Velocity Made Good (VMG) – Definition and Application

Updated October 2026: new animations, a new section on planing boats downwind (soak or chase the plane?), a quiz, and clearer examples.

Three boats leave the leeward mark side by side. One points higher. One goes faster. A few minutes later, the third boat, which did neither, is ahead of both. She won on Velocity Made Good, and once you see VMG you’ll never look at pointing and footing the same way again.

Many newer sailors are not familiar with this important concept, so we’ll start with the definition and some examples. Then we’ll show how to use target boat speed to maximize your VMG upwind and downwind, and when a planing boat should soak low instead of chasing a plane.

Two animations carry this post. Animation VMG-1 races three C-Scows upwind with timers, so you can watch sailing higher and sailing faster both lose to the best VMG. Animation VMG-2 sends Melges 15s downwind under asymmetric spinnakers to show when chasing a plane pays and when soaking low wins. Watch each one where it appears; the text refers back to them.

In this article you’ll learn:

• What VMG is, in one sentence and one picture
• Why the boat with the best average VMG wins windward-leeward races
• Target boat speed: the key to good puff and lull response
• How to maximize VMG downwind
• Planing boats: when to soak low and when heading up to plane pays
• On-the-water cues that tell you you’re at target, without instruments

Sources for this post: SailZing’s own VMG video; the Melges 15 Tuning Guide from Melges (dated January 14, 2026); the North Sails E Scow Tuning Guide (2022); our interview with 2022 Melges 15 ILYA Champion Jonathan Bailey; and the Racing Rules of Sailing 2025-2028.

View the video or read through the text below.

Definition: What Is Velocity Made Good?

Velocity Made Good (VMG) is the speed at which you’re making progress directly upwind or directly downwind.

Here’s an example with made-up numbers. Boat B sails upwind on a close-hauled course (sails trimmed in, as close to the wind as the boat sails well) at about 45° to the true wind. She travels 7 units of distance in a set time, so her boat speed is 7. The scale on the left of the diagram shows she gained 5 units straight upwind in that same time. Her VMG is 5.

Examples: Pointing vs Footing, the VMG Showdown

Now compare Boat B with two other boats sailing upwind (see the diagram).

• Boat C eases her sheets and foots. Footing means sailing a little lower than close-hauled for extra speed. C sails faster, at a speed of 8, but at a lower heading than B. She advances 4 units upwind, so her VMG is 4.
• Boat A sheets in tightly, heads up and pinches. Pinching means sailing so close to the wind that the boat slows down. A points higher but slows to a speed of 5. Her VMG is also 4.
• Boat B wins with the best blend of speed and angle.

These are made-up numbers, but they show that VMG depends on both your boat speed and your heading. Neither alone wins.

The diagram below shows the same trade-off at a glance: three boats on the same tack, after the same amount of time. The red bars are each boat’s VMG.

Animation VMG-1: Sailing Higher vs Sailing Faster (C-Scows, with Timers)

Now watch it happen. In Animation VMG-1, three C-Scows start level and sail upwind for the same time, each with a stopwatch. Keep your eye on the rungs (the lines across the course), not on the boat that looks fastest.

What you’ll see: the three C-Scows start level. After one minute, Blue Boat B, sailing at the best angle, is a full rung higher than Yellow A (pinching) and Green C (footing). B reaches the top rung at 2:00. A and C get there together at 2:30, even though C was the fastest boat on the water the whole time.

Why Is Velocity Made Good Important?

VMG measures how fast you’re making progress directly upwind (or downwind). So on windward-leeward courses, the boat with the highest average VMG wins the race. It’s that simple. That’s the 30-second gap you saw in Animation VMG-1. If it still puzzles you, review Ladder Rungs: Understand the Race Course with a Visual Approach.

If the leg is a reach (sailing across the wind straight to the mark), VMG doesn’t apply. Straight-line boat speed to the mark is what counts.

It’s your average VMG that matters. You won’t always sail at your best VMG. Sometimes you’ll pinch or foot, or even sail on a header (a shift that turns you away from the mark) to get to a favorable shift or puff. Find that shift or puff and your VMG jumps.

Top sailors don’t spend much time talking about VMG or trying to measure it. The concept is important; measuring it isn’t. To measure it you need instruments that sense the true wind speed and direction and track your progress upwind or downwind. Big keelboats have them, but even there VMG changes so quickly that it’s hard to steer by.

Instead, sailors use other indicators to sail at max VMG. We cover them below.

Maximize Your VMG with Target Boat Speeds

One way to think about VMG is a concept called target boat speed. Racing keelboats use instruments to maximize VMG by sailing at target speeds.

To understand target boat speed, review our examples:

• Boat A had a boat speed of 5 and a VMG of 4.
• Boat B sailed at 45° to the wind with a boat speed of 7 and a VMG of 5.
• Boat C footed off with a boat speed of 8 and a VMG of 4.

Boat B had the best VMG of the three. Assume B chose the very best combination of speed and angle.

The VMG Curve

In the drawing above, notice the curve (dotted line). It shows how far upwind boats would get if they sailed at different angles, assuming each is trimmed properly for its heading. Every such boat ends up somewhere on the curve. The peak shows that a boat speed of 7 maximizes VMG here, so for this wind and these fictional boats, the target boat speed is 7. In Animation VMG-1, Boat B is the boat sailing at that peak.

Target boat speed is the speed at which your VMG is highest for a given wind speed, assuming proper trim.

• Above target, like C: you’re footing.
• Below target, like A: you’re pinching.

Racing keelboats have target speeds for each wind speed programmed into their instruments. The helmsman and crew adjust heading and trim until they match the target. In a dinghy or scow you do it by feel. Learn the gears that move you around the curve in Learn to Change Gears: Footing, Max VMG and Pointing.

Target Speed and Puff Response – Upwind

When sailing upwind, many sailors have trouble getting the most out of the boat in a puff (a patch of stronger wind, usually darker on the water). The target speed concept shows you the best way to respond.

First, realize that target speed and heading change with wind speed. In our first example the target speed was 7. Say that happened with the true wind at 8 knots and a heading of 45° to the true wind. If the wind increases to 12 knots, say the target changes to a speed of 9 at 40° (made-up numbers).

Puff Response: Speed First, Then Height

You’re sailing in 8 knots and a 12-knot puff arrives that lasts several seconds. Should you head up to the 40° angle first, or worry about target speed?

Your target speed went up when the puff hit, so you must gain speed to reach the new target. Head up first and you won’t build speed quickly. Head up too fast and you might even slow down.

1. Ease and hike. Hold your heading steady or feather up (head up slightly toward the wind) just a touch. During this speed-building time you’re sailing below the new 40° angle.
2. Build to the new target speed as quickly as possible.
3. Then head up fully to the new, higher angle.

More: Puff Response Variations on Ease, Hike, Trim.

Lull Response – Upwind: Bleed Speed, Then Bear Off

Now reverse it. You’re sailing at your target speed of 9 in 12 knots of breeze, and a lull (a patch of lighter wind) drops it to 8. Your new target speed is lower.

1. Hold your heading, even though you’re now sailing too high for 8 knots. This bleeds off speed quickly and lets you make extra progress upwind for a short time.
2. When your speed is down to target, bear off (turn away from the wind) to the lower heading and re-trim.

Holding your height works for a brief lull in a boat that carries its momentum. In a light dinghy, don’t let your speed drop below target.

More: Sailing Lulls: What’s the Best Response?

Maximizing VMG Downwind

Just like upwind, there’s a target boat speed and sailing angle that maximizes your VMG downwind.

In light air, most boats sail very slowly dead downwind. To compensate, we head up to gain speed, and the extra speed more than repays the extra distance. With made-up numbers: in 4 knots of wind, we might sail 135° to the true wind to build to a boat speed of 3. Boats that sail lower point closer to the mark but make less progress. Boats that sail higher go faster but also make less progress. The dotted curves show that relationship.

In more breeze, we can sail lower and still hold speed. In 8 knots, we might sail dead downwind at a speed of 5 for our best VMG. That’s why the dotted curve for 8 knots peaks straight downwind. Many boats can sail dead downwind in more breeze. Boats with asymmetric spinnakers, like the Melges 15 and E-Scow, still sail hotter angles (see Planing Boats Downwind and Animation VMG-2 below).

This is one reason for the downwind advice to “sail up in the lulls and down in the puffs.” Following it blindly isn’t the best way to maximize VMG. Follow it with target speed in mind: let your speed reach the new target first, then change course.

Puff and Lull Response Downwind

If you’re reaching up a little for speed in light air and a puff comes along, should you head down immediately?

Same answer as upwind. Adjust your trim and hold your heading, or bear off only slightly, to build to your new target speed as quickly as possible. Then head down.

For a lull, keep your heading low while your speed bleeds off, banking distance downwind. Then head up. It may take only a few seconds.

In single-sail boats, sailing by the lee (sailing past dead downwind, with the wind coming over the leeward side) extends your downwind range even further.

Planing Boats Downwind: Soak Low or Chase the Plane?

Planing boats add a twist. Planing means the hull lifts and skims across the water instead of pushing through it, and boat speed jumps. The Melges 15 and the E-Scow both plane, and both fly an asymmetric spinnaker (a downwind sail that both boats’ tuning guides say to sail at slightly hotter, higher angles than a symmetrical spinnaker).

That jump in speed tempts you to head up (turn toward the wind, onto a hotter angle) and hunt for a plane. If the plane comes, it pays. If it doesn’t, you’ve sailed extra distance that the small gain in speed doesn’t repay.

When the boat can’t plane, soak. Soaking means sailing lower, deeper toward the leeward mark, while keeping the boat moving. In a Melges 15 or an E-Scow, the better VMG when the boat can’t plane is to soak and aim deeper at the leeward mark. The North Sails E Scow Tuning Guide puts it plainly: “Many think that you have to sail hot and fast in all conditions with this setup. This is not the case.”

“I’ve lost boats by staying headed up and telling myself I’d catch enough pressure to plane in air that didn’t support it. I never got it, and boats that just aimed deeper toward the leeward mark beat me. I’ve done the same thing to other sailors, too.”

– Rob, SailZing.com

Animation VMG-2: Soak or Chase the Plane? (Melges 15s Downwind)

Animation VMG-2 shows Rob’s lesson on the water. Two Melges 15s under asymmetric spinnakers sail the same run in the same breeze. Then a puff arrives, and the right answer changes.

What you’ll see: in part 1, the breeze can’t make either boat plane. Yellow heads up hunting for a plane that never comes, sails wide, and reaches the leeward mark behind Blue, who simply aimed deeper. In part 2, a strong puff reaches two soaking boats at once. Green heats up, pops onto a plane, rides the puff and passes Blue, who stayed low.

The Melges 15 Tuning Guide from Melges points the same way as part 1: “Downwind sailing angles will vary. You do not have to sail hot and fast in all conditions with this setup.” In its 9–12 knot range, the guide says you can experiment with a deeper angle: “As the breeze hits and the boat heels to leeward, drive down and sail deeper in the pressure.” The North Sails E Scow Tuning Guide (2022) gives the same advice for 9–12 knots: “As the breeze hits and the boat heels, begin to drive the boat down and sail deeper.”

Soaking doesn’t mean pointing straight at the mark in a drifter. For 0–8 knots, the Melges 15 guide says “a higher angle is required in order to generate apparent wind” (the wind you feel on the moving boat). That’s the light-air rule from earlier in this post: heat up just enough to keep the boat moving, then sail as low as that speed allows. The trap is the one Yellow falls into in Animation VMG-2: heading up past that point to chase a plane the breeze can’t deliver.

When Heading Up to Plane Pays

Heading up pays when there’s enough pressure to get the boat planing and keep it there. That’s part 2 of Animation VMG-2. Two common cases:

• A puff you can ride. A puff that is strong enough, and big enough, to carry you on a plane. In our interview, 2022 Melges 15 ILYA Champion Jonathan Bailey described sitting in “soaking mode / low mode” with weight far forward in a light spot. As the pressure arrives, he lets the boat heat up, trims the main a little and lets the boat press and heel. Then the skipper hops to windward, flattens the boat and moves back to pop it onto a plane. Once you’re planing, ride the puff and carry the speed deeper, as Green does.
• A steady breeze above the planing threshold. When the wind is strong enough to keep the boat planing on its own, the planing angle is the fast way down the course. The Melges 15 guide says the boat “comes alive in any breeze over 8kts.” In its 13–25 knot range it says, “You should be working constantly to maintain a plane,” and “Once you’re on plane, keep up your speed and refrain from sailing too deep.” For 13–15 knots, the North Sails E Scow guide says, “You really need to get the boat up and rolling – do not sail low.”

The guides give wind ranges, not a single planing wind speed, so read the conditions on the water. Ask yourself one question: Is there enough pressure to get planing and stay planing? If yes, heat up and go. If no, soak. If you’re planing and the breeze fades, the Melges 15 guide is clear: “If the breeze dies and you can’t maintain a plane, slide your weight forward and shift back into your medium air mode.”

Rules note: one pull per wave or gust, only to start a plane. Rule 42.2(a) (Propulsion) prohibits “pumping: repeated fanning of any sail either by pulling in and releasing the sail or by vertical or athwartship body movement”. Rule 42.3(c) makes one exception: “When surfing (rapidly accelerating down the front of a wave), planing or foiling is possible, (1) to initiate surfing or planing, each sail may be pulled in only once for each wave or gust of wind”. So the pull is allowed only when the conditions make planing possible, only to start the plane, and only once per sail for each wave or gust. Class rules can change this: “Class rules may change only racing rules 42, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, and 78.2” (rule 86.1(c)), so check yours.

Notes About Target Speed

Skip the math and geometry. The concept is what counts: there’s a best speed and heading angle that maximize your VMG. The sailors who keep their boats at or near target speed make the most upwind or downwind progress, like Boat B in Animation VMG-1.

Cues: How to Know You’re at Target (No Instruments)

Since most of us don’t have instruments, we need other cues:

• Trim, heel and hiking are right. Target speed assumes you’re sailing the boat as fast as possible for its heading: proper sail trim, angle of heel and hiking. If you’re not, then by definition you’re not at target speed.
• The feel. Once you learn to respond to puffs and lulls properly, you’ll feel the difference and want that feel every time.
• Ladder rungs. Compare progress with nearby boats on the ladder, just as the rungs did in Animation VMG-1 (see our ladder rungs video and post). Gaining rungs means you’re winning on VMG.
• Apparent wind angle. Your shroud telltales (yarn or ribbon on the sidestays) show apparent wind angle at a glance, so you can repeat the angle that works in each wind strength.

SailZing tip: SailZing StayTales™ shroud telltales spin freely and resist tangling, so your apparent-wind reading stays clean upwind and down. Shop StayTales

“Fudging” on Target Speed: When to Sail Off Target on Purpose

There are times you won’t want to sail strictly at target speed:

• Tactical or strategic positioning. Foot to get to a puff or the favored side. Pinch briefly to hold a lane (a patch of clear wind) or to squeeze off a boat to leeward.
• Waves. Foot a bit to power through chop.
• Your boat’s speed limits and performance. Limits such as hull speed (the top speed of a boat that isn’t planing) and a boat’s performance characteristics blur the target speed concept. In planing boats downwind, see Planing Boats Downwind: Soak Low or Chase the Plane? above.

Quick Quiz

1. Boat X sails at a speed of 6 with a VMG of 4. Boat Y sails at a speed of 7 with a VMG of 4.5. Which wins the beat? (Y: higher VMG.)
2. In Animation VMG-1, Green Boat C is the fastest boat on the water. Why does she reach the top rung 30 seconds after Blue B? (She sails so low that she gains only 4 rungs a minute to B’s 5. Speed alone doesn’t win; VMG does.)
3. A puff hits upwind. First move? (Ease and hike to build speed, then head up.)
4. A lull hits upwind. First move? (Hold your heading, bleed speed, then bear off.)
5. On a reach, does VMG decide who gets to the mark first? (No: straight-line speed does.)
6. You’re in a Melges 15 downwind, and the breeze isn’t enough to plane. Head up and hunt for a plane, or soak? (Soak, as Blue does in part 1 of Animation VMG-2, unless a puff arrives that can get you planing and keep you there.)

Quick Sheet: VMG

• VMG = speed straight upwind or downwind
• Target speed = boat speed of best VMG for this wind
• Puff upwind: speed first, then height
• Lull upwind: height first, then bear off
• Downwind: heat up in light air, go lower in breeze; puff = build, then down
• Planing boats downwind: can’t plane? soak. Enough pressure to plane and stay planing? head up and go
• Cues: trim/heel/hiking, feel, ladder rungs, shroud telltales

FAQ

What does VMG mean in sailing? Velocity Made Good: how fast you’re making progress directly upwind or downwind.

What is a good VMG upwind? It depends on the boat and the wind. Your best VMG comes at your target speed and angle, found by testing.

What is target boat speed? The boat speed that gives the highest VMG in a given wind strength, with the boat properly trimmed.

Should I point or foot? Neither by default. Sail at target, then point or foot on purpose for tactics, waves or puffs.

Should I head up to plane downwind? Only when there’s enough pressure to get the boat planing and keep it there. Otherwise, soak lower toward the leeward mark.

Related Content

• Ladder Rungs: Understand the Race Course with a Visual Approach
• Learn to Change Gears: Footing, Max VMG and Pointing
• Solve Common Pointing Problems: Five Ways to Sail Higher
• Use Gears Tactically for Puffs and Separation
• Puff Response Variations on Ease, Hike, Trim
• Sailing Lulls: What’s the Best Response?
• Downwind Boat Speed Checklist: Avoid the Slows
• Sailing by the Lee: A Primer
• Melges 15 ILYA Champion 2022 Shares Race Course Notes
• Racing Terms: Glossary for Newer Sailors
• Melges 15 Tuning Guide – Melges (January 14, 2026)
• E Scow Tuning Guide – North Sails (2022)
• VMG (Velocity Made Good) – eye-catching animated video on YouTube, uploaded by GravityRoller
• VMG to Wind Calculator – just for fun, from L-36.com