their large area of land
They had smaller boats and were eaiser to control.
First of all the Athenians did not win the battle of salamis, the Greeks did and they won because they had smaller and faster Greek ships
Because Salamis was a sea battle, and the Greek side woulld be at a bit of a disadvantage without ships.
Superior strategy they split the Persian fleet so that a third of it was not present at the battle, so evening up the numbers of ships on either side. Superior tactics - they engaged the Persian fleet when it was strung out coming around an island in the middle of the strait st Salamis.
stagey*
By duping the Persians into splitting their forces so that a third of their navy was not present, and catching them badly dispersed in two narrow straits and engaging and overcoming them piecemeal.
It didn't with the first encounter in the naval battle they knew they had to win at Artemesium resulted in their defeat. They tried again at Salamis in a better area which split the Persian fleet and won.
At the Battle of Salamis, the Greek ships were built specifically for fighting at sea, whereas the Persian ships were not, and also the Greeks were much better sailors. The mast and sails were taken down and stowed for fighting, and the ships were maneuvered entirely by the oarsmen. The Persian ships were sunk by ramming them.
They used clever strategy and tactics. The Greeks gave out the idea that they were going to flee from Salamis, and so the Persians sent a third of their fleet around to cover the rear channel. This evened up the two adversaries actually present at the battle. The Greeks also stayed in the strait at Salamis. The Persians, thinking the Greeks would try to escape in either direction, sat all night at their oars in a heavy sea swell to block any exit, and so were exhausted by the morning of the battle. They then had to enter the bay by splitting their fleet into two to go around each side of the island of Psyttaleia and so were on these two narrow fronts rather than is proper battle formation. This allowed the Greeks to strike them from the flanks before they could reform. And this was particularly decisive as the lighter Greek ships relied on ramming the sides of the Persian ships which preferred to close with an enemy ship and fight it side on. They were able to drive into the sides of the extended lines of Persian ships.
They were part of an alliance of 20 city-states led by Sparta which induced the Persian fleet to split up and enter a narrow strait in line-ahead, where the Greeks pounced on them from the flanks and destroyed them.
They did not, the Persians won; the Greeks were WAAY outnumbered.