How can you sail a boat into the wind?

Question

How can you sail a boat into the wind?

Answer 1

You cannot. But you can sail at one point off directly into the wind with a point being 13 degrees because the shape of the sail is like an airplane wing and the wind across it creates the same type of lift pushing the boat in a direction not quite perpindicular to the side of the boat. By having a keel down in the water keeping the boat from going sideways, the resultant push is forward and off you go......

Answer 2

Some interesting answers on this one so far, some of which are clearly from non-sailors...!

The simplest answer is - you can't sail a boat directly into the wind.

But to expand on that somewhat...

A sail works in a very similar way to an aircraft's wing. A sail is curved, which means that air flowing round the outside of the curve (ie the "back" / leeward side of the sail) travels at a higher speed to the airflow on the inside. This results in a lower air pressure on the outside of the curve, which effectively applies a force of suction to the sail.

Sail shape is therefore very important, and it is impossible to get the correct curved shape when sailing directly into wind - as the airflow passes equally down either side of the sail and causes the sail to flap about uselessly. A typical boat might be able to maintain the necessary curved shape up to an angle of 45 to 30 degrees of the wind.

Therefore, the 'closest to the wind' a boat can sail is about 45 to 30 degrees; so if you want to sail in the direction the wind is coming from, you have to zig-zag rather than take the direct route. This is known as "beating" into the wind; whilst each turn is described as "tacking" - turning the front of the boat through the wind. Each leg of the zig-zag can be described as a "tack" or "beat"; and when we are sailing on a "beat", we describe ourselves as sailing "close-hauled".

To sail close hauled, sails are sheeted in tight - the mainsail is pulled in as close to the centre line as possible (using the mainsheet and traveller), whilst the headsail is also sheeted in tight.

Its worth noting that when sailing close-hauled, there is a large sideways force on the boat - much of the "suction" from the sails is acting sideways. This sideways force is converted into forward motion by the yacht's keel (or a dinghy's centre/dagger-board). However, some element of the sideways force remains - this results in the boat making "leeway" (actual ground track of the boat is pushed downwind of the course steered) and "heeling" (leaning over to leeward).

The helmsman must then concentrate quite hard on steering a good course to the wind; ensuring that the sails are kept full and not allowed to “luff”. If the helm steers slightly too close to the wind, the boat becomes upright and loses power. It is quite a fine balance – and a fair amount of concentration is required. Rather than steering by a compass course, you are steering by the sails. When the helmsman gets it right, it is quite clear – you will feel the boat “power up”, accelerate and heel to leeward. All together its frequently described as getting the boat “in the groove”.

So… the answer is – you can’t sail directly into the wind; instead, if that is the direction you wish to travel in, then you must sail close-hauled and repeatedly tack towards your destination – ie zig-zagging towards it.

Answer 3

The link is a simple on-line simulator and help you understand.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/volvoo...

Answer 4

As mentioned above, you cannot sail a boat directly into the wind but can sail "close to weather".  Many sails do work similar to airplane wings in that as the wind passes by them, low pressure is created on the front of the sail.  What is most commonly misunderstood is that because of the reduced forward pressure in this point of sail, the sail is pulled ahead, not pushed ahead, drawing the boat with it.  You can generate some extra "apparent wind" in light air conditions that can improve the movement of the boat but depending on the type of boat you're sailing, this may or may not be the fastest point of sail.  IMOCA 60s can go downwind at speeds of over 30 knots but go to weather at less than half that speed

Answer 5

sailing your boat into the wind, is what powers your craft. going in to the wind fills the sails, and pushes the boat foward

Answer 6

yes

Answer 7

you can sail close to the wind, but not directly into it. You must "tack", that is, you sail slightly offsett to the direction of the wind for a certain distance,say on a port tack, then change "tacks" and come about  starboard, again, just a little bit offsett to the wind.In this manner, you reach your upwind destination without having sailed directly into the wind.

Hope this helps. Oh, and lastly, the tighter into the wind you sail, the faster you travel.

Answer 8

Tack into it thats what they are designed for , or other words run sidways into the wind the sail billows out and imparts forward movment, when you have reached the end of one run turn on the other tack and do the same

Answer 9

A sailboat cannot be sailed directly into the wind, in must tack back and forth across the wind line to make headway.

Answer 10

There are two ways to accomplish this:

1. Tack- when close hauled (as close to the wind as possible)yawing the boat by moving the rudder to port (port to starboard tack) and the opposite causing to boat's bow to momentarily pass through a head-wind orientation. At this point you are still making headway so you are momentarily sailing against the wing.

2. Assuming a very light wind blowing against the water current that is greater than the wind speed one could point into the wing and drift (sail) against the wind carried by the stronger current.

Answer 11

You have to zig-zag into the wind, you can't sail straight into it. (unless you drop the sail & use a motor)

Answer 12

Most of the other answers are correct, ie you have to sail close to the wind and tack. Back in the days of square riggers and Hornblower the conventional vessels could barely make progress into the wind. The Corsairs (Mediterranean pirates) had much better sail arrangements  and could escape upwind with ease. That made them especially dangerous. The real progress came when the "Bermuda" rig became general

Answer 13

You do what is called "Tacking". This means you do not sail directly into the wind but an agle, which is determined by tide and wind speed, (don't worry, it will soon become obvious what the angle should be) You then decide, either because of the restrictions of the river, or whatever reason, then go about and do the same on the other tack.

Remember, especially in a river, keep your eye on the echo sounder (Water depth under the keel) However if you are on the east coast, you can run out of water out of sight of land,BEWARE!

Answer 14

tack

Answer 15

sail across the wind in a zig zag pattern - so you move towards the direction the wind comes from but not into it