Why are sails tall instead of wide?

Wide seems more stable.

 

If you want to only go downwind (i.e. AWA ~135-225) wide vs tall makes no difference....Viking longships, Spanish carracks, etc. If you want to go upwind, then it is all in the Aspect Ratio (i.e. span (hoist)^2/sail area). The whole reason for lateen of old and the bermuda rigs we see today. Yes a wide rig has a lower center of effort, but gets less "lift" to windward; so it is a trade-off.....and to go into gaff and tall ship rigs we will need to get into a whole lot of aerodynamic theory about how they work.

 

Yes

The sails are tall forming 1 Wing with 2 Elements and effective Aspect Ratio of 3.3 ... because the bias of the modern sailboats (1930-) is beating Upwind

A) with an Angle of Attack of 25-30 degrees and
B) a wind speed between 7 and 14 knots

 

It depends on the desired heading relative to the wind (W)

1 Wing constructed with 2 sails

Lift: 100 Newtons
Drag: 20 Newtons

1, 2, 3, or 5 Sails

Lift: 100 Newtons
Drag: 100 Newtons

1 Parachute

Lift: 20 Newtons
Drag: 100 Newtons

 

In other words

first, we must distinguish three very different planets or worlds:

Upwind
Reaching
Downwind

and, within the upwind planet, we must distinguish different regions depending on the angle of attack and wind speed

 

Upwind: 1 Wing constructed with 2 Elements: 2 Sails

Reaching: 1, 2, 3 ... 5 Sails

Downwind: Parachutes

 

Carlos hijacks a thread again with his usual nonsense, giant photos and double/triple spacing to make the posts even larger. His conspiracy theories about the downfall of society because boats can point well upwind are really nonsensical.
Boats that can't sail upwind are like a car that only drives downhill.

 

Further Offshore

Further offshore : ocean racing, fast cruising, modern yacht handling and equipment : Illingworth, John H : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/furtheroffshoreo0000illi/mode/1up

The curious thing is that the modern sailing Yacht was born twice: in 1930 with fractional 3/4 rig, and in 1947 with John Illingworth

And both forms became extinct in the mainstream around 1979

In other words: the rigging of sailboats depends on which regattas are the most famous at any given time.

 

Beowulf

Beowulf beat Mari Cha III in the Caribbean, a Yacht almost twice as long, by flying lower sails ... Reaching

 

Why did this motorboat need such an astronomically large mast?

On a sailing yacht, it's debatable; but on a motorboat... it's simply insane

Trying to find rationality in this industry is a recipe for melancholy

 

On a distant planet in a far away galaxy ... explorers would find:

a multitude of small sailboats with fractional rigs (3/4) and large, rotating bowsprits

a lot of cruisers with chinese rigs

large yacht with two short masts

 

About Fractional 3/4

"What's the reason for having the hounds below the tip? Aerodynamically it doesn't make sense, since it promotes local tip stalling as your calcs show. This is why a leading edge slat on a wing always goes all the way to the tip."

Bell Spanload Implications for Sailing? https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/bell-spanload-implications-for-sailing.59464/page-2

---

Yes, exactly

But the reason is Power/Depowering Control

in seconds the rig is shorter

with 1 rope you have

+/- AoA
-/+ Camber
+/- Twist

and

-/+ "h": vertical distance Lateral hydroForce - AeroForce

It's versatility in a changing environment

---

The Lift coefficient can be adjusted between 1.4 and 0.7

And

At the same time, the rigging can be shortened, which is why the cables don't reach the top.

 

Carlos, please have some respect and stop taking over threads.