Wind Effects on Movement

Wind effects of movement describes the adjustment of a sailing vessel's movement according to its attitude in relation to the wind. This relationship explains how a ship, as it turns with respect to the wind, gains or loses speed even while the wind force remains unchanged. Speed adjusts because the sails do not receive the wind equally from every angle; some attitudes fill the canvas efficiently, while others strike or pass across the sails with little effect, or pushes against the vesselin a way that actively slows it's progress.

The ship's attitude is its orientation of a vessel in relation to the wind, divided into reaching, running, close-hauling and heading into the wind. This attitude determines how efficiently the sails use the wind, from the high speed of reaching to the complete loss of forward movement when the ship points into the wind.

"Reaching" describes a wind coming at an angle "abaft," meaning behind the "beam," that being the ship's widest point from side to side. "Running" is sailing with the wind coming from directly behind the ship's stern. "Close hauling" describes sailing against the wind, but at an offset angle, while still making progress. "Heading into the wind is pointing the ship directly or nearly directly against the wind, typically done when "tacking," which is done to change the ship's orientation so that the wind comes from the port, its left side, rather than the starboard, or right side.

Demonstrating "ship's attitude": a 90 ft. vessel portrayed upon ship hexes, with angles demonstrating the wind's direction with respect to their angle of influence upon the ship.