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

They can’t go _directly_ into the wind, but they can go about about 30° off on either side. If you need to travel in the exact direction the wind is blowing from, you need to “tack”, that is go in a zig zag path, first to the left of the way you want to go, then to the right.

As to the question of why the wind can push sailboats _any_ direction other than the way it’s blowing, it’s complicated. But a full sail is shaped rather like a plane’s wing. Bernoulli’s principle explains what’s going on.