What did we do?

We began our investigation by sailing our boats in three directions: with the wind (called "running"), with the wind, but at an angle (called "broad reach"), and into the wind at an angle (called "close hauled"). We set up some balloons in the sailing pond as markers and timed our boats sailing in those three directions. Once we found the fastest direction, we investigated wind speeds around the sails by booking a trip on a real sailboat out in New York harbor. more...