Skip to content

Blog
About
Contact Us
Email Newsletter

Sailing Faster Than The Wind

Written by

in

Because of the way sailboats extract energy and redirect force from the wind, they can actually sail faster than the wind.

The perfect speed for a boat is the speed at which incoming air does not get deflected by the sail.

At the right angle, the sailboat can move significantly farther in the same period than the wind used to push it. Thus, the boat moves faster than the wind.

←VFD

Capillary Tube Spin-Coating→

More posts

Blue Jewels and Gray Haze
May 27, 2026
Predicting Volcanic Eruptions
May 26, 2026
Herring Spawn
May 25, 2026
“Opening the Vortex”
May 22, 2026

FYFD

Celebrating the physics of all that flows

Blog
About
Contact Us
Email Newsletter

Twenty Twenty-Five

Designed with WordPress