sailing
Sails convert wind into propulsive force. This topic is part of Water Sports within Sports. This page currently draws on 12 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.
sailing trivia questions
A sailboat is powered mainly by what?
Answer: Wind
Bonus fact: Sails convert wind into propulsive force.
What part of a sailboat is used to steer?
Answer: Rudder
Bonus fact: The rudder changes the boat's direction.
What is the term for sailing directly into the wind?
Answer: Impossible without tacking
Bonus fact: Sailboats must zigzag at angles to progress upwind.
Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492 sailing for which country?
Answer: Spain
Bonus fact: Spain's monarchs sponsored Columbus's first voyage.
Which Norwegian won Olympic ski jumping gold in 1924 and later an Olympic sailing silver medal in 1936?
Answer: Jacob Tullin Thams
Bonus fact: Thams became the second athlete to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
What book did Slocum write about his journey?
Answer: Sailing Alone Around the World
Bonus fact: His memoir became a classic of sailing literature.
After Tahiti, Cook became the first European known to chart extensively which coastline?
Answer: The east coast of Australia
Bonus fact: Cook claimed the eastern Australian coast for Britain after sailing along it in 1770.
Which Portuguese explorer reached India by sea from Europe in 1498?
Answer: Vasco da Gama
Bonus fact: His voyage linked Europe and the Indian Ocean by sailing around Africa.
Which Portuguese explorer is credited with reaching Brazil in 1500?
Answer: Pedro Álvares Cabral
Bonus fact: Cabral's fleet landed on the coast of what became Brazil while sailing toward India.
Which Dutch explorer became the first known European to reach New Zealand in 1642?
Answer: Abel Tasman
Bonus fact: Tasman was sailing for the Dutch East India Company.
Francis Chichester became famous for what?
Answer: Solo sailing around the world
Bonus fact: He completed a one-stop solo circumnavigation in 1967.
Much of "The Riddle of the Sands" takes place aboard what kind of vessel?
Answer: A small sailing yacht
Bonus fact: The protagonists explore the shallow waters and islands of the German North Sea coast.