"Scout" wrote in message
...
I thought something seemed off with the diagram too, and also believed
your
last paragraph to be true. I can see the perpendicular force in the first
figure, but when close hauled, as in fig 2, especially considering the
wind
on the structure, I'm not sure why that vector isn't running "slightly"
more
toward the stern?
Scout

I think that the author of the diagram simply failed to express himself
clearly. If we substitute "leeway" for "sideways force" then his diagrams
make a bit more sense. Leeway is not a force, but it is the result of
combined forces.

In fact, leeway is *always* directly downwind. I learned this on my recent
dinghy sailing holiday. There was an area known as "the Graveyard". It
was a lee shore that had very gentle winds. Once you entered the Graveyard,
you were bound to end up on the rocks. The reason was that after a tack,
you would make leeway before you got forward motion. Furthermore, the wind
was so light that it was impossible to get forward movement without bearing
away --- which meant going even closer to the shore..... The first time
that it happened to me was very disspiriting. I thought that I had
forgotten everything that I knew about dinghy sailing.


I'll do a drawing if I get time.

Regards


Donal
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