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Depends which way the wind was blowing! With the wind behind you, no problem. With the wind against you, 4 possibilities: 1) Tack; most vessels, especially if fore-and-aft rigged, which river boats usually were, can sail at a wide angle into the wind; in a wide river, one can thus go from side to side, put about and go back towards the other side, constantly gaining headway. 2) Club-hauling. Sail across the wind, getting up speed; at the end of the run, drop all sails, turn upwind, and coast for as long as possible. Then up sails and do it all again. 3) If the worst comes to the worst, kedging. Put a small anchor in a boat, send the boat upstream to the length of your cable, drop the anchor, haul in on the cable until you reach the anchor. Meanwhile, the boat has gone ahead with another anchor, and the process can be repeated. 4) If the river is not very wide, tow with horses or oxen (or, in many cases, the wife) from the bank. On particularly fast-flowing rivers, like the Dordogne in France, you simply didn't sail upstream. You built a raftlike boat at the headwaters, loaded it with trade goods, floated down the river, and at the mout sold the trade gooda AND the timber from which the boat was made. Then you got on the horse you'd taken with you and went home.
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How do sailing ships sail without wind?
They pretty much don't. If a sail-only ship is becalmed, or caught without wind, she is at the mercy of the currents until the wind picks up again.
Why were viking ships called long boats?
Karfi were, quiet literally long boats. they were the chief viking raiding vessel, and allowed them to sail quickly and up rivers
What does set the yards and make sail mean in regards to sailing?
"Set the yards" means arrange the sails in preparation for leaving the docks/shore/what have you: "make sail" means to actually go out into the ocean/lake. With regards to older sailing vessels (tall ships, square riggers), "man the yards" meant to send men up the mast and out along the yardarm of a square-rigger in preparation to making sail. "Making sail" meant either unfurling the sail from the yardarm, or un-reefing existing sail so as to add more sail.
What invention allowed ships to sail into the wind?
Wut made ships sail in the wind was that using a persicet sail or flag will pick up the wind and will push the air out and sail..just like u swinging on a swing 
How does a boat sail into the wind?
A boat can sail into the wind by sailing backwards and forwards (tacking) at an angle to the wind and so making her way up.
Was the Nina the best of the three ships at sailing at up wind?
no the santa maria was
Did The Chinese developed a way to move the sails of ships that allowed ships to sail into the wind for the first time.?
There is definitely two ways of doing things in this world; the Eastern (Oriental) way and the Western (Occidental) way. Eastern ships used square rigged sails whilst Western ships did not. It's now being discovered that the "ancient" Chinese may have sailed into North America (stone anchors have been found up some of the rivers in North America).It appears that both Oriental & Occidental mariners were capable of sailing into the wind. Who was first? Might have to experiment with some model ships: if the Chinese square rigged vessels can sail into the wind...then there's your answerANSWER: YesGot it right out of my social studies book.
Did The Chinese developed a way to move the sails of ships that allowed ships to sail into the wind for the first time?
There is definitely two ways of doing things in this world; the Eastern (Oriental) way and the Western (Occidental) way. Eastern ships used square rigged sails whilst Western ships did not. It's now being discovered that the "ancient" Chinese may have sailed into North America (stone anchors have been found up some of the rivers in North America).It appears that both Oriental & Occidental mariners were capable of sailing into the wind. Who was first? Might have to experiment with some model ships: if the Chinese square rigged vessels can sail into the wind...then there's your answerANSWER: YesGot it right out of my social studies book.
What is the triangular sail enabled ships to sail into the wind?
is called a stern rudder i looked every word up on my paper and found it
Why did ships sail up and down the nile river?
For transportation and for trade route purposes.
Why couldn't people sail straight up from south on the Nile River?
the river runs south to north, so you would be sailing against the current if you attempted to sail straight up form the south.
How long did the Greeks take to sail to Troy?
Time sailing depends due to winds, but it could take up to a week
