How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
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How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
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Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#2This site is an absolute treasure trove of technical material on sail and hull design, with a focus on model yachts but most of the physics scales up. It covers aerofoil theory (momentum, circulation, lifting line), sail twist, downwash, planform effects, Reynolds number, hull resistance, appendage design, VMG, and more.
Lots of spreadsheets and practical calculators too—bulb shape optimization, wetted surface area, simple VPP models. If you're into sail performance modeling or yacht design, this is one of the best resources out there.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#3On a related note, I would love to see an animated explanation for how sail ships worked.
As a fan of Hornblower series,I suspect most of the relevant details went over my head because I didn't understand this.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#4Arvel Gentry must be mentioned, he transferred much of the aerodynamics research to sailing with an amazing series of magazine articles. He debunked a lot of faulty theories, like how the slot works, in a meticulous but approachable style.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#5On a related note, I would love to see an animated explanation for how sail ships worked. As a fan of Hornblower series,I suspect most of the relevant details went over my head because I didn't understand this.
These are good animations for tall ships:
Warship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nr1AgIfajI
Explorer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pYqXrFx6S8
They don't cover the actual physics and processes of sailing a tall ship, but they do explain all the parts and pieces and how they connect.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#6I've been getting into sailing, solely for the purpose of cruising and sailing for fun with no interest in racing. As I've started talking to sailors, I've realized that you need to gauge whether you're speaking with a racer or a cruiser. Racers will claim these are not mutually exclusive categories, because of course racers can also cruise. But racers who cruise will ultimately talk to you like racers.
Racers are, as you might expect, fanatical about performance. They will go very deep into details about optimizing sail trim and shape, and using wildly-named specialized foresails (not merely spinnakers, but asymmetric spinnakers, reachers, screachers, code-zeroes, etc). It's a bit like talking to an SCCA racer about your new pickup truck.
In fact, if you have a good grounding in the basics of sail trim ("when in doubt, let it out"), and know how to put a reef in you can have a fine time getting between points A and B in a sloop with a basic mainsail and jib.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#7At the extreme opposite, here's a terrific set of videos on big ship architecture, design, engineering, and operations. Like the RC model yachts page, much of it's relevant for mid-sized boats too.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#8I've been getting into sailing, solely for the purpose of cruising and sailing for fun with no interest in racing. As I've started talking to sailors, I've realized that you need to gauge whether you're speaking with a racer or a cruiser. Racers will claim these are not mutually exclusive categories, because of course racers can also cruise. But racers who cruise will ultimately talk to you like racers. Racers are, a…
Isn't that the case with every hobby?
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#9I've been getting into sailing, solely for the purpose of cruising and sailing for fun with no interest in racing. As I've started talking to sailors, I've realized that you need to gauge whether you're speaking with a racer or a cruiser. Racers will claim these are not mutually exclusive categories, because of course racers can also cruise. But racers who cruise will ultimately talk to you like racers. Racers are, a…
There's also a specific argument in selling the racing is a better way to develop sailing skills because cruising ideally may not challenge you.
Re: How a yacht works: sailboat physics and design
#10The material seems dated. Modern yachts choose to be limited by displacement speeds but aren’t bound by them. New models that can rise on plane (like a speed boat) because of advances in materials and manufacturing are starting to proliferate (small sail boats known as “dinghies” have been doing this for decades but larger boats were limited by their heft). That’s not to even go into the wide ranging use of foils, which isn’t relevant to casual sailors but are prolific in high end racing.
Sailing isn’t what it used to be.