sailing
Sign in to saveSailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wing sails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the water (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ice (iceboat) or on land (land yacht) over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation.
AI overview
Sailing is the practice of using wind to propel a craft—such as sailboats, ships, or even ice boats and land yachts—across water, ice, or land along a chosen route. It remains relevant as a form of transportation, recreation, and navigation that has been fundamental to human exploration and commerce throughout history.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
40 sectionsContents
- History
- Exploration and research
- Commerce
- Naval power
- Modern applications
- Recreation
- Sport
- Navigation
- Point of sail
- Effect on apparent wind
- Course under sail
- Upwind
- Changing tack by tacking
- Downwind
- Changing tack by jibing
- Wind and currents
- Trimming
- Sails
- Reducing sail
- Hull
- Helm force
- Hull drag
- Other aspects of seamanship
- Nautical terms
- Management of lines
- Sail physics
- Apparent wind velocity
- Lift and drag on sails
- Lift predominance (wing mode)
- Drag predominance (parachute mode)
- Wind variation with height and time
- Hull physics
- Drag
- Lateral resistance
- Hull speed and beyond
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wing sails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the water (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ice (iceboat) or on land (land yacht) over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation.
From prehistory until the second half of the 19th century, sailing craft were the primary means of maritime trade and transportation; exploration across the seas and oceans was reliant on sail for anything other than the shortest distances. Naval power in this period relied on sail to varying degrees, depending on the available technology, culminating in the gun-armed sailing warships of the Age of Sail. Sail was slowly replaced by steam as the method of propulsion for ships over the latter part of the 19th century, as steam technology gradually improved through many developmental steps. Steam allowed scheduled services that ran at higher average speeds than sailing vessels. Large improvements in fuel economy allowed steam to progressively outcompete sail, ultimately in all commercial situations, giving ship-owning investors a better return on capital.