Talk:Windmill ship

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ships, a project to improve all Ship-related articles. If you would like to help improve this and other articles, please join the project, or contribute to the project discussion. All interested editors are welcome. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.ShipsWikipedia:WikiProject ShipsTemplate:WikiProject ShipsShips articles

Mills C‑class Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Mills, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of mills on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MillsWikipedia:WikiProject MillsTemplate:WikiProject MillsMills articles
C	This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the importance scale.

Untitled

How does this not violate thermodynamics -- that for every action there is an *equal* and opposite reaction. How can you do better than standing still? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.159.108.125 (talk) 02:01, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

- It works because of the difference between speed through the air and speed through the water. Power is force x speed, and since (when heading directly into wind) the air speed is less than the water speed, a greater propulsive force can be generated in the water than the drag force on the windmill, for an equal power. It of course only works when there is wind to drive the boat- in calm weather, there is no speed differential and so no net forward thrust. Another way to look at it is that each blade of the wind turbine is tacking into wind. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.124.245.53 (talk) 15:49, 8 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]