The Study of Sails

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to determine, for a fixed surface area, what sail shape, a triangle, square, rectangle or trapezoid will produce the fastest run for a "Land Yacht." Methods/Materials A Land Yacht was constructed using a common skateboard, a PVC mast, a wood-dowel boom and window cord. Four sails, all with areas of 400-square inches were cut out of 2-mil plastic. A 7-foot long test course was set up on a smooth concrete floor inside an enclosed building. A fixed fan was used to produce a constant wind. The yacht was run 5 times with each sail shape and each run was timed. The high and low times were dropped and the remaining 3 were averaged. Results The yacht with the trapezoid shaped sail travelled across the test course in the fastest time. Conclusions/Discussion I concluded that the shape of a sail affects the speed of a vessel going down wind. However, I wondered why most sail boats have triangular sails. I think that a triangular sail must be easier to handle than a trapezoid sail. Also, a triangular sail must make it easier to maneuver a boat in real life where there are cross winds and head winds. An optimum sail is one that gives a vessel both speed and maneuverability.

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics · Entry J0109

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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