this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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I am a complete idiot and I would also like to know.
Funny thing is that this isn’t technically true. If the fan is strong enough, the current will hit the sail and reflect backward and to the side, creating some very inefficient thrust. Any fan strong enough to achieve this would do better to remove the sail entirely and just point the fan backwards, but it would technically work.
And by the same principle, you could shine a powerful laser towards a very reflective sail and actually move, with the laser as a part of the boat.
I too always found this very funny. Confuses the hell out of people who just understood why the OP would not work.