At the time when there were no engines, how did sailors sail into the wind?

Answer 1

First they had to wait for the tide to change so they could leave with the outgoing tide. Then they did what sailors do today - they tack. They sail in a zig-zag pattern. If the wind is coming from the north, for example, first they zig northeast so they catch part of the wind in their sails and it moves them forward at an angle, then they zag to the northwest and keep moving forward. Like a sewing machine stitch, it can be a zig-zag pattern but all the stitches taken together make a straight line.

Answer 2

They sailed at slightly less than a 90 degree angle to wind) The sail was set at right angle to wind, thereby pushing the boat foreward to a small degree, (depending on how much wind there was), they could go more and more in direction from which the wind came! Example wind coming from north! Tack sail, and steer w by nw, -- for a period of time (say two hours), then reverse course and sail two hours e by ne. continue this till you get to destination, (or untill wind direction changes). This will make a zig-zag course to destination (theroretically you can run a streight line at an "adverage" between point "a" and point "b",! Depending on the wind direction, and speed, this could take a very long time to get there! However if the wind was going the other direction (say from the south west), -- then the sail "tacked" to one side woud push the boat in the same direction, - getting the same distance covered in a fraction of the time going the other direction!

Answer 3

No Sails can take you directly into the wind. As stated earlier you have to sail on a particular "tack" depending upon size, dispacement, apparent windage, draft, and number of hulls that your vessel has, you may be able to sail between 15-30 degrees off of the wind. This would be a port tack if you are on the left side of the wind or a starboard tack if your boat is on the right hand side of the wind. Sailors and Captains like myself find ourselvessailing to a point up wind of your final destination so that you can come in straight down wind. Rounding your vessel up into the wind to turn your boat is called tacking while turning off the wind or downhill, is called jibeing. These are the 2 methods of getting your boat across that magic"into the wind" area. Jibeing or tacking across the desired path, if going into the wind.

Answer 4

In the age of sail, ships left port on an outgoing tide. They studied currents so they could go with them and not against, such as the Gulf Stream .They were able to tack, or wear ship, to go toward the wind. In tacking they made a zig zag pattern toward the wind. The big square sailed vessels could go about 50 degrees to the wind on either side. Then the fore and aft sails were invented which made it easier to sail closer to the wind. Also they had big sweeps(oars) with which they were able to propel the ship. Also from the whale boats sometimes they towed the ship.And then there were times when they had to anchor and wait for more favorable winds.

Answer 5

They didn't at best they could row there way against the wind. Sailing ships sail 30+ degree angles against the wind and zig zag there way towards the winds direction similar to riding a bike up a very steep hill you zig zag up the hill. This maneuver is called tacking this maneuver relies on the front triangular sails to catch the head wind and steer the front of the boat as close as possible to the wind.

Answer 6

I'm no sailor, but I know a little bit. They didn't sail exactly straight into the wind. They sailed at an angle, zig zagging. I've seen an illustration showing how the sails manage to "reflect" (the best word I can think of) the wind so it pushes them into the wind.

Slack her sheets to the evening breeze,
On a tide that's ebbing freely.

And point her bow to the setting sun,
On a slant for old Tahiti.

---Anonymous

Answer 7

It's called "tacking". By putting the sail at an angle, and aiming the boat at about 45 degrees to the wind, the boat would move at a corresponding angle away from it. Then after a while, they'd reverse course, and go in the opposit direction performing a zig-zag pattern, but effectively moving forward at the same time.

Answer 8

Not possible to sail directly into the wind.
You can sail toward the wind by( tacking) steering a zig-zag course which crosses the line of true wind direction.

Answer 9

the fast answer is thru orientation of the sails to capture wind which will reason action. an prolonged answer is: 2 thousand years in the past, triangular sails regarded. With desirable orientation, those sails ought to transform wind means from any direction into forward thrust. The sail may be pushed or pulled by using the wind rigidity, and the pull became enhanced than the rush. in spite of if there became no actual expertise of the pulling rigidity, it allowed the boat to sail into the wind. interior the 18th century, the pulling rigidity became pointed out as carry, and it became stumbled on that it became generated by using fluid flow over a curved floor, stated as an airfoil.

Answer 10

The combinations of a type of keel, a rutter, and the movement of a boom allow the boat to tack into the wind up to about 5 to 10 degress. No sailboat can move directly into the wind. That is called putting your boat in irons. The boat stops moving and the sail luffs (flaps loosely).