If You are on a sailboat....

and you have a gas leaf blower blowing against your sails in a reach mode, would you go forward?

anyone else bored?

no, you wouldn't move from sailpower. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The thrust provided by the blower will provide a little thrust but if it were pointed at the sails, the sails will return the favor in the opposite direction...although with some efficiency lost due to friction and the expanding deceleration of the air as it leaves the nozzle resulting in not all of the air thrust being captured by the sail.

So, no, you would move better if you just point the leaf blower out the back.

Are you coming up for Turkey Shoot this weekend?

Sully wants to race his Opti this weekend, and practiced Sunday with the Junior sailing Team, so looks like I will be playing sailing dad this weekend here in Columbia.

and yes, I do have excuses for everything!

Okay what about pointing the leaf blower at a DDW spin?

What about 10 leaf blowers?

Are you just looking for an excuse to "incapacitate the leaf blower" so you don't have to clean the yard?

What about a leaf blower mounted on the spin pole shooting back tward the mast??

The leaf blowers need to be attached to some fixed object, like a pier or post, so the 'equal and opposite force' tries to act on it instead. Kind of like those indoor sail boarding contests.

Maybe the better plan is to point the leaf blower at the sail of the boat behind you!

This is EXCATLY what's wrong with our society today (and our kids are doomed)...

Step away from the computer and TRY IT!!!!!

Mike

Then you're on a powerboat. Blech.

what if the boat stays still but we rotate the earth faster?

If the leaf blower is mounted near a shroud pointed across the boat so that the sail deflects the air from the leaf blower backwards, then a small net thrust would be generated. This would be less efficient than simply pointing the leaf blower towards the stern and omitting the sail.

Auh, and keep the added weight in mind..the generator !

And if a man talks on his boat and his wife isn't there to hear him , is he still wrong?

If you shoved a leaf blower up Jake's keister, would his head explode? If it did would his cape flutter?

If you use an electric blower there will be fewer emissions and you can save a little weight by using the extension cord as an anchor rode.

I feel another Test coming!

Kent

who needs a calandar? i can tell when it is fall... the threads on this site get wacky....

Hey I'm not a newbie anymore!

Now that was what I originally thought this thread was about.

Creationists ought to have a positive opinion about this thread. Pound the woodwork- they'll come crawling out....

well, considering ZPE=6.14x10 at 57power/k means that there is power where there is vacuum. Therefore, blowers are meaningless, the energy on the surface of the earth is like the pressure on the bottom of the sea,you can't feel the pressure(if you are a fish) but you can fell even a slight breeze(current) on your cheek. The whole theory is a bastard child of the problem of solving the sequnce of prime numbers. There may b a second number line, if you know what I mean......

That being said, perhaps a fan could provide enough lift to get you going but the weight of the apparatus might nullify the benefits.

My 2 cents

Eric

There is a boat building forum further down the page.
Ah-the joy of creation.....

Betcha leaf blowers aren't class legal!

Creation?
Leaf blowers?
I'm calling it intelligent design.

I don't think a design with a leaf blower would be all that intelligent.

You could build a hovercraft though

Heh? The blower is adding mechanical energy to accelerate the air - providing thrust.

Gas leaf blowers will work if you point them off the stern. In the late 80's there as a guy that used one on a SC 20. I am guessing it produced 3-4 kts under dead calm conditions.

Some of the newer leaf blowers produce a lot more thrust. I bought a big backpack mounted one to help with the Hurricane cleanup. Standing on a skateboard, it produces ~10 mph. I am guessing it produces about 25 lbs of thrust. If you buy 10 of them, you fly around and be on the news like that guy with the ballons and the lawnchair

or this guy.

I thought he had a chance because I expected the camera to be at the bottom of the stairs... not in the middle of his bumpy run to the water!!! That's gonna hurt tomorrow!

leaf blower powered skateboard:



leaf blower powered bicycle:

That is not thrust or lift, that is gravity and stupidity.

OMG, we are all doomed, and will talk absolute rubbish until Spring !
BTW, is it only me who cannot see the attached photos ?

We could redux the joke of the day thread. Mary isn't watching.

I was serious when I wrote this!

You can only see the pix if you are logged in

Good tune for slow day...

EDIT: If Clapton's guitar hooked up with two 10 HP leaf blowers would it blow out the amps?

NOW WE SEE THE REAL CAUSE OF GLABAL WARMING! lol


leaf blower powered bicycle:

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Leaf blower would work if aimed up at a sharp angle across front of sail. This would create the low pressure needed to suck forward but the reverse force of the blower itself would be diffused by the inability to push the boat down into the water. More resistance of water and the boat goes forward in path of least resistance.....no, I am not saying this is what i am doing this weekend. It is blowing like snot and I don't need one.