Sailing into the wind

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Most popular comments
for Sailing into the wind

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Anticonny - 6 years ago

But how do ships with square rig manage to sail into the wind.

CuriosityShow - 6 years ago

Impossible to show without a diagram, but it can be done with a very experienced Captain overseeing it - Rob

P. Sz. - 7 years ago

Dis dat real shit right here

Aleron Adams - 7 years ago

so basically pirates of the Caribbean is a lie

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

Who would have suspected! - Rob

Tristan Möller - 7 years ago

Best explanation I have found so far, is it possible to sail with the wind with the second boat or do you also have to zigzack? Thank you very much

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

Yes, you can do that. You can let the "rope" fastened to the sail out so far that the sail stands out almost at right angles to the boat and catches the wind from behind - a change of wind direction can be very dangerous if it slams the sail back onto the boat and round to the other side, but it can certainly be done. Boats like these also often carry another sail - a spinnaker - and that can be unfurled when the wind come from behind and balloons out in front of the boat, catching the wind and driving the boat forward. It is let go and pulled in if the boat has to change direction - Rob

Johnathan Briggs - 7 years ago

Excellent

Meil john Teleron - 7 years ago

Thanks for this video. you teaching me the right way how the sail works. I make one sailboat in my home so it works very well.

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

My pleasure; lots more on www.youtube.com/curiosityshow - Rob

Frankie - 7 years ago

What a great video. Thanks for the detailed demonstration

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

My pleasure. Lots more at www.youtube.com/curiosityshow - Rob

murtisoft - 7 years ago

If you have potplayer, Open the url with that, and set your audio to mono. Enjoy.
I suppose vlc could also do that. (Not sure)

yemerican - 7 years ago

Thank you so much.

10. comment for Sailing into the wind

Karthik J - 7 years ago

Wow.. the best video I seen on sail physics.

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

Many thanks. Lots more at www.youtube.com/curiosityshow - Rob

Robert Hagedorn - 7 years ago

Very enjoyable presentation--now I understand. Thank you.

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

My pleasure. lots more at www.youtube.com/curiosityshow - Rob

NotRealSavage - 7 years ago

my right ear was really lonely

Jacob Paquette - 7 years ago

I"ve always been under the assumption that the forward jib sails on frigates were designed to work the same way, giving them some potential to tack into the wind, is that correct? It seems like you would want some of that capability no matter what

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

Yes, they are so-called "fore and aft" sails that do allow that - Rob

Indoor and Outdoor Endurance - 7 years ago

How a vessel sails into the wind was finally explained to me, and I was amazed to see the cork boat actually go forward toward the straw!

Stephen Reid - 7 years ago

Great video Rob! Good explanation of this process.

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

Many thanks - have a go at it yourself - Rob

Samuel Torres - 7 years ago

Wow. I has no idea that sails could propel a ship toward the wind. Thanks a million

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

No problem. Lots more segments like this at www.youtube.com/curiosityshow - Rob

Hank Moody - 7 years ago

the hearing is portside

William Victor - 7 years ago

Splendid explanation. Thank you.

JohnPepperoni1 - 7 years ago

Dear Rob, thank you for breaking down a complex looking thing into easy to understand parts. It's like I can see each piece of a jigsaw puzzle coming together now that I know each piece

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

My pleasure. Give it a go, but start with a fore-and-aft rig like a ketch or schooner. It gives a good effect but is much easier to begin with - Rob

20. comment for Sailing into the wind

Kal-El - 7 years ago

really well done video ty for the info

CuriosityShow - 7 years ago

My pleasure. Have a go at doing one - Rob

Brian G - 6 years ago

Can you provide a list of materials needed? I can't tell what the sails are made of and how you gave them a curve. And is the ballast a flat pebble?

Azureus - 8 years ago

Sweet!

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

Spot on. The Curiosity Show was broadcast between 1972 and 1990. This was around the mid-80s - Rob

Nick Korte - 8 years ago

Loved this explanation. Thanks

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

My pleasure - have a go - Rob

Ash Ketchum - 8 years ago

so did the ships with square rigged sails never sail into the wind?

if so why didnt all ships have the other rigged sails?

also what do the triangle shaped sails do, if they serve a different purpose?

James Watson - 7 years ago

Yes, they absolutely could and did sail into the wind. They weren't completely unable to sail into the wind, though the maximum angle to the wind would be 70 degrees

To explain, say the wind is coming from the North and you want to go North. The closest you can get to North is 70 degrees from North. So basically you'd go East-North-East, tack, go West-North-West and through a series of "tacks" to get you there.

Ash Ketchum - 8 years ago

+CuriosityShow thank you !

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

That is complex, but square riggers could sail slightly into the wind, but it involved a lot of repositioning their sails and tacking, or sailing at an angle into the wind, and it was very hgard to do. That is also how the triangular sails work. They are cut so that they bulge with a bit of wind behind them, but most of the wind passing over the bulge creates low pressure there, and the air behind the sail pushes the sail into that low pressure, bringing the boat with it. That is why yachts beating into the wind have to take a zig-zag course and swap the sail to the other side of the yacht when they change direction. - Rob

Joe H - 8 years ago

super clear explanation

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

Thanks, kind of you - Rob

MonteCarlo185 - 8 years ago

Thanks to you my right ear hurts..

Azureus - 8 years ago

Same

BrainsickBlaze - 8 years ago

What is this show/channel? I just found it while talking about sailing on the Chronicles of Elyria forum.

BrainsickBlaze - 8 years ago

+CuriosityShow Sounds cool, might check more out later

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+SirBlazinGames Curiosity Show was a 30-minute program on science, natural history, technology and moire for young people. It was brtoadcast from 1972 until 1990, first nationally in Australia but eventually in 14 countries, dubbed into German for European countries. It won many awards including the Prix Jeunesse. There are 2 DVDs out (see the home page) with more expected - Rob

Deceived Them - 8 years ago

a joseph conrad book brought me here

Deceived Them - 8 years ago

that is truly amazing. thanks for sharing. great video.

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+Decieved Them It had a role for me, too. As a teenager I read Conrad's "Shadowline" about his having to take command of a sailing ship. The actual ship was the "Otago" now a wreck on the river bank in New Zealand (Google pics), but I have a small piece of it and made it into a box. My interest in sailing ships started then - Rob

30. comment for Sailing into the wind

Daveyray Schroeder - 8 years ago

Fascinating....I've always wondered how that works..... thank you!

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+Daveyray Schroeder My pleasure - Rob

truebluekit - 8 years ago

Oh my... I remember a show called "The Curiosity Show" was a kid... I can't be sure, but is this the one? It must've been at least 25 years ago... That "Curiosity!" jingle sounds about right though

truebluekit - 8 years ago

+CuriosityShow
I'm in Malaysia. I remember making a tiny boat out of aluminium foil that was propelled by a tiny sliver of soap from watching the show. :)

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+truebluekit Sounds like it, depending on your country. We were on air in Australia from 1972-1990; in the UK, Singapore, NZ and a few others in that time and dubbed into German in Europe as well, and on cable for a little bit longer. I don't think there was any other program with the same name except for a (Canadian?) knock-off with a similar time for a short while. - Rob

Bramake Chu - 8 years ago

Marvelous explanation! This was extremeley helpful.

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+Bramake Chu No problem; thanks for the kind comment - Rob

Gran's Stuff - 8 years ago

i had no idea. thanks

Melody Reitsma - 8 years ago

Thanks for this wonderful video, it answered my question perfectly!

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+Melody Reitsma And you will be most welcome - lots to see and do - Rob

Melody Reitsma - 8 years ago

+CuriosityShow I dream of going to Australia one day :)

CuriosityShow - 8 years ago

+Melody Reitsma My pleasure. Here in Adelaide, South Australia, we have recently saved the wonderful City of Adelaide, the oldest and most complete clipper ship in the world, which is moored at Port Adelaide. These sailing ships are fabulous, and the seamanship required to handle a square-rigger must have been astounding - not many can do it now.- Rob

miqiee - 9 years ago

So..........I wonder when the Wright brothers were experimenting with aircraft wings, did they use this concept from sailing to develope the shape of the wing? Or was it from the shape of bird wings?

Michael Bennett - 8 years ago

+miqiee Although the Wright brothers are hailed as pioneers of aviation, their achievement was sustained and controlled flight, fixed wing aircraft in the form of gliders had been around long before the Wright brothers 'invented' the aeroplane. Wings didn't develop from sails but from kites which were used first by the Chinese over 2000 years ago and throughout history ever since.

CuriosityShow - 9 years ago

+miqiee I am not sure. They got some of their ideas from Lawrence Hargraves, an Australian flight pioneer, who refused to patent any of his many inventions as he believed that Science should be free to all. he had come up with big box kite that could lift him off the ground and also the kind of "flat' propeller that was then used in early flight. The Wrights went beyond the flat planes of a box kite and, as you say, had an aerofoil contour on their wings and they also went beyond Hargraves' rather flat-bladed propellers to something more like today's form. It is also possible that the first man-powered flight should be attributed to a New Zealander, Richard Pearse. We covered his flying inventions (some still exist) in a Curiosity Show when we went on location there - in the 80s, as I recall. Unlike the Wrights he was not interested in recording flights for posterity or in patenting anything so, despite lots of good eyewitness accoints, the flight can't be proved, but he is worth googling. Fascinating man. - Rob

patricio torre - 9 years ago

you should balance the audio, but this was an exelent video nontheless

NerdyPi - 8 years ago

+CuriosityShow Just fake the stereo by duplicating the mono channel for both ears. It won't be actual stereo or anything but it's better than just one ear working.

CuriosityShow - 9 years ago

+patricio torre Not so easy to do, I'm afraid, as these are dubs of dubs of shows produced 30 years ago or more, but thanks for the comment. - Rob

Anuradha Shenoy - 9 years ago

Hi, I am helping my son create a project for the Breakthrough junior challenge. We would like to use a small snippet of this video (counter 4:36 to 4:43). I hope that is fine. Thanks for your educational video.

CuriosityShow - 9 years ago

+Anuradha Shenoy No problem at all. I hope he does well in his project - Rob

PurgatoryPurgatory - 9 years ago

I'm a sailing teacher and I couldn't have explained it any better. I use the same airplane examples. In the future, I'll spice it up, though, by building some little models, too. Will be nice to watch for my young pupils! :)

Kairu Hakubi - 7 years ago

although it's important you note that the whole bernoulli's principle thing is misleading and largely misunderstood. the actual source of the movement is from the angle of incidence of the 'wing'

CuriosityShow - 9 years ago

+PurgatoryPurgatory Kind of you. Models help almost any explanation - especially with children. - Rob

Mike Collins - 10 years ago

This explanation would be much better - MUCH better - with sound!

HaloBalla - 10 years ago

My left ear enjoyed this, my right ear missed out.

Keyser Söze - 6 years ago

stereo headphones lol

CuriosityShow - 10 years ago

My pleasure, Rob

About Sailing into the wind

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