Depart, Depart from Solid Earth
Why Sailing, Why Physics, Why Both?
Origins
There’s Much More
Downwind—The Easy Direction
Speed
Forces
Boatspeed
Wind Shadow
Acceleration
Examples
The Speed Limit
Upwind—The Hard Direction
Overview
Iceboats
Sailboat Speeds
Why Is Sailing Upwind So Complicated?
Tipping, Torques, and Trouble
Roll, Pitch, and Yaw
Torques
Centers of Mass, Buoyancy, and Effort
Catamaran
Iceboat
Monohull
Staying Upright
Steering and Helm
Dynamics
Upright Mast
Personal Torques
See How the Mainsail Sets
Spinnaker
Mainsail and Jib
Real Sails
What Really Counts
Fluid Dynamics
Navier–Stokes Equation
Viscosity
Reynolds Number
Boundary Layers
Euler Equation
Why Are Fluids So Complicated?
Surfaces
An Example
Inadequate Theory
Curiosities
When Is It Smooth Enough?
Waves and Wakes
Wave Shape
Water Motion
Gravity Waves
Capillary Waves
Damping
Wind and Waves
Wave Packets and Group Velocity
An Example
Wakes
The Importance of Waves
Wind
Two Examples
Turbulence
Wind up High
Weather
Apologies
Strategy
Directions
Constant Preferred Direction
Variable Preferred Direction
Current
Least-Time Path
Light Analogy
Mathematical Approach
Predicting the Wind
Real Sailing
Finally
Sailing Glossary
Index
Biography
John Kimball is a professor of physics at the University of Albany.
… a potpourri of good physics picking on the many areas in which basic and not so basic physics apply. … The chapter on fluid dynamics sets this book apart by its sceptical and pragmatic approach … Kimball puts each idea in its place showing where its strengths and weaknesses are. In doing so he provides a rare overview which so many books fail to give. … Chapters on wind generation and strategy conclude a fascinating read. … it is an intriguing gathering together of many disparate ideas which will keep the sailing scientist quiet in his bunk for many evenings. Also, it should be a standard introduction to any fluid dynamics course.
—R.S. Shorter, Contemporary Physics, 52, 2011… an excellent introduction to the forces that enable sailboats to perform … . John Kimball has contributed a readable explanation of the physics behind sailing that will appeal to a wide range of technically oriented readers.
—James Harper, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USAThe book is very well written and informative.
—Guy Vandegrift, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USAI like the book very much. It is well written and … fills a nice gap between my very introductory book and an even more detailed, mathematical approach.
—Bryon D. Anderson, Ph.D., Kent State University, Ohio, USA
