Modern sailing boats sail windward too, usually at an angle not greater than 45 degrees. Flags blow 45 degrees backward. Old ocean vessel didn't sail much against the wind. They were not built for that, hull and sails.
America's Cup foiling boats sail faster than the real wind in any direction (even 3 times as much) so they always experience an apparent wind against them, same as a car or to a lesser degree a bicycle. However they don't have flags, I just checked on videos. They would blow backwards at a small angle, just as on cars.
> America's Cup foiling boats sail faster than the real wind in any direction
Against the wind maybe, but I don't see how that's possible sailing before the wind. They're probably never going completely before the wind but instead alternating between broad reaches[0].
[0] I had to look that one up. Sailing terms are one of those things I only know in Dutch, and the English terms are completely alien to me in a way almost nothing else is.
Nice animations! They explain a lot. And this is exactly what I mean: they're going from broad reach to broad reach (and not even that broad a reach!) instead of going straight before the wind, because they need a sideward component to the wind force.
America's Cup foiling boats sail faster than the real wind in any direction (even 3 times as much) so they always experience an apparent wind against them, same as a car or to a lesser degree a bicycle. However they don't have flags, I just checked on videos. They would blow backwards at a small angle, just as on cars.