eli5 Why some sailing ships have multiple square sails like Clipper? Why not have one continuous sail from top to bottom like Korean Turtle Ship?
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There are several reasons you might want multiple sails.
For one thing, clipper ships were large ships that carried lots of sail. Having your sail partitioned up into smaller pieces makes each piece easier to work with…to raise and lower and shift around. This lets a ship respond more quickly.
It also lets a ship carry more sail. A tall ship could have masts 100 feet tall! It’d be difficult to even raise and lower a single sail that tall.
Another advantage of having separate sails is that the amount of sail can be adjusted to match the wind conditions. It’s not always good to have the maximum amount of sail out, especially if the weather isn’t great. With multiple smaller sails, you can take some down to reduce the chance of damage from high winds, while still keeping others up to keep the ship moving.
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