural products Montérégie enjoy an enviable reputation, many restaurateurs settle near the Richelieu River to combine fine dining and picturesque landscape. True country of maple and apple cider and sugar shacks abound in the area.

Hinterland
In urban and agricultural areas, there are mainly small mammals such as skunks, raccoon, squirrel and marmots. Forest areas, which represent 16% of the land in the watershed, host a variety of wildlife: there are among others American mink, deer, beaver, frogs and several species of turtles including the softshell turtle, which is an endangered species.

But the wildlife species most frequently sighted are birds. Because the river flows in a north-south axis, it is a migration corridor and one can observe several migrating birds. A staging area is located near Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and depending on the time of year, birdswatchers can see various species of birds. For example, in the fall, visitors can see the arrival of thousands of geese and ducks. One can also see the loggerhead shrike (an endangered species ), as well as the peregrine and golden eagle (classified as a vulnerable species ), and cerulean warblers, to name but a few.

Regarding the flora, the catchment of the River belongs to the bioclimatic domain maple-hickory hickory. It includes among others sugar maple and silver maple of hickory hickory of bur oak and oak bicolor of American elms and black ash, and several bushes and herbaceous. Of these, several are considered vulnerable or endangered. This is the case of the aplectrelle winter (Aplectrum hyemale), the leek (Allium tricoccum) and Canada lily (Lilium canadense).

In the late 1990s, there was the presence of water chestnut at the mouth of the river. This invasive species threaten to stifle the fauna and flora, as it multiplies at lightning speed. The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks of Quebec struggle to get rid of, and indeed a breakout campaign began in 2001. Partners, such as CIME Haut-Richelieu has controlled the invasion of this plant in the harvesting.

Fish

The Richelieu River is home to more than fifty species of fish. Many of them are considered threatened or endangered as copper redhorse, river redhorse and sturgeon. One of the last spawning of copper redhorse (Moxostoma hubbsi), a species endemic in Quebec is also found in the river. Other species, such as goby, are exogenous. In fact, they come from an external medium and were accidentally introduced into the ecosystem, often water discharge ballast vessels that ply the St. Lawrence River. Considered harmful or invasive, they colonize the water, funds and compete with native species (local) and a threat to the integrity of the ecosystem river.

During the last decade, several methods have been implemented to protect endangered species. These projects include 2001, the fish ladder Vianney-Legendre which was built to help fish to pass the dam canal Saint-Ours. Named to honor the memory of Vianney-Legendre, renowned ichthyologist, the structure of an innovative nature has been designed to accommodate different species of fish, especially those threatened. This scale can even be used to raise awareness of the endangered species recovery. In 2002, the wildlife refuge Pierre-Étienne Fortin (naturalist who first described the copper redhorse) was created to protect a breeding copper redhorse. Access to the refuge is prohibited during the breeding season which runs from late June to late July. Finally, every summer since 2006, as part of a patrol project established by the Committee for consultation and development of the basin of the River (COVABAR) sensitizing agents plying the river in order to inform boaters the precarious situation of the copper redhorse and remind them regulations and measures in place to protect her.

In addition, invasive species and increasing human presence are not only responsible for the fragility of some populations. According to a report from the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks (MDDEP) conducted in 1998, the presence of pollutants and toxic agents in the waters of the river is also a "stressful" for fish. In several places in the river, a disturbing proportion of fish (over 13%) had abnormalities, which would signal a "precarious state of health" of the community ichthyological. However, the significant presence of fish-eating fish and some vulnerable species such as banded killifish, brought MDDEP to maintain the integrity index fish "average" (except in the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, where he was considered "low"). Chub black chin, stonecat and lamprey East are also part of sentinel species in the watershed of the Richelieu River, like copper redhorse, whose presence is an indication of the quality of water and aquatic. The data presented in the 1998 report are still used as a reference in 2011.

The fragility of some ecosystems does not preclude the practice of sports and leisure activities. Some fish from the river can reach impressive and relevant to angling sizes. This activity is regulated, however : regular and sectoral restrictions and daily bag limits may apply between other sturgeons, the knights, millers and striped bass.

title: Richelieu River


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Li Ka-shing

Sir Li Ka-shing (born 29 July 1928)   is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the senior advisor for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May 2018; through it, he is a port investor, developer, and operator of the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe. As of July 2023, Li is the 33rd richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$37.7 billion.

Li invests in a wide array of industries, including transportation, real estate, financial services, retail, and energy and utilities. His conglomerate company Cheung Kong Holdings invests in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and made up 4% of the aggregate market capitalisation of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award on 5 September 2006, in Singapore. In spite of his wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a frugal no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch. He lived in the same house for decades, in what has now become one of the most expensive districts in Hong Kong, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is also a philanthropist, donating billions of dollars to charity and various other philanthropic causes, and owning the second largest private foundation in the world after Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2019, Forbes put Li in the list of most generous philanthropists outside of the US.

Early life
Li was born in Chao'an, Chaozhou in Guangdong Province in 1928 to Teochew parents named Li Yun-ching (1898–1943) and Cheung Bik-chin (1893–1984). Li and his family fled to Hong Kong in 1940 as refugees from the Sino-Japanese war. Owing to his father's death from tuberculosis, he was forced to leave school at the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he worked 16 hours a day. In 1950 he started his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. From manufacturing plastics, Li developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Cheung Kong expanded by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985 respectively.

Plastics manufacturing
In 1950, after learning how to operate a plant, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company in Hong Kong with personal savings and funds borrowed from relatives. Li avidly read trade publications and business news before deciding to supply the world with high quality plastic flowers at low prices. Li learned the technique of mixing colour with plastics that resemble real flowers. After retooling his shop, he prepared the plant for a visit from a large foreign buyer. Fortunately for Li, the buyer placed a large order and a few years later, Li grew to be the largest supplier of plastic flowers in Asia and made a fortune selling them.

Real estate
In 1958, believing rents would continue to rise, Li decided to purchase a site and develop his own factory building. An opportunity to acquire more land arrived after the 1967 riots when many people fled Hong Kong, and, as a result, property prices plummeted. Li believed the political crisis would be temporary and property prices would eventually rise, and bought land from the fleeing residents at low prices. In 1971, Li officially named his real estate development company Cheung Kong (長江實業). Cheung Kong Holdings was publicly listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. During board meetings, Li stated on a number of occasions his goal of surpassing the Jardines-owned Hongkong Land as a leading developer.

The successful bid by Cheung Kong for development sites above the Central and Admiralty MTR stations in 1977 was the key to challenging Hongkong Land as the premier property developer in Hong Kong. Despite its size, Jardines decided in the 1980s to protect itself from hostile takeover by Li or other outside investors. The company implemented a cross-shareholding structure that was designed to place control in the hands of Britain's Keswick family despite their less than 10% holdings in the group. In 1984, the company also moved its legal domicile from Hong Kong to another British overseas territory – Bermuda, in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to People's Republic of China in 1997.

In an effort to drive forward divestitures of assets in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, Li agreed to sell The Center, the fifth-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. With a value of HK$40.2 billion (US$5.15 billion), the deal constitutes the biggest ever office space real estate sale in the Asia-Pacific region. Li sold the Century Link complex in Shanghai for US$2.95 billion, the second largest transaction for a single building, according to the Financial Times.

In 1979, Li purchased a major stake in Hutchison Whampoa Company Limited from Hong Kong Bank through Cheung Kong.

Retail
A subsidiary of CK Hutchison, the A.S. Watson Group (ASW), is a retail operator with over 15,000 stores. Its portfolio encompasses retail brands in Europe such as Superdrug (UK), Marionnaud (France), Kruidvat (Benelux countries), and in Asia including health and beauty retailer Watson's store and wine cellars et al., PARKnSHOP supermarkets (and spin-off brands), and Fortress electrical appliance stores. ASW also produces and distributes water products and beverages in the region.

Asset trading
CK Hutchison builds up new businesses and sells them off when shareholder value can be created. Profits were obtained in the sale of its interest in Orange to Mannesmann Group in 1999, making a profit of US$15.12 billion. In 2006, Li sold 20% of Hutchison's ports business to Singapore rival PSA Corp., making a US$3.12 billion profit on a US$4 billion deal.

Group subsidiary Hutchison Telecommunications sold a controlling stake of 67% in Hutchison Essar, a joint venture Mobile operator in India, to Vodafone for US$11.1 billion.

Internet and technology
Li has also made a foray into the technology business, where his investment and venture capital firm Horizons Ventures is specifically allocated towards backing new internet and technology startup firms, and bought a stake in doubleTwist. His other firm, the Li Ka Shing Foundation bought a 0.8% stake in social networking website Facebook for US$120 million in two separate rounds, and invested an estimated US$50 million in the music streaming service Spotify. Some time between late 2009 and early 2010, Li Ka-shing led a US$15.5 million Series B round of financing for Siri Inc.

In 2011, Horizons Ventures invested in Summly, a website-summarizing app. Notably, the investment made Nick D'Aloisio, Summly's founder, the world's youngest person to receive a venture capital investment at just fifteen years old. In 2012, Horizons Ventures invested US$2.3 million in Wibbitz, a company that provides a text-to-video technology that can automatically convert any article post or feed on the web into a video in a matter of seconds. In August 2012, Li acquired a stake in Ginger Software Incorporated. In 2013, Horizons Ventures invested in Bitcoin payment company BitPay.

In February 2015, Horizons Ventures participated in a US$30 million Series C funding round in Zoom Video Communications. Later in the year, Li participated in a US$108 million Series D round in Impossible Foods. In 2016, he continued investments in technology companies and Horizons Ventures led a US$55 million Series A round in Blockstream, the leader in blockchain related technologies, and also invested in a startup incubator fund Expa, that works with the founders to build new companies.

In September 2017, Li worked with Alibaba's Jack Ma to bring AlipayHK, a digital wallet service, to Hong Kong.

Water
Through CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited, Li owns 75% of British water supplier Northumbrian Water, the remaining 25% being held by US private equity firm KKR. Despite making losses of ~£22 million between March 2022 and July 2023, CK Group and KKR between them took £159 million in dividends from the organisation which in the same period paid its chief executive, Heidi Mottram, $1.24 million. In 2022 the business was fined £240,000 for discharging untreated sewage into a water course in northeast England over a period of two days.

Australian tax dispute
In 2013 a claim was lodged by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) against Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) to pay approximately A$370 million in unpaid tax, penalties and interest relating to tax disputes concerning SA Power Networks and Victoria Power Networks. The dispute was resolved in 2015 when CKI entered into an agreement with the ATO. No penalty was levied against CKI and a sum of approximately A$24 million was refunded from the A$64 million previously paid to the ATO by CKI.

Retirement
After his almost-70-year reign over CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, Li announced his retirement on 16 March 2018 and the decision to pass control of his US$100 billion empire to his son, Victor Li. He is still involved in the conglomerate as a senior advisor.

Others
Besides business through his flagship companies CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, Li Ka-shing has also personally invested extensively in real estate in Singapore and Canada. He was the single largest shareholder of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the fifth largest bank in Canada, until the sale of his share in 2005 (with all proceedings donated, see below). He is also the majority shareholder of a major energy company, Husky Energy, based in Alberta, Canada. Husky was acquired by Cenovus in 2021, and Li owns 27.2% of the newly merged company.

In January 2005, Li announced plans to sell his CA$1.2 billion stake in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with all proceeds going to private charitable foundations established by Li, including the Li Ka Shing Foundation in Hong Kong and the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation based in Toronto, Ontario. Li was the non-executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation since 1980 and became deputy chairman of the bank in 1985. He was also Deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings in 1991–1992.

According to Bloomberg, he had a net worth of US$35.3 billion in July 2021.

Personal life
His two sons, Victor Li and Richard Li, are also figures in the Hong Kong business scene. Victor Li succeeded his father as Chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings and Chairman of CK Asset Holdings Limited, while Richard Li is Chairman of PCCW, the largest telecom company in Hong Kong. They are both Canadian citizens. He is a follower of Buddhism.

Married to his first cousin, Chong Yuet-ming (1933–1990), they had a long period of marriage that lasted for 27–28 years from 1962 until her sudden death on New Year's Day 1990 due to a suspected drug overdose (other sources name the cause as cardiac arrest). She was the daughter of his maternal uncle (mother's younger brother), Cheung Jing-on (1908–1996) and his wife, Hew Bik-yin (1911–2002), who were also from the Chaoshan region. Both settled in British Hong Kong long before Li migrated to the city.

Li is plainly dressed for a Hong Kong tycoon. In the 1990s, he wore a HK$50 timepiece from Citizen Watch and plain ties. He later wore a Seiko. In 2016, he wore a HK$500 Citizen watch.

His son Victor Li was kidnapped in 1996 on his way home after work by gangster Cheung Tze-keung (aka "Big Spender"). Li Ka-shing paid a ransom of HK$1 billion directly to Cheung, who had come to his house. A report was never filed with Hong Kong police. Instead the case was pursued by mainland authorities, leading to Cheung's execution in 1998, an outcome not possible under Hong Kong law. Rumours circulated of a deal between Li and the mainland.

Awards and honours

 * Grand Bauhinia Medal
 * Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
 * Commandeur, Légion d'honneur
 * Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Hong Kong

Politics
For many years, he was considered to be a pro-Beijing figure. However, in recent years, tensions have been growing between Li and the mainland, especially with the rise of current China's paramount leader Xi Jinping. During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, he refused to outright condemn the protesters, instead urging for peace and calling on the authorities to respond to the protesters humanely.

On 4 August 2011 at the interim results announcement for Hutchison Whampoa, Li endorsed Henry Tang for the forthcoming chief executive election. Then Li said "You all can be just like me, one-person-one-vote (一人一票)." The media then looked at Li in disbelief, and pointed out that regular citizens do not get one-person-one-vote. Li then tried to laugh it off and said "maybe in 2017 they will have one-person-one-vote to choose the chief executive, I probably just said it a little early." However, Li was criticised by Chinese official state-run press agency Xinhua for being ambiguous in his opposition to the Umbrella movement protests and his support for Leung. Later, prior to the Legco vote, Li said that the largest threat to Hong Kong's future was if the government failed to ensure passage of the 2014–15 round of political reform.

Li's business empire has a presence around the world, including China. Li came under attack from the Global Times newspaper in early 2015, when his companies put out word that it was considering selling prime Shanghai and Beijing properties. It became apparent that Li aimed at re-weighting his asset portfolio to more stable and transparent markets in the West. Concerted attacks ensued and went into a crescendo as China's economy slowed down dramatically in the second half of the year, and the central government sought a way to stem the capital outflows. Specific reproaches were that his asset disposals were "an act of ingratitude" and "immoral at such a sensitive juncture". Security Times, a People's Daily publication, estimated that Li has sold at least CN¥73.8 billion worth of assets since 2014. Li's holding companies denied divesting in China, saying that its asset disposals were being undertaken in the ordinary course of business. The attacks stopped abruptly several weeks later, when editorials in official publications such as People's Daily and Beijing Youth Daily took a neutral stance in unison.

Charities

 * The Li Ka Shing Foundation was established in 1980 with a focus on education, medical services and research initiatives. To date, Li Ka-shing has invested over HK$30 billion in projects covering education, medical services, charity and anti-poverty programmes, with about 80% of the projects in mainland China and Hong Kong.
 * Li's donation in 1981 resulted in the founding of Shantou University (STU) and the Shantou University Medical College, near his hometown of Chaozhou. Li has earmarked grants and contributions of over HK$12 billion to develop STU. In 2013, Li granted US$130 million to establish the Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Guangdong Province as a joint venture between Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Shantou University.
 * In September 2001, the newest tower in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University was named after Li, following a HK$100 million donation to the university.
 * The Li Ka Shing Centre in Cambridge, England, houses a Cancer Research UK facility, which is a part of the University of Cambridge. The centre was named after Mr. Li following a £5.3 million donation, and was opened in his presence in May 2002. The Li Ka Shing Foundation endowed a professorship of oncology at the university in 2007 with a subsequent gift of £2 million.
 * In November 2002, the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in China was founded with a large donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation.
 * The Li Ka Shing Library at the Singapore Management University is also named in his honour after a US$11.5 million donation in 2002 to the higher education institution.
 * After the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake disaster, Li reportedly pledged a total of US$3 million.
 * In 2005, Li announced a HK$1 billion (US$128 million) donation to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. It was renamed to Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine on 1 January 2006, which provoked controversy between the university and quite a number of alumni of the faculty, notably Kwok Ka Ki, over the university's naming procedures.
 * Also in 2005, Li donated US$40 million to the University of California, Berkeley, citing that he was impressed with the university's accomplishments in the biosciences. In recognition of Li's donation, the university has named the campus' new biosciences facility the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, which opened in October 2011.
 * In 2014, The Li Ka Shing Foundation provided a US$10 million gift to support UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco to jointly launch the Innovative Genomics Initiative (IGI), based on a new technology discovered at UC Berkeley by Professor Jennifer A. Doudna, executive director of the initiative. In the same year, the Li Ka Shing Foundation has also provided $3 million to Stanford University for exploring new ways of utilising biomedical data to improve human health.
 * A long-time supporter of Stanford University since the 1980s, Li is the principal benefactor to the US$90 million Li Ka-shing Center for Learning and Knowledge, which opened in Fall 2010 and is now the headquarters for the Stanford University School of Medicine.
 * On 9 March 2007, Li Ka-shing contributed SGD$100 million to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in the National University of Singapore. Also, "to honour and recognize Dr. Li's support and generosity, LKY SPP will name one of its three buildings at the historic Bukit Timah Campus after him".
 * Li Ka-shing donated CA$25 million to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto to found the Li Ka-Shing Knowledge Institute, which will serve as a medical research and education centre in downtown Toronto.
 * Li Ka-shing donated CA$8 million to the University of Alberta to found the Li Ka-shing Institute of Virology.
 * Li Ka-shing donated HK$160 million (US$20.6 million) to aid relief efforts in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake
 * Li Ka-shing donated CA$6.6 million to McGill University in 2013 to establish three exchange programs: the Li Ka Shing Initiative for Innovation in Legal Education, the Li Ka Shing Liberal Arts Exchange Initiative and the Li Ka Shing Program in International Business between McGill and Shantou University.
 * In 2013, Li Ka-shing donated US$2 million to the University of California, San Francisco to support their advance precision medicine initiative. The funds will be used to build a worldwide network of clinicians and researchers, launch leadership exchanges between UCSF and China, and create a systems-pharmacology program to develop more precise medications.
 * With a donation from Li of over HK$3 billion, Tsz Shan Monastery was developed over a period of ten years as an institute of Chinese Buddhist practice and education as well as a place for spiritual contemplation. It was opened to the public in April 2015.
 * (Hong Kong, 28 April 2015) In the aftermath of the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal and its neighboring regions, the Foundation has made a donation of US$1 million from its Just in Time Fund to provide immediate aid to help ease human suffering and to support ongoing relief efforts in Nepal.
 * In 2017 Li Ka Shing Foundation donated US$3 million (A$3.75 million) to the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research (UMCCR) (Australia) for precision oncology. The goal of this donation is to help accelerate the pace of discovery and increase the knowledge used to diagnose and treat cancer.
 * In 2017, with the support of a £20 million gift from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, Oxford University launched the Big Data Institute. The centre gathers researchers to analyse worldwide biomedical data and catalyze the development of new treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's and several infectious diseases.
 * In 2018 Li Ka Shing donated HK$10 million to Food Angel, a program that provides hot meals for people in need.
 * In 2018 Li Ka Shing Foundation and CK Hutchison Holdings donated US$5 million for Palu-Donggala disaster relief, after Tsunami and Earthquake in Indonesia.
 * The Foundation funded the world's first circumnavigation of the Antarctic by a robot from January to August 2019. The 23-foot autonomous sailing drone carried instruments of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an effort to enhance climate data collection so as to improve understanding of the Antarctic carbon cycle and as a test for a roll-out of up to 1,000 craft worldwide.
 * In January 2019, Li Ka Shing Foundation supported the relief works of Médecins Sans Frontières in Bangladesh and Democratic Republic of Congo.
 * In February, the Foundation committed USD2M to extend its vision of scaling socio-economic impact through technological disruption and innovation in Zhejiang and Shanghai. Later in July, the Ba De-nian Medical Education Development Fund and the Women’s Development Program were launched at the Zhejiang University.
 * In March 2019, LKSF donated HK$10 million to support Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital’s “Transcatheter Cardiovascular Interventions Subsidy Scheme”. This month also saw the Grand Opening of Tsz Shan Monastery cum Inauguration of Buddhist Art Museum.
 * In June, LKSF offered Tuition Free Academic Scholarships for students of Shantou University and Medical College with the incoming class of 2019.
 * In July, Shanghai’s Little Pigeon Dancing Group’s trip to a dance competition in Japan was funded by LKSF.
 * Future Now Expedition to Australia started off in September with the support of the Foundation.
 * In October, LKSF announced a donation of HK$1 billion to set up the Crunch Time Instant Relief Fund in support of local SMEs which were under duress from unprecedented challenges.
 * In 2020, the Li Ka Shing Foundation has supported the global fight against COVID-19 by sourcing protection gear from around the world and funding medical research and services. HK$180 million had been used for relief efforts, including making a donation of HK$100 million to support the frontline medics in Wuhan.
 * In 2019 and 2020, the Li Ka Shing Foundation granted over HK$200 million in support of medical and welfare services for Hong Kong. The “Love Can Help” Medical Assistance Programme offered financial assistance to patients falling outside the social security safety net and ineligible for government subsidies.  “Love Can Help II” expanded support to the social welfare community; non-governmental organizations providing various services to the visually impaired, mentally handicapped and physically disabled, autistic children, elderly and underprivileged families.
 * In July, LKSF announced an additional HK$101 million in support of services for the citizens of Hong Kong: “LOVE CAN HELP II” - New HK$100 Million Grant In Support Of Medical and Welfare Service for Hong Kong.
 * In September, LKSF announced a grant totalling HK$170 million to four local universities simultaneously to boost Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
 * In September, LKSF contributed CA$500,000 to PALLIUM CANADA to support frontline professionals in palliative care.
 * In November 2020, donation of HK$5 million for the publication of Hong Kong Chronicles.
 * In November 2020, HK$3 million emergency relief fund donated to relatives of the victims of Yau Ma Tei fire.
 * In December, two Li Ka Shing Chair Professors, Prof. Michael Houghton and Prof. Jennifer Doudna, awarded Nobel Prizes 2020 in Medicine and Chemistry respectively. Dr. Qui-Lim Choo and Dr. George Kuo, members of Prof. M. Houghton’s team, honored by LKSF with the same Nobel prize money of US$380,000 each.
 * 24 January 2021, the Li Ka Shing Foundation donated HK$20 million to support Precious Hospital (Caritas)’s Total Knee Replacement programme.
 * February 2021, LKSF presented PARKnSHOP coupons worth of HK$200 to all 97,000 Hospital Authority staff to thank them for unwavering commitment and dedication protecting Hong Kong people; a donation of HK$4.1 million was made to support for radiological examination at HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine for patients with gastroenterology and liver diseases in Queen Mary Hospital.
 * In April, an additional CA$1 million to support the University of Ottawa to carry out chronic spinal cord injuries research on top of a contribution of C$1 million in support of research on biomaterials in 2019.
 * In April, Li Ka Shing Foundation donated HK$4 million to support Hong Kong Kidney Foundation’s Home Nocturnal Haemodialysis program.
 * In July, Li Ka Shing Medical Fellowship for Internal Medicine was set up at the Department of Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
 * In October, a donation of HK$5.6 million was made to support Sailability Hong Kong to provide opportunities for people with disabilities to learn sailing.
 * In December, LKSF donated HK$5 million to subsidise patients with chest pain to undergo coronary computed tomography angiography at LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
 * From February to March 2022, Li Ka Shing Foundation made a donation of about HK$60 million to support private hospitals in Hong Kong to receive non-COVID-19 patients to relieve the pressure on the public healthcare system, and donated HK$5 million to fund elderly homes to purchase protective materials.
 * In April, LKSF donated HK$2 million to support the TREATS Inclusive Sports for All programme; and another HK$2 million to fund the Hong Kong Sensory Integration Training and Professional Development Centre of SAHK.
 * In May, Li Ka-shing Foundation, along with CK Group, each made a donation of HK$ 3M to the Community Chest of Hong Kong Pandemic Rainbow Fund
 * In May, LKSF donated HK$150 million to support the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s research funding, HK$5 million to support the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing in promoting the continuing education of specialist nurses, and to support the Education University of Hong Kong in popularising AI education.
 * In June, Li Ka Shing Foundation launched the Construction Industry Casualty Assistance Programme to give a helping hand to the families of the victims due to construction accidents.
 * In July, LKSF made a donation of CN¥10 million to support the haemodialysis programme at SUMC First and Second Affiliated Hospitals.
 * In August, LKSF donated HK$4 million to support research on obstructive sleep apnea and lung cancer diagnosis at LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
 * In January 2023, Li Ka Shing Foundation donated CN¥1 million to subsidise the Shanghai Little White Pigeon Dance Troupe.
 * Supported the GI Scan Subsidy Programme at the University of Hong Kong for patients with liver (March) and gastroenterology (October) diseases to undergo multiphasic cross-sectional imaging.
 * In April, a donation of CN¥100 million was made by LKSF to support the construction of a new inpatient building of Chaozhou People’s Hospital.
 * In August, HK$30 million was donated to support flood relief efforts in Beijing-Tianjin and Northeast China, and a donation of CN¥10 million was made to support the medical aid program for the underprivileged at the Shantou University Medical College Affiliated Hospitals.
 * In the same month, a donation of US$25 million was also made to support Philanthropy Asia Alliance to promote innovative solutions to address issues of Asian and global concern.
 * In the same month, LKSF made a donation of HK$1 million to support Opera Hong Kong to launch the "Li Ka Shing Foundation and Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Overseas Residency Fellowships” to nurture local artists.
 * In October, LKSF donated HK$3 million to support the Hong Kong Kidney Foundation’s Home Nocturnal Haemodialysis Programme.
 * In December, LKSF donated HK$30 million to assist Gansu Earthquake relief efforts.
 * In March 2024, LKSF made a donation of HK$10 million to contribute to the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Interventions Subsidy Scheme (2024-26) of Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Li Ka-shing


text:
Mac's Convenience Stores

Mac's Convenience Stores (known colloquially as Mac's or Mac's Milk) was a chain of convenience stores in Canada. The company was divided into three geographic business units: eastern Canada, central Canada, and western Canada. It had been owned and operated by Alimentation Couche-Tard since 1999. Since 2017, it served as one of Couche-Tard's two main banners in English-speaking Canada, alongside Circle K. The brand has been phased out in favour of the Circle K banner.

History
Kenneth (Ken) and Carl McGowen incorporated Mac's Milk Limited in Ontario on April 4, 1962. On July 5, 1963, Silverwood Dairies Limited acquired 40% of the shares of Mac's Milk Limited, and increased its holding to 80% on March 29, 1968, and 100% on January 12, 1972.

In 1971, the company purchased 18 convenience stores operating under the "Little Z Convenience Stores" banner from Zehrs Markets. In 1974, it bought thirteen Mini-Mart convenience stores in Vancouver from a subsidiary of George Weston Limited and seven Starlite Variety Stores operating in Windsor, Ontario.

The company was renamed "Mac's Convenience Stores Limited" on May 7, 1975. In 1976, Silverwood Dairies Limited purchased shares of Royal Oak Dairy, including operations of convenience stores under the Bantam and Astro names.

In 1994, the company sold most of the Mac's stores in Quebec to Alimentation Couche-Tard Ltd. Mac's stores in Quebec were renamed "Dépan-Escompte Couche-Tard". Silcorp, the parent company of Mac's, acquired 163 Southern Ontario stores, and assets of rival Becker's in November 1996. On April 14, 1999, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. purchased Silcorp (including the Mac's and Becker's chains). Mac's dropped its longtime cat logo, and replaced it with Couche-Tard's owl logo.

On September 23, 2015, Alimentation Couche-Tard announced that as part of a global re-branding, all Mac's stores would be converted to Couche-Tard's Circle K banner; the Canadian renaming began in May 2017.

Some stores across Canada continue to use the Mac's logo.

Marketing
The original mascot for Mac's was a cat named MacTavish (seen below), wearing a Tam o' shanter and a kilt, holding a jug of milk. Following Mac's acquisition by Couche-Tard in 1999, it was changed to the winking owl named Hibou, which was the mascot for Couche-Tard's convenience stores and gas stations in Quebec.

title: Mac's Convenience Stores


text:
Point of sail

[[File:Points of sail.svg|300px|thumb|The points of sail: A. Into the wind; shaded: "no-go zone" where a craft may be "in irons".

B. Close-hauled (used when beating to windward)

between B and C. Close reach

C. Beam reach

D. Broad reach

E. Running downwind ]]

A point of sail is a sailing craft's direction of travel under sail in relation to the true wind direction over the surface.

The principal points of sail roughly correspond to 45° segments of a circle, starting with 0° directly into the wind. For many sailing craft 45° on either side of the wind is a no-go zone, where a sail is unable to mobilize power from the wind. Sailing on a course as close to the wind as possible—approximately 45°—is termed beating, a point of sail when the sails are close-hauled. At 90° off the wind, a craft is on a beam reach. The point of sail between beating and a beam reach is called a close reach. At 135° off the wind, a craft is on a broad reach. At 180° off the wind (sailing in the same direction as the wind), a craft is running downwind.

A given point of sail (beating, close reach, beam reach, broad reach, and running downwind) is defined in reference to the true wind—the wind felt by a stationary observer. The motive power, and thus appropriate position of the sails, is determined by the apparent wind: the wind relative to an observer on the sailing craft. The apparent wind is the combined effect of the velocities of the true wind and of the sailing craft.

A sail with the airflow parallel to its surface, while angled into the apparent wind, acts substantially like a wing with lift as a force acting perpendicular to its surface. A sail with the apparent wind perpendicular to its surface, acts substantially like a parachute with the drag on the sail as the dominant force. As a sailing craft transitions from close-hauled to running downwind, the lifting force decreases and the drag force increases. At the same time, the resistance to sidewards motion needed to keep the craft on course also decreases, along with the sideways tipping force.

There is a zone of approximately 45° on either side of the true wind, where a sail cannot generate lift, called the "no-go zone". The angle encompassed by the no-go zone depends on the airfoil efficiency of the craft's sails and the craft's lateral resistance on the surface (from hydrofoils, outriggers, or a keel in the water, runners on ice, or wheels on land). A craft remaining in its no-go zone will slow to a stop—it will be "in irons".

The points of sail
The recognized points of sail are judged relative to the true wind direction. They include:

The waves give an indication of the true wind direction. The flag gives an indication of apparent wind direction. True wind can also be indicated by a fixed wind indicator (flag, windsock, etc., not attached to the boat or any moving object).
 * Into the wind where a sailing craft is pointed directly upwind in the middle of the no-go zone, where sails cannot generate power.
 * Close-hauled where a craft is sailing, pointed near the no-go zone.
 * Reaching, including:
 * Close reach: between close-hauled and a beam reach.
 * Beam reach: the craft has the true wind at a right angle to its direction (on its beam).
 * Broad reach: the true wind is coming from behind, but not directly behind.
 * Running downwind where a craft has the wind coming from directly behind.
 * A sailboat on three points of sail

Into the wind
The range of directions into the wind, where a sailing craft cannot sail is called the no-go zone. A sailing craft cannot sail directly into the wind, nor on a course that is too close to the direction from which the wind is blowing, because the sails cannot generate lift in this no-go zone. A craft passing through the no-go zone to change tacks from one side to the other, must maintain momentum until its sails can draw power on the other side. If it remains in the no-go zone, it will slow to a stop and be in irons. This is called missing stays. To recover, that craft typically must return to its original tack and pick up sufficient speed to complete the maneuver. The span of the no-go zone depends on the efficiency of a sailing craft's sails and its resistance to sideways motion in the water (using a keel or foils) on ice or on land, typically at an angle between 30 and 50 degrees from the wind.

A craft stopped in the no-go zone is said to be in irons. A square-rigged vessel in irons by accident is taken aback with the sails blown against the mast or laid aback if deliberate. In either case, the stopped vessel will be blown backwards, which with proper positioning of the rudder allows the vessel to point outside the no-go zone and resume forward motion, once the sails can draw power. Iceboats are often parked in irons with a brake applied to the ice to prevent motion. To commence sailing, the craft is guided to one side and boarded, once the sail can draw power.

Close-hauled
A sailing craft is said to be sailing close-hauled when its sails are trimmed in tightly and are acting substantially like a wing, relying on lift to propel the craft forward on a course as close to the wind as the sail can provide lift. This point of sail lets the sailing craft travel upwind, diagonally to the wind direction.

The smaller the angle between the direction of the true wind and the course of the sailing craft, the higher the craft is said to point. A craft that can point higher or sail faster upwind is said to be more weatherly. Pinching occurs as a craft's point of sail approaches the no-go zone and its speed falls off sharply.

Sailing to windward
In order to sail upwind, sailing craft must zig-zag across the direction of the oncoming wind, called beating to windward. The higher a vessel that can point into the wind, the shorter its "course made good" to an upwind destination. Beating upwind, a vessel alternates between having the wind come on the port and starboard sides (the port and starboard tack). Changing from one tack to the other, by steering through the wind direction, is called tacking, or going about.

Reaching
A craft sailing with the true wind on its side (within limits) is reaching. Wind is flowing over the surface of the sail, creating lift (like a wing) to propel the craft. Because lift is more powerful than drag on this point of sail, sailing craft achieve their highest speeds on a reach. A variety of high-performance sailing craft sail fastest on a broad reach with the sails close-hauled at speeds several times the true windspeed. Depending on the angle of the true wind with respect to the course sailed, a reach may be close, beam, or broad, as follows:

 * A close reach is a course closer to the true wind (more upwindwards) than a beam reach, but below close-hauled; i.e., any angle between a beam reach and close-hauled. The sails are trimmed in (hauled towards the centreline of the hull), but not as tightly as for a close-hauled course.

 * A beam reach is when the true wind is at a right angle to the direction of motion (so called because the wind is parallel to the cross-hull beams, if any; see beam).

 * A broad reach is when the wind is coming from behind the sailing craft at an angle. This represents a range of wind angles, between a beam reach (see next paragraph) and running downwind. On a sailboat (but not an iceboat) the sails are eased out away from the sailing craft, but not as much as on a downwind run. If the sailcraft points any further downwind, the sails cease acting substantially like a wing.

Running downwind
Sailing with the wind or running before the wind, the sails generate power primarily through drag (like a parachute) with the true wind directly from behind the sailing craft. A sailing craft running more downwind than a broad reach cannot attain a speed faster than the true wind.

However, higher-performance sailing craft achieve a higher velocity made good downwind, by sailing on whatever broad reach is most efficient on that particular craft, and jibing as needed. The longer course is offset by the faster speed. For instance, if a vessel sails alternately in the directions 45° from the downwind direction, it will sail $\sqrt{2}$ (≈1.4) times farther than it would if it sailed dead downwind. However, as long as it can sail faster than 1.4 times its dead downwind speed, the indirect route will allow it to arrive at a chosen point sooner.

Craft running downwind increase power from the sails by increasing total area presented to the following wind, sometimes by putting out sails that adapt well to the purpose, such as a spinnaker on a fore-and-aft rigged vessel. Another technique is to place the jib to windward (opposite to the main sail)—called "wing on wing" or one of several other terms—for a fore-and-aft vessel going dead downwind. In light winds, certain square-rigged vessels may set studding sails, sails that extend outwards from the yardarms, to create a larger sail area for points of sail, ranging from downwind to a close reach. Sails for a fore-and-aft rig and a square rig in use downwind
 * Downwind

True wind versus apparent wind
True wind (VT) combines with the sailing craft's velocity (VB) to be the apparent wind velocity (VA); the air velocity experienced by instrumentation or crew on a moving sailing craft. Apparent wind velocity provides the motive power for the sails on any given point of sail. The apparent wind is equal to the true wind velocity for a stopped craft; it may be faster than the true wind speed on some points of sail, or it may be slower e.g. when a sailing craft sails dead downwind. Sailing craft A is close-hauled. Sailing craft B is on a beam reach. Sailing craft C is on a broad reach. Boat velocity (in black) generates an equal and opposite apparent wind component (not shown), which adds to the true wind to become apparent wind.
 * Effect of apparent wind on sailing craft at three points of sail

The speed of sailboats through the water is limited by the resistance that results from hull drag in the water. Ice boats typically have the least resistance to forward motion of any sailing craft; consequently, a sailboat experiences a wider range of apparent wind angles than does an ice boat, whose speed is typically great enough to have the apparent wind coming from a few degrees to one side of its course, necessitating sailing with the sail sheeted in for most points of sail. On conventional sail boats, the sails are set to create lift for those points of sail where it's possible to align the leading edge of the sail with the apparent wind.

For a sailboat, point of sail significantly affects the lateral force to which the boat is subjected. The higher the boat points into the wind, the stronger the lateral force, which results in both increased leeway and heeling. Leeway, the effect of the boat moving sideways through the water, can be counteracted by a keel or other underwater foils, including daggerboard, centerboard, skeg and rudder. Lateral force also induces heeling in a sailboat, which is resisted by the shape and configuration of the hull (or hulls, in the case of catamarans) and the weight of ballast, and can be further resisted by the weight of the crew. As the boat points off the wind, lateral force and the forces required to resist it become reduced. On ice boats and sand yachts, lateral forces are countered by the lateral resistance of the blades on ice or of the wheels on sand, and of their distance apart, which generally prevents heeling.

title: Point of sail


text:
Talk:Direct action

Globalize
Added a globalize tag to the article, as I feel it is presently too focused upon the minor scale antics of mainly US-focused leftwing political groups. I've updated the article with some thumbnail pics alluding to major historical events, such as Tienanmen Square and the Berlin Wall, but the text of the article needs wholesale rewriting.--Froglich (talk) 22:52, 21 December 2013 (UTC)
 * , have any other source suggestions? Looks like the article has picked up more non-US content over the years and I just ordered an overview chapter from which I can add, but do you have sources that cover more of the area you wanted to see represented? czar  16:55, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

blockades
I moved blockades from the list of types of violent direct actions to nonviolent direct actions. There of course can be violence during blockades—just like there can be violence during sit-ins, strikes, and occupations—but it's not an integral part of the action, and they are usually nonviolent. The relevant part of the linked blockade page reflects this. With emphasis added:

"There are a number of protest actions with the specific aim of cutting off material, people or communications from a particular area by non-violence, either in part or totally. The effectiveness of such blockades rely on the principles of nonviolent resistance especially the participation of people and lock-on techniques."

I really don't see any reason why blockades would be considered violent. Warm Worm (talk) 16:14, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

I think blockades can easily become unlawful restraint or false imprisonment. Roads are often blocked in ways that don't permit people to retreat or escape. I think that's a form of kidnapping and thus violence. PapayaSF (talk)

Not Limited to Anarchist Groups
The opening explanation states that direct action originated as an anarchist term for economic and political acts.

However, that oversimplifies the history. Direct Action was, and continues to be, used by political and religious groups from one end of the spectrum to the other, including those who believe in order, but who believe in taking action to bring about change. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.21.160 (talk) 12:43, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

 * I agree with this, and I would add that since this article deals with a concept in political theory, it might be best to offer multiple definitions and opening up a "controversies" or "debates" section of the article to delineate how these different definitions contend with one another. This I think will also help clear up some of the confusion about whether including left wing versus right wing versus non-politically-aligned behavior is the right course of action. I think to do this effectively would be to start with an overview of a far narrower definition of direct action, and then to expand upon that with various sections devoted to right-wing, left-wing, and politically unaligned actions that could be described as direct action. BigHeadPhilippe (talk) 18:14, 11 September 2022 (UTC)

Call to action / CTA
I've made Call to action a redirect to this article, so we might want to mention it somewhere here. Unless someone has covered it elsewhere? - CorbieV  ☊ ☼ 20:35, 21 April 2019 (UTC)
 * I've never seen that phrase used that way. Do you have sourcing for it? czar  00:19, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

 * A quick google search showed that it seems to be used a bit more often in marketing these days. Or perhaps they're just engineering higher google placement? Older usage was more usually political, and it's still in use in grassroots groups online. Here's just a few of the prominent google results:

Many of the other results are things like guidelines that cover any type of CTA - marketing as well as political. Best, - CorbieV  ☊ ☼ 16:52, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
 * A Call to Action on Climate and Health - Global Climate and Health Forum
 * Call to action - "something such as a speech, piece of writing, or act that encourages people to take action about a problem" dicdef at Cambridge English Dictionary
 * Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies
 * Call to Action social justice movements in the Catholic Church
 * I don't think this is an appropriate redirect. An NGO calling for government to take action (by listing calls to action) is not calling for "direct action" in the sense of this article. For instance, a change in government policy is not an example of direction, unless all governments should be listed at List of direct action groups. I don't see anything suitable to link to, but I don't think a link here is helpful at all. - 129.242.129.238 (talk) 14:59, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Lead needs rewrite, especially first sentence
That's one of the most abstract and obtuse lead paragraphs I have read in Wikipedia. Needs a re-write. The first sentence should make clear to the reader what "direct action" is; the reader should NOT have to read the article in order to get "the gist" of it. First off, it should describe "what it is", not how it originated. THIS doesn't help a reader: (current version) "Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest; in contrast to those actions that appeal to others (e.g. authorities); by, for example, revealing an existing problem, using physical violence, highlighting an alternative, or demonstrating a possible solution." Please see Manual of Style/Lead section. Normal Op (talk) 17:16, 17 July 2020 (UTC)

Direct action or leaderless resistance
Your sentence "Direct action is used by anarchists to due to a rejection of unjustified hierarchy and anarchist reliance on decentralization and fluidity" is the odd one. First, it included "to due to" which makes no sense, but I'll assume for a moment that maybe you meant "due to". I'm pretty sure you're describing leaderless resistance, not direct action, when you speak of decentralization and fluidity. And the use of leaderless resistance doesn't "cause" direct action, which is how your sentence is constructed. And that's why I called it odd. Since both of your citations require subscriptions to read them, I couldn't even figure out how to fix your wording. Please fix this. Normal Op (talk) 08:26, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

 * That's a little better because the sentence at least makes sense. ("Direct action is used by anarchists due to a rejection of party politics, and refusal to work within hierarchical bureaucratic institutions.") But the concept... hmm. Are you saying that anarchists turn to direct action when they believe that diplomacy doesn't work? Or are you saying that direct action is only used by the fringe of an anarchist movement because they don't like working within groups? You see, the sentence is still sort of hanging out there in the air and doesn't really paint the scenario, like its context is missing. Maybe weave it into the "History" section with more sentences, then it makes sense to put something in the lead section about anarchism. Normal Op (talk) 18:48, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

 * Anarchists use whatever is needed, certain anarchist ideologies have different views as what it needed. Some anarchists are absolute pacifists, not hitting a person even if they are being completely beat up. Other anarchists are completely militant, taking constant violent action. Some anarchists are Syndicalists, some Communists, some Mutualists, and Collectivists. Anarchism as an ideology is actually extremely ideology identical, simply onto how anarchism is organized, communists want to abolish money and create communism, Mutualist want to maintain some currency and some businesses, while maintaining worker control over mass property, Syndicalists want mass union participation and labor organizations, Collectivists are somewhere in between them all. The universal thing uniting Anarchism is dissolution of unjustified hierarchy, and complete decentralization of society, as well as absolute pluralism and a form of direct participatory democracy whatever form that may be. Anarchists will always use direct action however, whatever they are as Anarchists don't organize in a parties hierarchical organizations. Anarchists as an ideology core principle is forming of collective groups, no anarchists form groups, like unions, communities etc... Anarchist don't create parties and they don't send anyone to congress. Anarchists use diplomacy if its needed, but they won't organize it through bureaucracy. Vallee01 (talk) 08:52, 7 October 2020 (UTC)

Street blockades incorrectly listed as nonviolent
Had removed the unsourced blockade mentions from the listing of nonviolent activities, and this was good faith reversed. Although legitimately discussed as a direct action technique, blockading traffic or people from going about their business is not a tactic utilizing nonviolence. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s never used this approach, as the Selma to Montgomery marches, for example, were done along the sidewalk or the side of the highway, and the Birmingham campaign's use of children sent the children out of the 16th Street Baptist Church 50 at a time to walk to City Hall, using sidewalks and traffic lights. Gandhi's Salt March is less clear as to totally blocking roads, but from a reading the marchers did not block the roads but let traffic flow. James Bevel gives an example of a demonstrator being injured who would need immediate medical care, but does not receive it because of traffic tie-up. Each person inhibited by the blocking of roads has a personal destination in mind, some of which may be vastly important to the care and well-being of themselves or others. Blocking them from their innocent and productive forward movement, citizen travel unrelated to either the conflict or of the overall resulting goal or intent of direct action participants, does not fall into any description of nonviolence given by major adherents and students of the practice that I'm aware of. The language and links on this page for street blockades should probably obtain a separate entry of their own between the listings of 'Nonviolence' and overtly 'Violent' direct action. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:16, 27 September 2020 (UTC)
 * You are wrong that street blockades weren't used in the 60's civil rights movement. I think you are confusing "nonviolence" with "passivism". They are NOT the same thing. Blockading streets is definitely NOT passivism (it's direct action), but it is also not violent. You are synthesizing something that so far hasn't been presented as a secondary source saying street blockades are violent.

 * That a street blockade may lead to pedestrians or protesters being run over, or police attacking protesters, or individuals in a protest turning violent, that doesn't make the blockade violent, it means it's risky. But so, too, is a "sit in" or "die in" in the wrong location. There is no guarantee that protesters on a sidewalk won't get plowed by a vehicle (see Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone) or beaten by police (see Bloody Sunday (1965)). "Violence" implies some act that is determined to damage some one or some thing. If blacks in the 1960s would have blocked the road, they would have been (and were) met with brutal force by police in those days. Nowadays we don't condone plowing through crowds of protesters, and police don't routinely bludgeon crowds of protesters for blocking a road.

 * Mexico had a street blockade in 2019 over cuts to agriculture and rural funding, as did Argentina over taxing agricultural exports (2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector), and India in 2019.

 * — Normal Op (talk) 21:56, 27 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocking streets or highways and keeping them closed has become a common and accepted tactic of recent direct action events, and deserves mention on this page. That doesn't mean the tactic was used in Gandhi's or the Civil Rights Movement nonviolent campaigns. Bottom line for Wikipedia, do reputable sources exist calling the tactic nonviolence? As for the Selma marches, the first one, Bloody Sunday, resulted in the beatings of a group of individuals marching along a sidewalk intending to continue to walk along the side of the road until they got to Montgomery. The Alabama State troopers and county sheriff officers attacked them when they crossed the Selma city line, resulting in Lyndon Johnson going before Congress and demanding the right to vote. The Civil Rights Movement's nonviolent activists did not fight back or add to the harm, but accepted the hate and frustration of their attackers as a necessary part of their nonviolent movement to educate and heal the country. Well-known photos of demonstrators filling the highway at the court-protected third march to Montgomery depict the beginning of the march, yet the highway soon reopened as they began their three-day trek along its side (the photo in the image-box shows the end of the march, as demonstrators met and joined the marchers near their destination, the Alabama State Capitol building). Direct action which purposely hinders others from going about their business, especially without notice as occurs when people block a highway, arguably has nothing to do with nonviolence. Although street blockades belong in the direct action article they should probably not find mention among the techniques listed in Wikipedia's voice as nonviolent, unless reputable sources exist claiming so. Randy Kryn (talk) 11:32, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

 * Strictly speaking, per WP:BURDEN, that's your onus, not mine. However, perhaps a better way to look at it is to say that "street blockades" needn't be labelled as violent or nonviolent at all, especially if there are many shades of gray. And I'm certainly not opposed to a separate section on the subject. Go ahead and write a section if it's not already covered elsewhere in the encyclopedia. I see that most of the other "techniques" of direct action have their own articles (such as tree spiking, strikes, arson, etc.). I think this article was written to be more of an overview of the concept, rather than a how-to article or detailing any one particular method. If this 'street blockades' topic is as common as you seem to indicate it is, then maybe it should have its own article. Normal Op (talk) 23:40, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Article defines direct action much too broadly, and does so without sources
Direct action is action that directly impedes that carrying out of an (at least perceived) injustice. Spiking trees impedes logging where that is perceived as an environmental injustice. Rescuing monkeys from a research lab, or interfering with a whaling ship, impedes operations that are perceived as an animal injustice.

Actions that draw attention to a cause that do not actually impede anything are not direct actions. e.g. trespassing to put up a large sign promoting your cause is not direct action. It is an attempt to influence others rather than acting directly.

The article reads as though the author is struggling to put together a sense of what direct action is, which is fine as a mental exercise, not so great for a wikipedia article.

The violent vs. nonviolent discussion may be off topic entirely.

The section titled "History" does reference some primary sources that put together, define what direct action is. These sources could be used for properly-referenced introductory paragraphs.

Spope3 (talk) 21:56, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Direct action


text:
Jibe

[[Image:Jibing.svg|thumb|right|200px| Jibing from [[port (nautical)|port]] tack to starboard tack. Wind shown in red . 1. Broad reaching on port tack. "Prepare to jibe!"

2. Bearing away, or turning downwind, and hauling in the sail(s) to begin the jibing maneuver. "Bearing away!"

3. Heading downwind, the wind catches the other side of the sail and it jibes, then is quickly let out to its new position. "Jibe-ho!"

4. Steadying up on the new tack.

5. Broad reaching on starboard tack.]]

A jibe (US) or gybe (Britain) is a sailing maneuver whereby a sailing vessel reaching downwind turns its stern through the wind, which then exerts its force from the opposite side of the vessel. Because the mainsail boom can swing across the cockpit quickly, jibes are potentially dangerous to person and rigging compared to tacking. Therefore, accidental jibes are to be avoided while the proper technique must be applied so as to control the maneuver. For square-rigged ships, this maneuver is called wearing ship.

In this maneuver, the mainsail will cross the center of the boat while the jib is pulled to the other side of the boat. If a spinnaker is up, its pole will have to be manually moved to the other side, to remain opposite the mainsail. In a dinghy, raising the centerboard can increase the risk of capsizing during what can be a somewhat violent maneuver, although the opposite is true of a dinghy with a flat, planing hull profile: raising the centerboard reduces heeling moment during the maneuver and so reduces the risk of capsize.

The other way to change the side of the boat that faces the wind is turning the bow of the boat into, and then through, the direction of the wind. This operation is known as tacking or coming about. Tacking more than 180° to avoid a jibe is sometimes referred to as a "chicken jibe".

Use
Many sailboats move significantly faster when sailing on a broad reach than when running (sailing straight downwind). Thus the increased speed of a zig-zag course, jibing into successive broad reaches, can more than make up for the extra distance such craft take over a straight downwind course. Jibing is also common in racing, which often uses a triangular course marked with buoys; the most direct way of rounding a buoy may be to jibe.

Jibing occurs less commonly than tacking, since a sailboat can sail straight downwind, whereas it cannot sail directly into the wind and has to sail a zig-zag course at alternating angles into the wind. However, a jibe can generally be completed more quickly than a tack because the boat never turns into the wind, and thus a jibing boat's sails are always powered, whereas a tacking boat's luffing sails are un-powered while the bow crosses through or into the direction of the wind.

"Wearing ship" is the jibing-equivalent maneuver for a square-rigged ship when its crew wishes to avoid the difficulties and hazards of tacking. Light winds, heavy seas, worn-out gear, and poor vessel or crew performance are all reasons a ship may choose to wear instead of tack. Compared to boats with a fore-and-aft rig, a square rigger can jibe without any difficulty or risk of accident. However, since these craft cannot point close to the wind, they may find it difficult to maintain turning and forward momentum as the bow passes through the large no-go zone when tacking. If the ship loses steering way, it can be "taken aback", with the wind pressing on the forward surface of the sails and caught in irons. By driving the vessel backwards through the water, this puts excessive strain on the ship's masts, spars and rigging, could break the rudder, and in severe weather could dismast the ship. With tacking to windward carrying these risks, in some situations shipmasters considered it quicker and safer to travel upwind by executing a series of jibes, turning the vessel across the wind through 270 degrees rather than through the 90 degrees of a tack. This, however, would result in considerable ground lost to leeward with each jibe. Wearing has been judged to be unseamanlike except in heavy weather.

When running (sailing nearly directly downwind) in a sloop, one may "jibe" only the mainsail to the opposite side of the boat. This keeps both the main and jib exposed to the wind resulting in a more efficient use of wind. Setting the mainsail and the jib on opposite sides of the boat is often referred to as running "goose-winged", "gull-winged", or "wing-and-wing". When running wing-and-wing, a light spinnaker pole or whisker pole is often used to hold the clew of the foresail out to the windward side of the boat.

Dangers
A jibe can be dangerous in a fore-and-aft rigged boat because the sails are always completely filled by wind during the maneuver. As the direction of the wind crosses the boat's centerline and the leeward side of the mainsail and boom suddenly become the new windward side the load on the sail and mainsheet remain high; if uncontrolled, they can swing across the deck at high speed, striking and seriously injuring anyone standing in the path of the boom or its tackle. An uncontrolled boom slamming to the limit of its range may also put excessive stress on the rigging, can break the boom or standing rigging, or cause dismasting. A jibe can also result in a sudden change in the direction of heel, and can cause unexpected course changes due to the mainsail force changing from one side of the boat to the other.

Technique
A safe jibe can be aided by tensioning the boom vang (kicking strap) to prevent the boom from lifting. In high winds, sailing nearly directly downwind briefly before and after the jibe and making only small direction changes will produce less heeling force and reduce the tendency to round-up. In heavier gusts, the crew or skipper can sheet the boom in and force the boom across the boat by hand, holding the boom in position by locking the traveler or using a preventer. After the jibe has been completed, the course can then be changed to higher points of sail.

Because of the inherent dangers in jibing, communication among the crew is key. Typically three commands are issued by the helmsman: "Prepare to jibe" (or "ready to jibe") warns everyone to remain clear of the boom and alerts crew to be in position to handle sheets and boom for all sails. "Bearing away" or "jibing" (similar to saying "helm's a-lee" during a tack) indicates the helmsman is turning the boat (away from the wind) to start the jibe. "Jibe-ho" accompanies the start of the boom swing across the centerline.

Accidental jibes may occur when running dead downwind and the wind catches the leeward side of the sail. When the wind direction crosses the centerline of the boat without jibing the point of sail is referred to as "by the lee". When sailing "by the lee" the outer edge of the mainsail is facing slightly into the wind. Rolling motion, slight changes in the boat heading or wind direction can cause an unexpected and surprising jibe, suddenly and forcefully flipping the mainsail to the opposite side of the boat. Do not sail "by the lee" except for brief durations (such as to avoid an obstacle), and only when keeping all crew clear of the boom swing and the arc of the mainsheet sweep. A crew member can be used to help hold the boom in place in smaller boats. When sailing directly downwind, unintentional jibes can also occur; diligent helmsmanship is required to prevent "by the lee" conditions and keeping clear of the boom sweep is advised. In larger stable boats, a preventer can help by keeping the boom held forward, preventing the boom motion of a jibe, especially in light winds. However, in high winds, the "sheeting in action" of a preventer can cause severe rounding up on the other tack. Smaller boats may find that a backwinded sail is more heel inducing than allowing a jibe. See broach, Chinese gybe and death roll.

When sailing in high winds, a small boat or dinghy can capsize shortly after a jibe due to helmsman error (loss of direction control, or suddenly rounding into the wind too far) or tripping over the centerboard. It is partly for this second reason that centerboards are often lifted while sailing downwind even in non-planing hulls, the main reason being that a centreboard/keel is not needed for sailing downwind and simply adds to the drag of the hull. Raising the centreboard reduces drag and increases the boat's speed.

As with most sailing training, it is particularly important to learn this maneuver in lighter winds, and practice in increasing winds and faster maneuvers gradually.

For various sailing craft
The method of jibing sailing craft differs, depending on whether they are fore-and aft, square-rigged, a windsurfer, or a kitesurfer.

 * Fore-and-aft rig – A fore-and-aft sail is set for the wind on one side for a given tack. As the wind changes across the stern and reaches the other side of the sail, the sail may be blown to the other side suddenly—unless it is shielded by other sails to windward. If the sail is supported with a boom, gaff or sprit the change may be violent—unless the sheets are tight—as the sail is blown to the other side. For a jib, the old leeward sheet is loosened as the stern turns through the wind and the old windward sheet is tightened as the new leeward sheet to allow the sail to draw wind. A jib is usually shielded by the mainsail in this process. The mainsail sheet is tightened to limit the sudden movement from one side to the other and then eased out, once the boat is safely on the opposite tack. On smaller craft, the boom may be controlled by hand.
 * Spinnaker – Some sailboats use a symmetrical spinnaker—a three-sided, parachute-like sail—off the wind. The windward lower corner of a spinnaker is attached to a horizontal pole, coming from the mast to the lower corner of the sail—controlled by a line, called a guy—and the other lower corner is attached to a line that acts as a sheet. When jibing, the pole is disconnected from the mast and attached to the opposite lower corner. Upon establishment on the new tack, the end of the pole that was on the sail is connected to the mast as the former guy becomes the new sheet and the former sheet becomes the new guy. For high-performance craft with an asymmetrical spinnaker attached to a bow sprit, the sail is jibed in a manner similar to a jib.
 * Square rig – As with any downwind change of course, the sails on a square rigger are adjusted with the vessel's running rigging, using braces sheets. Only the jibs, staysails and the spanker need to be jibed, as on a fore-and-aft rig. The maneuver of changing tack with the wind passing across the stern of a square-rigged vessel is called wearing ship.
 * Windsurfer rig – When sailors of windsurfers jibe, they use techniques like the carve jibe and the duck jibe or sail back winded then push the leech through the eye of the wind as in an upwind 360 or after ducking the sail to back winded. The carve jibe allows the sail to pivot away from the wind as the board is turned with the wind passing over the stern. A duck jibe is initiated on a beam reach and the sailor presses the sail towards the wind and passes the back end of the boom over to the other side, "ducking" under it.
 * Kitesurfer rig – When changing tack while on a broad reach, a kitesurfer again rotates the kite to align with the new apparent wind as the board changes course with the stern through the eye of the wind while planing.

title: Jibe