No one is exactly sure how sailing began, but it had been a pivotal innovation in terms of developing civilizations. Sailing can be dated back to 1200 BC when the Greeks launched a fleet of 1,000 ships and sailed to Troy. It is believed that for at least 1,000 years sailors relied on a square-rigged sail. It was a very preliminary design, but it worked well for getting people across the water. This idea came to revolutionize commerce, world travel, and war. At this point in time, sailing was very limited because you were solely dependent on windpower causing you to stay at certain angles and you couldn’t move against the wind.
As our technology began to improve we began shaping and cutting the sails differently, allowing for more wind power and maneuverability. Along with the shape and cut of the sail, ship designers began to innovate with the shape of the hull. Ships transitioned from wide floating tubs to more nimble and thin sailing vessels. We also began experimenting with the materials that we would use switching from material like cotton and hemp to nylon and polyester.
As we come to modern day sailing, we can see that the evolution and innovations have come a long way. We have vessels that can come around 30 knots per hour which is pretty much flying. The shape of the wings and sails have changed immensely in order to maximize aerodynamics. We have even gotten to the point of shaping our sails to resemble airplane wings to maximize air gained by racing vessels such as the AC45 catamaran.
