A sailboat is a small vessel powered by the force of wind on its sails. Its speed is determined by the wind’s strength and direction, the design and dimensions of the sails, and the hull’s structure and weight. The speed of a sailing ship is measured in knots, where one knot equals 1.15 mph.
A sailboat’s top speed is dependent on its size and design, but it’s also limited by drag and resistance in the water. To minimize drag, sailboats are designed with a slender shape and hydrodynamic keels that cut through the waves.
Sailing aficionados have two prominent theories that describe exactly how the air interacts with the sails to create lift: Bernoulli’s theorem and Newton’s Third Law. The former explains that air particles traveling over the outer, convex side of a sail travel farther than the particles over the inner, concave side. This creates a difference in air pressure and generates lift, which causes the sail to accelerate.
The latter theory explains why a sailboat’s apparent wind is different than its true wind. When a boat is moving upwind, its apparent wind is lower than its true wind because the keel displaces more water as it moves through the water. When the boat is cruising downwind, however, its apparent wind is higher than its true wind because it is taking advantage of the lift generated by the genoa and mainsail.
Aside from minimizing drag, reducing resistance in the water also depends on how well the boat is trimmed and sailed. A skilled sailor can make the most of even a small boat with a single sail, a tiller and an anchor.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.