Sailing

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Bit by bit, the sails evolved into triangles with moving points and arms that could turn, enabling people to sail upwind. From here we approach today. With computer assisted design and programs that can sail the boats before they are even made, we enter the twentieth century.
One must realize that a sailboat may not sail at the wind and certain angles to the wind. This is called the luff zone. The efficiency of a boat in upwind situations can be determined by the angle at which the boat no longer gains forward momentum. The first sailboats had fixed sails and heavy improperly balanced ships. They were very inefficient and slow.
Today modern technology and mathematics join together to create boats that fit the formulas. Everything about to be described effects another characteristic of the boat's handling and capabilities.
When talking of sailboats, buoyancy and stability are the first two areas of concern. With the force of high speeds, the boat must stand true in the ...

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they act on the boat.


The arrow showing righting lever force shows that the force is upward. If the righting lever should for some reason shift, the boat becomes unstable and subject to roll over.
Now that basic hydro-dynamics have been covered, the wind and sails are still left to discuss. Air moves in parallel streams that are very difficult to deflect. Low pressure air is far less dense than a high pressure area. A sail will achieve a low pressure area on the convex side giving it maximum lift. A sail is the same as a sideways airplane wing. On diagram A below, a sail is shown in its airstream. The air moves faster over the convex portion ...

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