Does boat speed depend on the wind angle?

[Artrysa]

So, if I got the wind straight in my sail do I go faster than if it's at an angle? Or is it just a matter of wind or no wind? Because I can't tell the difference in speed while on the water.

[vinyblaster]

AFAIK there is technically a "perfect wind angle", but it's a negligible difference. As long as you have the white symbol for the wind you're good.

Note that the wind also has a speed property which will impact travel speed much more than the angle.

[Ensign Toby]

Viking shout out to FireSpark81 - Skål

1) Ultimate Guide To Ship Speed In Valheim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSR-dOsaCdw

2) Ship Speed And Lighting Follow-Up Valheim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgmkeBjeUl0

Or, the TL:DR version:
Even for an ocean crossing, the difference (within Valheim) is only a few seconds.

IRL, there is a big difference, but who the heck wants a RL simulator... Like that'd sell.

[ling.speed]

Originally posted by Artrysa:

So, if I got the wind straight in my sail do I go faster than if it's at an angle? Or is it just a matter of wind or no wind? Because I can't tell the difference in speed while on the water.

Vals sailing seem to be complex on the inside but simple on the outside , or "gamified".

The best speed in general are achieved around broad to beam reach - which is 45 to 90 degrees off the "directly into sails from the back" similar to real life square sails, but the differences are very small, and they don't change as much as they should as the wind strength drops.

Now looking at the sails configuration of boats we have in Valhaim i would NOT say "there is a big difference" as Toby mentions above... because the rigging is not typical of any common sailboat, modern or old. I havent seen polars of just 1 square sail and nothing else, but i'd expect it to be much more consistent with speed at different angles than our typical sailboat, kind of how we have it in Valheim, intentional design or not.