Physics Of Sailing For those of you who have yet to venture sailing offshore with me, you may wonder what is my “thing” about lighthouses and sailboats? I grew up sailing in small boats on the Connecticut River and ventured forth on memorable family vacations aboard our Tartan 30 sloop. As a “recovering engineer,” I remain fascinated by the sea and still learn from my sailing adventures. The first thing I share with my novice crew is the way the sails try to tip (heel) the boat over and the keel tries to keep the vessel upright. As the breeze increases, the tipping results in wind spilling out of the sails. The further the boat tips, the more “righting moment” is applied by the keel. This righting diagram shows a sailboat viewed from behind. Parallels To Investing Here is where things get interesting. The sails are similar to the stocks that drive our portfolios over the long term; while the keel is akin to bonds that provide the stability for a smoother ride. They tend to counterbalan