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Points of sail and approximate apparent wind for a conventional sailboat on starboard tack. A point of sail is a sailing craft's direction of travel under sail in relation to the true wind direction over the surface. The principal points of sail roughly correspond to 45° segments of a circle, starting with 0° directly into the wind.
The points of sail clarify the realities of sailing into the wind. One of the points of sail is "Head to Wind." A boat turns through this point on each tack. It is the point at which the boat is neither on port tack or starboard tack and is headed directly into the wind. However, a boat cannot sail directly into the wind, thus if it comes head ...
Points of sail: the shaded area is the "no-sail" zone. Beating to windward on short (P1), medium (P2), and long (P3) tacks, each with a progressively wider corridor over the water. Sails are limited in how close to the direction of the wind they can power a sailing craft. The area towards the wind defining those limits is called the "no-sail zone".
All sailing craft reach a constant forward velocity (V B) for a given true wind velocity (V T) and point of sail. The craft's point of sail affects its velocity for a given true wind velocity. Conventional sailing craft cannot derive power from the wind in a "no-go" zone that is approximately 40° to 50° away from the true wind, depending on ...
Consequently, a sailboat experiences a wider range of apparent wind angles than does an ice boat, whose speed is typically great enough to have the apparent wind coming from a few degrees to one side of its course, necessitating sailing with the sail sheeted in for most points of sail.
Windward and leeward directions (and the points of sail they create) are important factors to consider in such wind-powered or wind-impacted activities as sailing, wind-surfing, gliding, hang-gliding, and parachuting. Other terms with broadly the same meaning are widely used, particularly upwind and downwind. [3]
Sailing with the wind coming across the vessel's beam. This is normally the fastest point of sail for a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel. beam sea A sea in which waves are moving perpendicular to a vessel's course. [24] beam wind A wind blowing perpendicular to a vessel's course. bear A large, squared-off stone used with sand for scraping wooden ...
Velocity made good, or VMG, is a term used in sailing, especially in yacht racing, indicating the speed of a sailboat towards (or from) the direction of the wind. [1] [2] The concept is useful because a sailboat cannot sail directly upwind, and thus often can not, or should not, sail directly to a mark to reach it as quickly as possible.