Would a perfectly flat, tight sail on a boat be more efficient than a sail like we all know? (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by Beefcyclone@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Okay hear me out and this may sound like the ramblings of a lune but i just thought the following.

Surely a perfectly flat tight sail would more effectively convert wind energy into forward momentum rather than a full sail which would first have the wind hit it at a slight angle pushing the sail in that direction rather than perfectly straight forward.

I realise there are practicalities in operating a very high tension sheet but this lives purely in the hypothetical realm.

Does this make sense or have i been drinking drain cleaner again.

Ta Lemmers....

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[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 2 points 11 months ago

No worries, like I said you hit on two of my special interests. Plus it was fun to pull out all my sailing jargon after all that time.

this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023

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