Introduction
As a longtime sailor, I’ve learned that the size of your boat is as important as its condition and hull. But how do you make sure that your boat is right for you? Size is so critical that some sailors will even buy multiple boats with different sizes in order to cater their sails to different conditions and types of sailing. Here’s what you need to know about picking the right size boat:
A Sailboat is like a giant kite that can propel itself across the water.
For example, let’s take a look at a sailboat. Sailboats are like giant kites that can propel themselves across the water. They have a keel (the fin-like structure at the bottom of the boat) that helps them stay upright when sailing and keep from being flipped over by waves; they also have masts with sails attached to them, which use wind power to propel it forward while moving through water or air.
Some boats use wind alone as their primary source of propulsion; other boats use both sails and engines at times.
To move through the water, a sailboat needs to be pointing into the wind as it travels.
When you’re sailing a boat, the direction that the wind is blowing from is important. This is because when a boat moves through the water, it actually moves in two directions at once: forward and sideways.
To better understand what’s going on here, imagine you are standing on solid ground on a windy day with your back to where grass meets trees. Now imagine that someone has thrown down an anchor near your feet so strongly that it’s pulled all of those trees toward you like they were made out of rubber bands (and also there was no grass). That’s basically how sails work: they pull against the wind to push boats forward—but since both sides of a sail are moving outward at once (like pulling two opposite ends of those rubber bands), it also pushes them sideways!
So if we want our boats to move through water efficiently (and not end up stuck in tree trunks), then we need them pointed into the wind as they travel so both sides are working together for maximum speed and control over movement direction (rather than fighting each other).
A sailboat uses sails (a giant kite) and its keel (the long heavy thing sticking down in the water) to redirect the force of the wind, pushing it forward and sideways.
A sailboat uses sails (a giant kite) and its keel (the long heavy thing sticking down in the water) to redirect the force of the wind, pushing it forward and sideways. The keel does this by using its weight to force water away from beneath it. This isn’t too different from how ice skates work—they’re just made of metal instead of plastic! You can see how this works in action if you’ve ever been sailing on a boat in rough water: when there are waves crashing over your bow or stern, that’s what happens when they get pushed underneath by an object with more mass than them (like a boat).
The actual size of a sail is measured by squaring its area.
The actual size of a sail is measured by squaring its area. The dimensions are multiplied together to get the area, which is then squared to find the effective surface area. This can be expressed as:
- Area = Length x Width
- Area = L x W
The formula looks like this: A = LW
In other words, if you have a sail with an 8-foot length and 4-foot width, it would be considered an 8′ x 4′ sail (8 feet times 4 feet equals 32 square feet). If you were looking for a sail large enough to fill the wind from one side of your boat to another without being completely overpowered by wind conditions and wanted something about 30 square yards, you would want something around 50 sq ft (50 * 50=2500 sq ft).
A boat’s hull is designed to use sails that are a certain size.
A boat’s hull is designed to use sails that are a certain size. The size of the boat is determined by the size of its keel, and the size of its keel is determined by the size of its hull and how much weight it needs to carry, which in turn depends on where you plan to sail. A heavier boat will need more power than a lighter one.
Don’t buy a boat with too big of sails for your crew!
Don’t buy a boat with too big of sails for your crew!
This is one of the most common mistakes people make when buying a boat. It’s good to know how the size of sails are measured, but more importantly, you need to know what kind of sailboat you’re getting into.
The hull is designed for a certain size of sail and can only fit so much area in its waterline (how far from bow to stern it sticks out). The amount of area that fits on the waterline determines how fast it moves through the water, which is called its speed potential (or potential draft) in nautical terms.
Conclusion
Sailboats are a lot of fun, but you need to know about how they work before you can sail safely. If you don’t have enough crew on board or if your sails are too big for your boat’s hull, then it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to get anywhere!