Recently I was thinking about how in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie The Black Pearl was claimed to be the fastest ship ever and the HMS Intercepter was the fastest ship in the royal navy, and in one scene The Black Pearl is easily catching up to the Interceptor. I understand that these are fictional vessels, but I still didn’t understand how one could be considerably faster than the other, when I can’t really tell the difference between the two designs(to the untrained eye, you wouldn’t be able to tell which one is faster by looking at it.) How is one ship so much faster than another ship that appears to be designed very similarly?
(Edit: thanks, i have a bit better understanding of what can cause this, thank you to everyone who has commented, although feel free to elaborate or provide additional explanations if you wish!)
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In simpler terms than the hull-speed as mentioned, there are a number of factors:
Number of sails carried: More sails mean more wind is utilized.
Sail design: Square sails aren’t necesarily the best (though technically with the wind directly behind you they are). A ship/boat with a certain mix of sail types can go “faster” in different situations
Condition: Is your ship being cleaned regularly? That matters
Weight: How heavy is said ship which will increase the mass/drag and slow the ship?
Rigging: Spart of a ship’s “speed” is it’s ability to turn to take advantage of winds, namely in tacking. A ship that can turn tighter and faster is then technically “faster” because it’s cutting out unnecesary travel distance More effecoemt riggings that allow for faster sail adjustment aids in this.
And of course the shape of the hull: Ships were always trying out different ways to cut the water. Some were better than others.
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