Apparent wind that measures wind speed in knots and wind direction in degrees relative to the heading of the boat. Modern instrumentation can calculate the true wind velocity when the apparent wind and boat speed and direction are input. In sailboat racing, and especially in speed sailing, apparent wind is a vital factor, when determining the points of sail a sailboat can effectively travel in. A vessel traveling at increasing speed relative to the "prevailing wind" will encounter the wind driving the sail at a decreasing angle and increasing velocity. Eventually, the increased drag and diminished degree of efficiency of a sail
Wind prevailing winds range in speed from along the equator to at the poles. At 70° S latitude on Neptune, a high-speed jet stream travels at a speed of . The fastest wind on any known planet is on HD 80606 b located 190 light years away, where it blows at more than 11,000 mph or 5 km/s. Wind Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the Sun through space,