Sailing

Sailing is the skillful art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or smaller boat, across a body of water

The physics of sailing

The force of the wind is used to create motion by using one or more sails. When sailing downwind (away from the wind source) the vessel's motion is derived from the simple force of the wind pushing the sail. When sailing upwind (towards the wind source) the movement of air over the sails acts in the same way as air moving over an aircraft's wing. Air flowing over the sail generates lift. This pulls the sail (and the boat) ahead, but also pushes it slightly downwind. The downwind component is offset by an underwater hydrofoil whose shape resists lateral movement while offering little resistance to forward motion. Without this hydrofoil sailing upwind or across the wind would be virtually impossible. Sailing hydrofoils include keels, centerboards, daggerboards, (less commonly) leeboards, and (particularly in small sailboats or dinghies), the rudder acts as a hydrofoil also, reducing leeway.

Related Topics:
Force - Sail - Lift - Hydrofoil - Keel - Centerboard - Daggerboard - Leeboard - Dinghies - Rudder

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The lifting force of the sails also acts to lean the boat over to one side, which is called heeling. In monohull vessels, heeling is counteracted by ballast, either in the form of dense material located deep in the bilge or externally in the keel (usually lead or iron) or in the form of human or water ballast located near the windward rail. In multihull vessels (catamaran or trimaran) righting force may also be created by the counteracting buoyancy of the leeward hull. Too much heeling may lead to a capsize.

Related Topics:
Heeling - Monohull - Bilge - Keel - Lead - Iron - Multihull - Catamaran - Trimaran - Capsize

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Today, for most people, sailing is a hobby.

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Pleasure sailing can be further divided into Racing, Cruising and Daysailing.

Related Topics:
Racing - Cruising - Daysailing

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In ancient times (see Odysseus), ships used following or rear-quarter winds. Therefore, they had to either row or wait in port or at sea for the right wind directions.

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