The only way I can think that this would be possible is if the wind was blowing directly onshore?
Edit: thanks for all the well thought out replies. I think I’ve got it figured out know, I’ve always Been a bit confused about ships tacking into to wind and I think the key thing I was missing was the sail being using like as an airfoil creating pull, used in tandem with with the fins/keel .
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You can not go directly into the wind but you can go 45 degrees in to the wind.
Have you ever held the back of a spoon against a running water faucet? It holds it in place even though logic tells you it should not stick the spoon to the water because the water is running away from it. This is called the Bernoulli effect and it’s the same principle why aircrafts fly and sails works.
For a windsurfer, there’s a fin in the water, the air tugs the sail one way while the speed through the water creates an opposite force on the fin.those two balance each other out into forward motion.
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