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But what about once you are going downwind faster than the wind, and thus experience an apparent headwind? I'm not a sailor, but I thought I'd seen people using
by sopooneo 5y ago
But what about once you are going downwind faster than the wind, and thus experience an apparent headwind? I'm not a sailor, but I thought I'd seen people using the term "tacking downwind" to describe that.
- haberman 5y agoYou will experience an apparent headwind when sailing on a broad reach faster than the wind, yes. But the jibe involves turning downwind (thus losing lift), as well as bringing the sails across (which will temporarily de-power them). It's been a while since I've been sailing, but I don't think most boats can maintain an apparent headwind through the entire maneuver, even if they are capable of faster-than-wind speed. Some can, which is why I mentioned downwind tacking for high-performance boats, but I think it takes a pretty fast boat to manage it.
- morei 5y agoThe F50 sailing class used in SailGP can remain foiling during jibes in winds as light as 8 knots. That is, the boat always sees an apparent headwind during the entire downwind run.
- morei 5y agoAmusingly, it's still referred to as jibing[1], even though the apparent wind remains a headwind. This is important because sailing has right-of-way rules that are written in terms of the true wind, not the apparent wind. [1] or gybing if you're using British spelling.