Wind transducer

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A wind transducer is a device used by sailors to receive a real-time measurement of wind speed and direction. [1] [2] A wind transducer is usually mounted on the masthead of a sailing boat and is occasionally used by power boats too. The wind speed and direction measurements are more critical to sailing boats than to power boats. Sailors rely on the wind speed and direction to help with navigation and pilotage. These devices can be calibrated to measure the true wind speed and the apparent wind speed (speed that a sailor would 'feel'). Sailing boats can sail at a maximum of 45 degrees close to the wind and will sail faster on a reach than when at closest to the wind.

Wind transducers are usually wired to the cock or head, although 'wireless' versions are becoming steadily more popular due to the reduced installation time required.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruising (maritime)</span> Traveling by boat for pleasure

Cruising by boat is an activity that involves living for extended time on a vessel while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, and can extend to round-the-world voyages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailing</span> Propulsion of a vehicle by wind power

Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the water, on ice (iceboat) or on land over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinghy sailing</span> Sailing of small boats, usually for sport

Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apparent wind</span> Wind experienced by a moving object

Apparent wind is the wind experienced by a moving object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point of sail</span> Direction of travel under sail relative to true wind direction over surface

A point of sail is a sailing craft's direction of travel under sail in relation to the true wind direction over the surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jibe</span> Basic sailing maneuver, where ship turns its stern through the wind

A jibe (US) or gybe (Britain) is a sailing maneuver whereby a sailing vessel reaching downwind turns its stern through the wind, which then exerts its force from the opposite side of the vessel. For square-rigged ships, this maneuver is called wearing ship.

In common usage, wind gradient, more specifically wind speed gradient or wind velocity gradient, or alternatively shear wind, is the vertical component of the gradient of the mean horizontal wind speed in the lower atmosphere. It is the rate of increase of wind strength with unit increase in height above ground level. In metric units, it is often measured in units of meters per second of speed, per kilometer of height (m/s/km), which reduces to the standard unit of shear rate, inverse seconds (s−1).

This is a glossary of nautical terms; an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water, but not necessarily on the sea. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: sailor, from naus: ship.

Tacking is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow toward and through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side of the boat to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction. The opposite maneuver to tacking is called 'jibe', or 'wearing' on square-rigged ships, that is, turning the stern through the wind. No sailing vessel can move directly upwind, though that may be the desired direction, making this an essential maneuver of a sailing ship. A series of tacking moves, in a zig-zag fashion, is called beating, and allows sailing in the desired direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broach (nautical)</span> Abrupt, involuntary change in course

A broach is an abrupt, involuntary change in a vessel's course, towards the wind, resulting from loss of directional control, when the vessel's rudder becomes ineffective. This can be caused by wind or wave action. A wind gust can heel (lean) a sailing vessel, lifting its rudder out of the water. Both power and sailing vessels can broach when wave action reduces the effectiveness of the rudder. This risk occurs when traveling in the same general direction as the waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heaving to</span> Way of slowing a sailing vessels forward progress

In sailing, heaving to is a way of slowing a sailing vessel's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the vessel does not have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this may be to wait for the tide before proceeding, or to wait out a strong or contrary wind. For a solo or shorthanded sailor it can provide time to go below deck, to attend to issues elsewhere on the boat or to take a meal break. It is also used as a storm tactic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junk rig</span> Type of sail rig used in the Junk ships of dynastic China

The junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail, Chinese balanced lug sail, or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast.

Self-steering gear is equipment used on sail boats to maintain a chosen course or point of sail without constant human action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultrasonic transducer</span> Acoustic sensor

Ultrasonic transducers and ultrasonic sensors are devices that generate or sense ultrasound energy. They can be divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind-powered vehicle</span> Vehicle propelled by wind

Wind-powered vehicles derive their power from sails, kites or rotors and ride on wheels—which may be linked to a wind-powered rotor—or runners. Whether powered by sail, kite or rotor, these vehicles share a common trait: As the vehicle increases in speed, the advancing airfoil encounters an increasing apparent wind at an angle of attack that is increasingly smaller. At the same time, such vehicles are subject to relatively low forward resistance, compared with traditional sailing craft. As a result, such vehicles are often capable of speeds exceeding that of the wind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-performance sailing</span>

High-performance sailing is achieved with low forward surface resistance—encountered by catamarans, sailing hydrofoils, iceboats or land sailing craft—as the sailing craft obtains motive power with its sails or aerofoils at speeds that are often faster than the wind on both upwind and downwind points of sail. Faster-than-the-wind sailing means that the apparent wind angle experienced on the moving craft is always ahead of the sail. This has generated a new concept of sailing, called "apparent wind sailing", which entails a new skill set for its practitioners, including tacking on downwind points of sail.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forces on sails</span>

Forces on sails result from movement of air that interacts with sails and gives them motive power for sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and sail-powered land vehicles. Similar principles in a rotating frame of reference apply to wind mill sails and wind turbine blades, which are also wind-driven. They are differentiated from forces on wings, and propeller blades, the actions of which are not adjusted to the wind. Kites also power certain sailing craft, but do not employ a mast to support the airfoil and are beyond the scope of this article.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail</span> Fabric or other surface supported by a mast to allow wind propulsion

A sail is a tensile structure—made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments—usually in a three- or four-sided shape.

This is a glossary of nautical terms; an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water, but not necessarily on the sea. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: sailor, from naus: ship.

References

  1. Cui, Mengda; Cha, Hao (August 2016). "Prediction Method of Ship-Based Microwave OTH Radar Detection Range". 2016 8th International Conference on Intelligent Human-Machine Systems and Cybernetics (IHMSC). 02: 578–581. doi:10.1109/IHMSC.2016.259. ISBN   978-1-5090-0768-4. S2CID   18962371.
  2. García-Domínguez, Alejandro (March 2015). "Mobile applications, cloud and bigdata on ships and shore stations for increased safety on marine traffic; a smart ship project". 2015 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT): 1532–1537. doi:10.1109/ICIT.2015.7125314. ISBN   978-1-4799-7800-7. S2CID   24156912.