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Today we will turn our attention to the following fact: The yacht, regardless of the direction of the wind, moves where the captain and his crew lead it. This happens even when the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. Why is this happening? What is the secret of this phenomenon?

The boat with a sail appeared long before the advent of airplanes. But the principle of operation of sails and wings is the same. The basis of the work is the lifting force. But if in airplanes, the lifting force of the wing, cutting through the wind, pushes the car upward, then the sail, located vertically, pushes the yacht forward.

The headwind hitting the sail creates a pushing force. The secret is that on the windward side, the one that is internal, the wind speed is less than on the leeward side. Therefore, a vacuum is formed, and the sail is literally sucked in by air. All this is possible thanks to the features of the sail design. In other words, we can say the following: it doesn’t matter how the sail is located on the ship, because it just converts the wind energy. That is why the yacht is able to sail against the wind current.

Even in those moments when it seems to the viewer’s eye that the sail must certainly slow down the yacht, since the wind is blowing into it from outside, this does not happen. But this does not happen also because the center of application of forces is at the bow of the ship, and the wind easily provides a “pushing” movement.

But let's ask real yachtsmen about how and why a yacht moves, and is it true that you can sail against the wind?

Andrey Volkhov has considerable experience in managing yachts, and therefore you can trust him unconditionally. “In fact, the yacht will not be able to move against a strong wind. If you place it perpendicular to the wind flow. You can only move at a certain angle. The operation of a sail is identical to that of an airplane wing. The lift created by the wind pushes the ship forward.”

But not only lifting force occurs under wind load. Roll is another phenomenon that needs to be taken into account when steering a boat. This phenomenon not only slows down the yacht, but is also very dangerous for the entire crew. In cases where the boat is heeling, the crew must create a counterweight as quickly as possible.

Let's look at everything in more detail using the example of a sports yacht.

• Option one: the wind blows in a favorable direction. Everything here is clear and simple. The yacht moves forward without difficulty, and the crew is not burdened with significant actions.

The sail has several shapes. The Arabian shape is when the sail has an “oblique” appearance. This form is effective for side wind flows, as well as those close to oncoming ones. However, it will certainly be behind a straight sail, with a fair wind. In this case, to the main sail (mainsail), a “staysail” would be added - an additional sail. These two sails are capable of accelerating a light yacht to 30 km/h.

• The second situation is that the wind flows hit the side of the ship. Now the crew has perked up and unfurls the sail. An important part of the spar (rigid equipment of the yacht) is the boom. Rope gear is called rigging. All this serves to control the spar. Moving the ship forward is the art of yachtsmen. The main task of the crew is to turn the sail to the desired angle in time. Thus, the crew pursues one goal - to get maximum energy from the wind.
• The next situation is that the wind is blowing at an angle of 20 degrees, and this is against the movement of the boat. Beidewind - calls a move against the wind. This is what seasoned sailors called it back in ancient times. In this case, the team is as tense as possible, because it needs to catch the wind. And after some time this succeeds, and the yacht begins to move forward again. We have already examined the secret of this phenomenon. But the yacht has another sail! He is invisible!

Many have already guessed that this sail is located under the bottom of the ship. It's called a keel. Sailors usually call it a centerboard. This element is necessary in order to resist heeling, as well as restrain the force of the wind on the sail. Another ability of the centerboard is to convert heeling force into propulsion energy. The laws of physics work as precisely as possible in yacht sports.

And of course, the crew is powerless when there is no wind at all. Although...many yachts have engines, just in case of “no wind”. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the “unforeseen death” of the wind.

Russian poet Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov loved sea and often mentioned him in his works. He wrote a wonderful poem about the whitening sail, which rushes among the waves in the distant expanses of the sea. You are probably familiar with Lermontov’s poem, because these are the most famous lines of poetry about sailing ships. Reading them, you can imagine a raging sea and beautiful ships among its waves. The wind fills the sails. And, thanks to the power of the wind, the ships move forward. But how do sailboats manage to sail against the wind?

In order to answer this, you will first have to learn an unfamiliar word "tack".Galsom The direction of movement of the ship relative to the wind is called. The tack can be port when the wind is blowing from the left, or starboard when the wind is blowing from the right. It is important to know the second meaning of the word “tack” - this is part of the path, or rather, the segment of it that the sailboat passes when it moves against the wind. Remember?

Now, to understand how sailboats manage to sail against the wind, let's look at the sails. They come in different shapes and sizes on a sailboat - straight and oblique. And everyone does their job. When a headwind blows, the ship is steered using oblique sails, which turn first one way and then the other.

Following them, the ship turns in one direction or another. He turns and walks forward. Sailors call this movement - moving on alternating tacks. Its essence is that the wind presses on the slanting sails and blows the ship slightly to the side and forward. The rudder of a sailboat does not allow it to turn completely, and skilled sailors set the sails in motion in time, changing their position. So, in small zigzags, it moves forward.

Of course, moving on alternating tacks is a very difficult task for the entire crew of a sailboat. But the sailors are seasoned guys. They are not afraid of difficulties and love the sea very much.

It is difficult to imagine how sailing ships can go “against the wind” - or, as sailors say, go “close-hauled”. True, a sailor will tell you that you cannot sail directly against the wind, but you can only move at an acute angle to the direction of the wind. But this angle is small - about a quarter of a right angle - and it seems, perhaps, equally incomprehensible: whether to sail directly against the wind or at an angle to it of 22°.

In reality, however, this is not indifferent, and we will now explain how it is possible to move towards it at a slight angle by the force of the wind. First, let's look at how the wind generally acts on the sail, that is, where it pushes the sail when it blows on it. You probably think that the wind always pushes the sail in the direction it blows. But this is not so: wherever the wind blows, it pushes the sail perpendicular to the plane of the sail. Indeed: let the wind blow in the direction indicated by the arrows in the figure below; line AB denotes a sail.

Since the wind presses evenly on the entire surface of the sail, we replace the wind pressure with a force R applied to the middle of the sail. Let's break this force down into two: force Q, perpendicular to the sail, and the force P directed along it (see figure above, right). The last force pushes the sail nowhere, since the friction of the wind on the canvas is negligible. Strength remains Q which pushes the sail at right angles to it.

Knowing this, we can easily understand how a sailing ship can sail at an acute angle towards the wind. Let the line QC depicts the keel line of the ship.

The wind blows at an acute angle to this line in the direction indicated by a series of arrows. Line AB depicts a sail; it is placed so that its plane bisects the angle between the direction of the keel and the direction of the wind. Follow the distribution of forces in the figure. We represent the force of the wind on the sail Q, which we know should be perpendicular to the sail. Let's break this force down into two: force R, perpendicular to the keel, and the force S, directed forward, along the keel line of the vessel. Since the ship's movement is in the direction R meets strong water resistance (the keel in sailing ships is made very deep), then the force R almost completely balanced by water resistance. Only strength remains S, which, as you can see, is directed forward and, therefore, moves the ship at an angle, as if towards the wind. [It can be proven that the force S receives the greatest value when the plane of the sail bisects the angle between the keel and wind directions.]. Typically this movement is performed in zigzags, as shown in the figure below. In the language of sailors, such a movement of the ship is called “tacking” in the strict sense of the word.