of all the usable directions, a sailboat goes slowest when it is going downwind. That’s because the sail acts as a parachute, meaning the boat can’t go any faster than the wind behind it. Dandelions spread their seeds at the whims of the wind, but they don’t make much of an impact. The sailboat doesn’t work that way. The sailboat is optimized to go across the wind. The fastest sailboat direction is beam or close reach, heading perpendicular or even toward the wind.
