It depends, You can drive, sail, row or steer a boat. On bigger ships the person in charge of steering the boat is called “Helmsman”, when steering he is “at the helm”. You can also say “take the boat”, meaning that you use it as a means of getting somewhere (as in “take the bus”). As Linguafan has stated, you can often deduct.
For sailboats, sail a boat is more common but drive the boat is informal and often used. For powerboats, drive the boat is more common, but sail the boat would still be correct, but less often used. I was raised on the word steer as opposed to drive.
Another common query is “How does a sailboat sail work?”.
On a sailboat, wind blowing against the boat at an angle inflates the sail, and it forms a similar foil shape, creating a difference in pressure that pushes the sail perpendicular to the wind direction.
Another common query is “What is the difference between a sail drive and shaft drive boat?”.
A good example of this is the evolution of the Leopard 47 (a straight shaft boat) to the far superior sailing Morelli and Melvin designed Leopard 46 (a sail drive boat.) Sail drives offer more horsepower at the prop. Sail drives generally cost more to replace than shafts.
A common inquiry we ran across in our research was “Why do sailboats have a single engine and drive?”.
The fact that the engine and drive system form essentially a single unit eases installation, and by design can keep weight “out of the ends,” which is always desirable with sailboats. With the saildrive, the weight of a shaft, stuffing box, and propeller are moved forward, almost under the engine.
What is a saildrive?
A saildrive is a little like having an outboard leg sticking out the bottom of the boat and connected to an engine inside the boat. The first thing that I reckon you have wrong (but will stand corrected) is that saildrives dominate. I think shaft drives are far more prolific.
How do you sail a boat in the wind?
Turn more into the wind and soon the whole sail will be flapping like a bed sheet hanging out to dry. But keep turning through the wind and soon the sail will fill on the other side of the boat. This is called “tacking.”. Modern sailboats can sail up to about a 45-degree angle from the wind.
Then, how do boats sail into the wind?
This is what our research found. sailing into the wind is possible when the sail is angled in a slightly more forward direction than the sail force. In that aspect, the boat moves forward because the keel (centreline) of the boat acts to the water as the sail acts to the wind.
In this aspect, the boat will move forward because the keel (centerline), of the boat acts to the water as the sail acts to the wind. The force of the sail is balanced by the force of the keel. This keeps the boat from moving in the direction of the sail force. Although total sail force is to the side when sailing into.
One force pushes the sailboat, and the other force pulls, or drags it forward. True wind always pushes a boat. If a boat sails absolutely perpendicular to true wind, so the sail is flat to the wind and being pushed from behind, then the boat can only go as fast as the wind—no faster.
What keeps the boat from moving in the wind?
The heeling force of the sail is balanced by the force of the keel. This keeps the boat from moving in the direction of the sail force. Although total sail force is to the side when sailing into the wind, a proper angle of attack moves the boat forward.
Can boats sail faster than the wind?
One of the intriguing aspects of sailing is that a sailing boat can actually sail faster than the wind, given the right conditions. While even a novice sailor soons learns that this is possible, many a very experienced sailor can’t really explain the physics of it.
While we were writing we ran into the question “What makes a sailboat fly faster than an airplane?”.
In fact, the physics that allow an airplane to fly are the same physics that allow a sailboat to travel faster than the wind. The difference is that airplanes lift up off the ground, and sailboats lift parallel to the ground— as if they’re flying sideways.
How fast can a boat go when the wind is perpendicular?
True wind always pushes a boat. If a boat sails absolutely perpendicular to true wind, so the sail is flat to the wind and being pushed from behind, then the boat can only go as fast as the wind—no faster .
Why can’t you go faster than the wind?
So you can’t go faster than the wind. When the wind is at an angle, we have to add vectors representing these velocities. The faster that the boat goes, the greater the relative wind, the more force there is on the sails, so the greater the force dragging the boat forwards.