Sailing

...is called close-hauled.

After initial outlay cost it is cheap to sail. No additional fuel costs except for manoeuvring fuel. Excitement and freedom. The rules and regulations are comparatively easy to learn and based on common sense. Can be done alone or with a crew. Great for character improvement.

east north east

By no means all are. Some are spherical, some are hemispherical, and some shaped like an inverted teardrop.

The Cup itself is an ornate silver-plated Britannia metal bottomless ewer, crafted in 1848 by Garrard & Co. The regatta's origins date back to August 22, 1851 when the 30.86 m schooner-yacht America, owned by a syndicate that represented the New York Yacht Club, raced 15 yachts representing the Royal Yacht Squadron around the Isle of Wight. America won by 20 minutes. Apocryphally, Queen Victoria asked who was second; the answer famously was: "There is no second, your Majesty."

A side-light, or side-scuttle

In reduced visibility, it means the presence of another watercraft.

Yes

They were referred to as "four-cornered" sails.

A yawl (or yaul) is a 2 masted sailing boat with the smaller (mizzen) mast placed well back.

dicl

No, as winds can be turbulent. Should the balloon lose altitude, it would probably not float for very long.

Nowadays mainly for pleasure

actually alot. more and more people switch to sailing from power boating because of gas prices. when i go through the marina , each week there are more and more sail boats!

It depends how it is rigged. Modern ones can be singlehanded

Without a keel, it would impossible to go any direction except downwind. The boat would act like a car on extremely slick icy road. You must have some resistance (friction) to change direction from downwind. So without the keel, the boat could only travel downwind. Is the wind always blowing in exactly the correct direction you want to go?

7th century BC

There are many variants: Some single-hulled sailboats have V-hulls, while others are flat-bottomed. Others are twin-hulled and these are called catamarans. Yet others are called trimarans because they have THREE hulls.

Lack of information and a deep-seated fear of the unknown led to reports of 'the Kraaken', for instance -later believed to simply be... the Giant Squid.

Four times the speed of the wind is the fastest so far.

It was originally meant to have a crew of 40, but due to money constraints, and space, this was reduced to 30, and then further reduced to 25.

You are describing a hydrofoil.