How can sailboats move forward into the direction of the wind by using their sail?

Question

I don’t get how this is physically possible if the direction you want to go is literally the opposite direction of the way the wind is blowing. How can it ‘push’ them the opposite way it is going?

In: 20

Answer 1

Because your sail is never facing directly at the wind, it’s facing the wind at 45* so that you can capture the force of the wind with the sails but then use steering to apply the force.