as I knew it headers are winds that will cause you to bear away form your course or destination and lifts will allow you to steer closer to your planned course.
I watch the wind indicators on the lake. water ripples ect just like OC has discribed. i think they look alot like when an aligator does that vibration thing. you can see them coming at you quite cleary on lakes at least once you know what to look for. me and the wife will practice counting off the seconds till the sails fire up and the boat scoots. its fun when you know when their coming, not so much sometimes if your not lookin.
As far as cyclical wind, i have done a lot of competative shooting in the wind and at distances of 600-1000yds and when standing offhand it is very apparent that the wind cycles. You either shoot in the lulls or shoot with the the wind and dope for either situation. Point is you learn to anticipate these gusts and lulls. Most of the time they are very predictable. You will start to be able to shoulder the rifle as the strongest of the gust disipates and then your lull time will begin. If you are not able to get the shot off you wait for the next cycle. Im no expert at applying this to pleasure sailing or racing a sailboat but I can judge pretty good when the next blast is coming across the lake and when I had better have that main sheet in hand or when I had better tack before loosing power in a turn. Reading the wind is all about keeping your head in the game. You will be amazed at how well you can tune into even the slightest changes.
jimmyb
ps -take my post with a grain of salt, im still learning -please correct me if im wrong
