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> America's Cup foiling boats sail faster than the real wind in any direction Against the wind maybe, but I don't see how that's possible sailing before the wi
by mcv 4y ago
> America's Cup foiling boats sail faster than the real wind in any direction
Against the wind maybe, but I don't see how that's possible sailing before the wind. They're probably never going completely before the wind but instead alternating between broad reaches[0].
[0] I had to look that one up. Sailing terms are one of those things I only know in Dutch, and the English terms are completely alien to me in a way almost nothing else is.
- pmontra 4y agoYou might want to check the diagrams and animations at https://sailing-blog.nauticed.org/americas-cup-apparent-wind/ https://sailing-blog.nauticed.org/americas-cup-apparent-wind...
- mcv 4y agoNice animations! They explain a lot. And this is exactly what I mean: they're going from broad reach to broad reach (and not even that broad a reach!) instead of going straight before the wind, because they need a sideward component to the wind force.