Theory of Winged Sails

What do sailboats and airplanes have in common? They both rely on airfoils to generate lift!

Sails produce lift in a horizontal fashion while airplanes produce lift in a vertical fashion. Now, if airplanes and sailboats are both using airfoils to generate lift, why do wings look so different from sails?

Well, the answer is complicated. First off, they really shouldn’t look that different. Airplane wings are “wings” because that shape produces more lift and less drag, making it a much more efficient system and thus has been widely adopted on all airplanes.

Sailboats struggle with a thing called “Traditional” which is a nice way of saying “I won’t put that newfangled gizmo on my traditional boat!”

As a result, airplanes moved on to wings instead of sails long ago but sailboats remained in the past.

The only word strong enough to break tradition is “racing” and winged sails have burst into that scene with fury due to their incredible boots of efficiency. A wing sail will generate many times the lift of a similar sized sail, meaning that the same surface area can be used to produce more power without increasing weight, and as a result, greatly increase speed.

Hull speed was a global governor to sailboat speeds, which halted the desire for super-charged winged sails, as there was no way to exceed this speed limit. That was until foiling became commonplace on racing yachts, where this added power means insane top speeds! The only way to be faster than your competition is to have a better sail, and so the arms race of sail design is back on and winged sails are leading the pack.

The reason winged sails haven’t been fully adopted by every marina dwelling racer is the issue with stowage. Sails can be furled or flaked, winged sails are somewhat of a structure, and stowage of them is rather complicated. Until this aspect gets ironed out, winged sails might not be an option you can check the box next to on your new yacht at the boat show; but give it time.

The Big Departure

When all your hard work leading up to the arbitrarily set “shove off date” comes to a head, you will not be ready to go cruising. The truth is, you never will be ready.

All of your friends and family will come down to the boat to watch you set off on your journey, as you make the first step towards a huge adventure, and they want to see you leave the dock, not tell them you are still putting things away.

The best way to manage this situation is to shove off from the pier with a big show and wave good bye to everyone, then round the point where you fade from sight and anchor!

At anchor and out of view, you can finally get everything stowed and the boat prepared to go cruising. You will have no deadlines, no social pressures, so distracting conversations. It will just be you and your yacht, getting ready for the adventure to come.

So remember, give them the show they imagine, wave goodbye as you leave the pier, and sail away gracefully. Once you are out of view, anchor and get the boat ready for the voyage to come!

Traveling Far From Home

When you first set off cruising, you might feel like if you can’t seem to actually go. Every excuse and reason seems to hold you back from leaving on your voyage, and if you let it, it will.

When you go cruising, you are freeing yourself from all the restraints that society has placed on you. Everything that is set up to hold you still is going to be lifted, but first you must escape these restraints, to gain your freedom.

It will feel reckless and unprofessional, but if this is something you want to do, you just need to do it and not look back. Projects will not be finished, deadlines will not be met, but the time will come and you will have to go or you will never actually leave.

Since you are freeing yourself, the simple answer to “what do I need to bring?” is nothing. Just go, and after you have left, you will find the things that you truly do need, and those will be the things you will shop for at your next port.

Untie the lines or raise the anchor, and go!

How to Hand Start your Engine

Mechanical propulsion is great, it can power your vessel through the water, as well as power your alternator to charge all your electrical needs aboard. This is all great, except that starting these mechanical marvels requires one key step: Starting.

Electric starters are great if you have the electricity to power it. What if your batteries are dead and you discovered the need to crank up? You could wait for your solar panels to charge up your battery bank over the next several hours, or you could hand start your motor.

The video below shows how amazingly simple it is to start your motor by hand.

Monkey Fist

This knot is a favorite for key chains and ornaments, but it has a much more practical purpose.

A Monkey Fist adds a considerable amount of mass at the end of a line, allowing this to be tossed across great distances as it trails a small messenger line. Once this line is transferred, the real mooring warp can be hauled to bring the boat into berth.

The video below shows how to tie a Monkey Fist.