Originally posted by umop-apisdn:

Originally posted by Shaken_Widow:

you don't want tail wind, that's slower than full wind to the sides.

No, it's not. Or rather, it is, but only by about 3%. Since sailing speeds are never higher than 10 m/s, that's a difference of less than 0.3 m/s. For comparison, it's less than 10% of the speed difference between walking and running.

"All wind directions from crosswind to tailwind end up being roughly the same (with the optimal wind angle being only ~3% faster)."
https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Boats#Sailing_with_the_wind

It's only recently that humanity has discovered how to sail faster with a crosswind than a tailwind; unfortunately, Viking longships predate that design evolution.

TL;DR: Anything other than a headwind generates forward motion at roughly the same rate.

if you're using the raft yes.

if you're using the karve or the longship the tail wind is VISIBLY slower than side wind.

it's not just 3% difference, idk where you got your numbers but it's literally enough for you to notice the difference and never want tail wind ever again.

also, the main reason it's slower is due to the force it's pushing on the ship.

it tips the ship forward and makes it sail into the water which makes it slower, the bigger the ship the bigger the effect it has.

which is why when sailing with the big boats you can literally see the difference, instead of being pushed nose into water and slugging along, the ship tilts slightly to the side and glides at cruising speed.

also, when sailing with a crosswind, you are sailing in the grooves of the water, which means no bobbing which means no speed deviation.

there's literally way more reasons why you should sail with a crosswind than any you could possibly say to convince me tailwind is fine.

the amount of bobbing alone with a tail wind is enough to make me not like it.