Question

If you wanted to sail across the Pacific Ocean in a sail boat, going the fastest speed at all times, at which latitude would it be best to keep your sailboat to get the full potential of the winds?

A.



45 degrees


B.



20 degrees


C.



60 degrees


D.



90 degrees

Answer 1

Where is chemistry in all this?? I think it is a geography question :)

Answer 2

The fastest point of sailing for most boats is called the Beam Reach. That's where the wind is coming over your boat at an angle perpendicular to the wind, kind of like this: since the faster you go, the more your apparent wind will shift to be coming from in front of you, allowing you to trim your sails in to close hauled while still allowing you to let them out when the wind dies. Any point of sailing below a beam reach will be pushing you through the wind, so you won't be going as fast, but anything between 90 degrees and 45 degrees off the wind you will be pulled by the lift created by your sail, which acts as an airfoil like an airplane wing would, whereas anything below that you are being pushed with the wind and going much slower or heading up too high into the wind and going into "irons" where you can't sail.

Where the wind blows along the latitudes I believe is along the equator, but I've never sailed there so I have no clue. I know this isn't a real sailing question, but if I was asked this I'd purposely give the real right answer rather than the fake right answer where they think sailboats are only ever "pushed" through the wind when in reality they go much faster when they're "pulled" by the forces of the wind!

Answer 3

so what would the answer be.?