After rafting and pirogue, sailing is the oldest mode of transport. The first sails designed (small, made of animal skin) were coupled with the use of oars to steer because sailors only knew how to use the tailwind.

The Egyptians and ancient Greeks were the first to set out to discover the world or to board, and this is how they progressed in the use of sewn sails (assembly of canvases first in hemp, then in linen and finally in cotton).

However, while ships in their construction technique or shape diversify (more or less high ledges, more or less flat bottom to carry more goods, equipment or even to approach more enemies), the sail, which is mainly rectangular in shape, evolves little.

The Middle Ages will also bring some evolutions in the construction of the hulls which remain applied to this day. This does not prevent a highly developed mastery of navigation by the many civilizations that criss-crossed the world at that time, as evidenced by the many sea routes, the discoveries of continents...

Then the decisive inventions focused on instrumentation: compass, compass, sextant... leaning against a reading of the sky. With the dawn of the Renaissance, the arrival of the rudder appeared.

It was with the 16th century navy that naval architects of the time added multiple bridges to increase the firepower of ships (multiplication of guns and angles of fire); this resulted in a first differentiation between commercial (large ships) and fishing (small boats) navies. This trend is observed in all the world's seas: Oceania, China, Japan, Europe...

The Industrial Revolution triggered an explosion of this differentiation of navies, particularly in the field of rescue and cruises (cruise ships and pleasure craft) or in scientific research.

Like any other means of transport, navigation has always sought to improve, it has adapted to the challenges of its time, but in recent decades and today more than ever before, we have witnessed a real revolution that is a source of new sailing performance.

Indeed, the cross-fertilization of acquired knowledge, research in the infinitely small with the discovery of molecular structures, has made it possible to understand and duplicate nanoparticles; moreover, the cross-fertilization of physics and chemistry has made it possible to bring out polymers: they allow new weavings with new materials that are lighter and more resistant, flexible or rigid depending on needs.

Not to mention the development of professional sailing: a real craft laboratory from which some applications stem in yachting.

There have been far more technological developments and revolution in sailing in the last fifty years than in the previous millennia. A revolution that is still in progress and far from complete.

Thus we can ask ourselves how, even today, we can optimize the performance of a sail in the nautical field.

To answer this question, we will look in particular at how the issues of material, shape and weaving can really be a source of performance.