[Philip]

Certainly there is room for confusion on terminology. Common points of sailing are running, reaching and beating. Another term for beating is close hauled. Beating is sailing to windward and is usually part of a tacking sequence to make ground upwind. Pointing is another term for the same thing but as GEM mentions it usually is a qualitative term to indicate how well a boat or its crew can go to windward. There is often a trade off between speed when pointing lower or distance gained to windward when pointing higher. Pointing too high is called pinching. Sail trim is important hence adjustable outhaul to flatten the sail for upwind work or to ease the profile if sailing 'freer'.