This is for something I’m writing and all of the Googling has left me lost with nautical terms. If I’m taking an old Norse Longboat and I’m sailing on the sea and there is a current going south, and the wind is also going south, do I go faster than the current? Does it depend on the speed of the wind? I guess I just don’t understand if the current takes control of the boat or if you can use it to boost your speed.
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Sailing into the current will slow the boat down a bit, but not by the same speed as the current. Its only slowing the boat down because of drag on the hull, its not like a plane flying into a headwind.
If the boat is sailing with the current it’ll get a slight speed boost because there is less drag on the hull. If the current is faster than the wind it’ll be like sailing into the wind which won’t work so well so you’d drop the sails and float in that scenario
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