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Motorsailing upwind. Does it worth it? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 3 weeks ago by Kapirotto@lemmy.ml to c/sailing@lemmy.world
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I mean, physically, when going upwind with little to no wind, does it worth it turning on the engine and keep the sails close hauled? Does the foward advantage the sails give you compensate the drag, or is it better to just drop the sails all together? What would be faster, or what would use less fuel? Can somebody mathematically demonstrate it?

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[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago

A kind of fascinating semi-related question that seems simple but the answer is unintuitive.

https://www.wired.com/story/faster/

Blackbird has pushed itself past the wind. On the far side of the mythical barrier, things get weird. Cavallaro feels wind blowing in his face -- yet the wind is also propelling him forward at... Cavallaro glances at the GPS-enabled speedometer mounted in the cockpit. The numbers tick up faster than he can report them. "Twenty, no, 22!" He's shouting into the transceiver: "30!" Running out of lake bed, Cavallaro hits the brakes.

https://hackaday.com/2021/07/02/10-000-physics-wager-settles-the-debate-on-sailing-downwind-faster-than-the-wind/

this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
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