Sounds like an Antipodean insult, but is actually a necessary process in wine making, and to a lesser extent in beer making. Racking off is basically the process of siphoning off the nice clear liquid from a demijohn, while leaving the sediment behind.
The first racking is normally done once fermentation has ceased (about 3 months) but the wine does not need to be clear. This will stop the sediment from giving the wine off-flavours, which can ruin a good wine if left for too long. The next rackings are to make sure the wine is clear for bottling. Some wines only require a couple of rackings, others need 3 or 4. There is no limit to the amount you can do, and it won't spoil the wine.
It is also a good time to have a little taste of each wine to see how it is progressing.
Today, I racked off 2 gallons of Rhubarb, 2 gallons of Elderflower and 1 gallon of Gooseberry. These will all be ready to bottle soon, so I'll leave them to see if any more sediment drops over the next month or so, just to make sure. I often don't bottle straight away as wine is supposed to mature better in bulk, as there is less temperature fluctuation than in a bottle. For me personally, I don't have enough empty bottles lying around so tend to only bottle a wine when I have spares (it also takes away the temptation to drink a wine before it's matured, unless of course you drink it straight from the demijohn, in which case you've got a serious problem and probably shouldn't be making wine in the first place).
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