CENTREBOARD

Centreboard

A centreboard is used to provide lift to counter the lateral force from the sails. This is required for sailboats to move in directions other than downwind, since the force of the sail is never closer than 45 degrees to the apparent wind. Since most sailboats are symmetric along their axis of motion, when sailing upright, the lateral force can come from either side, which means that centreboards must use symmetric foil shapes so they will operate with equal efficiency on either tack. The more a yacht heels the more asymmetric its hull shape becomes.

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centreboard

Noun

  1. The adjustable keel on a small yacht or dinghy that acts, among other things, as ballast and to counteract the sideways force of the wind.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: centreboard
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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