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The Wind a Moving Boat Feels

Age 15 · Physics

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A boat moving forward stirs up its own stream of air coming from straight ahead, and that stream adds to the wind already blowing over the water. The wind felt on board is the total of the two, so it arrives from a different direction and with a different strength than the wind on shore.

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In the picture

  1. Orange arrow coming in from the left: the true wind blowing across the water.
  2. Teal arrow along the hull pointing sternward: the airflow made by the boat’s own speed.
  3. Violet arrow between the two: the apparent wind, the sum of the other two arrows.
  4. Red pennant at the masthead: it streams in line with the apparent wind.

Examples

  • Cycling on a still day and still feeling air pushing against your face.
  • Holding your hand out of a car window while the car is moving.

Key takeaways

  • Apparent wind = true wind + the wind created by your own motion.
  • Heading into the wind makes the apparent wind stronger and shifts it further toward the bow.

Quiz: The Wind a Moving Boat Feels (Age 15)

  1. What is the wind that people on a moving boat actually feel?

    • The true wind combined with the stream of air the boat’s own motion creates
    • Only the true wind blowing across the water, unchanged by the boat
    • Only the stream of air made by the boat’s motion, which cancels the true wind

  2. A boat is sailing with the wind coming from the side, in a steady breeze, and then speeds up. How does the wind felt on board change?

    • It comes from further ahead and usually feels stronger
    • It comes from further behind and usually feels weaker
    • It keeps exactly the same direction and strength, since the true wind has not changed

  3. A flag at the top of a sailing boat’s mast streams out in line with which wind?

    • The wind felt on board, which is the true wind plus the boat’s own airflow
    • The true wind alone, so it points the same way as a flag on shore
    • The boat’s own airflow alone, so it always points straight back along the boat

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