The Forces Affecting a Sailboat

by Kelly Stukbauer

Submitted : Fall 2015

The net force acting on a sailboat can be obtained by examining each component force separately and then combining them. This project implements vectors in three dimensions and vector addition as well as the concepts of buoyancy, differences in pressure, drag, and fluid dynamics to evaluate the forces on a sailboat. It is important to note that although the results obtained from this project are based on the collegiate FJ sailboat, they can be applied to any sailboat. The collegiate FJ was chosen because it is commonly sailed by college sailing teams, including the University of South Florida’s sailing team.

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