I understand the basic concept for sailboats as the sail acts as an airfoil much like an airplane wing generating lift when air flows over it. But with square sails I can’t grasp how ships that had them ever got from point A to point B without always relying on downwind to move forward.
In: Physics
If there isn’t enough wind to tack, the ships would “wear”. It’s like turnung left three times to go right.
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