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<blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 3348768" data-attributes="member: 32164">Without getting into the details too much, the problem with using a tailwind to move is that you're running away from your motive force. So if a tailwind pushes you at 5 knots, and your ship moves at 5 knots, your real tailwind speed is now...0 knots, and you stop. That doesn't happen in the real world, because the water resists motion, so you still end up with a slight (but not great) forward momentum. To make up for this, ships running downwind have to let out extra sail to generate more pressure. They also tend to run slightly crosswind to make up for this. On a square-rigger, repositioning the sails for different angles of wind is a LOT of work, requiring a large crew.Most sailing vessels move best with a mild crosswind. Which plays havoc with your hovering pixie. Now, while it's true that more primitive ships didn't handle headwinds well because they lacked either proper sails or proper hulls, some of them did okay (e.g. - Viking longships, which had good hulls, or lateen-rigged dhows, which had impressive sails). In the real world, a well-keeled hull to prevent side slippage and the lateen (as opposed to square) sail weren't brought together on the same vessel until the 19th century. This is despite the fact that both existed, independent of one another, in different parts of the world, 1000 (or more) years earlier. Combine the two, and you can sail almost directly into the wind (as a modern sailboat does).That's probably more than you wanted to know about the physics of sailing ships.My suggestion to simplify your life: don't have a flying race that can do nothing but hover. Let them make short hops or bursts of flight until they develop true flying at a level you deem appropriate.My two cents.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnSnow, post: 3348768, member: 32164"] Without getting into the details too much, the problem with using a tailwind to move is that you're running away from your motive force. So if a tailwind pushes you at 5 knots, and your ship moves at 5 knots, your real tailwind speed is now...0 knots, and you stop. That doesn't happen in the real world, because the water resists motion, so you still end up with a slight (but not great) forward momentum. To make up for this, ships running downwind have to let out extra sail to generate more pressure. They also tend to run slightly crosswind to make up for this. On a square-rigger, repositioning the sails for different angles of wind is a LOT of work, requiring a large crew. Most sailing vessels move best with a mild crosswind. Which plays havoc with your hovering pixie. Now, while it's true that more primitive ships didn't handle headwinds well because they lacked either proper sails or proper hulls, some of them did okay (e.g. - Viking longships, which had good hulls, or lateen-rigged dhows, which had impressive sails). In the real world, a well-keeled hull to prevent side slippage and the lateen (as opposed to square) sail weren't brought together on the same vessel until the 19th century. This is despite the fact that both existed, independent of one another, in different parts of the world, 1000 (or more) years earlier. Combine the two, and you can sail almost directly into the wind (as a modern sailboat does). That's probably more than you wanted to know about the physics of sailing ships. My suggestion to simplify your life: don't have a flying race that can do nothing but hover. Let them make short hops or bursts of flight until they develop true flying at a level you deem appropriate. My two cents. [/QUOTE]

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