Is a sailboat pushed or pulled by the wind?

Question

Is a sailboat pushed or pulled by the wind?

Answer 1

A sail is a method of harnessing the force of the wind, When the wind is directly behind the sail then it is being pushed. when the wind is at a 45° angle since the boat does not want to travel in that direction, so is the sail, then the boat is tacking, technical again being pushed, but there can be a shape as a wing of an aircraft being formed, which makes the sail longer for the air to travel at the front of the sail, than the back. Which then causes a vacuum at the front of the sail, Then there is a slight pulling and pushing, which is why a sail can be more affective at an angle to the wind, but you lose motion when you turn to correct your course, "called going about" when you swing the rudder and the boom comes over the boat, a dangerous manoeuvre in the wrong hands!

Answer 2

Pushed.  Planes are 'pulled up' by creating lift (low pressure); a sailboat's sail fills with wind and it is pushed by the high pressure.

Answer 3

Much like an airplane wing, it is both pushed and pulled.  On one side, the wind strikes the sail and pushes the sail and the boat.  On the other side of the sail, the wind has been blocked and there is a slight low-pressure region created.  This low-pressure region causes the sail and the boat to be pulled.

Answer 4

of course pushed

Answer 5

-- it's like the foil on an airplane.  The sail causes the air to move around the it, but the sail has to be dead-straight into the wind for this to happen (pushing) ... or in the case of no wind, you put up a spinnaker to catch the air inside the sail and move the boat (pulling.)

Answer 6

It's pushed .

Answer 7

both...depending upon how the sails are set...

Answer 8

pushed.  when you angle the sail right, the wind is pushing the boat.

Answer 9

Pushed

Answer 10

both depending on the boat and sail.