# Windmill w/No Sails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119 "2010-01-23T15:27:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/1 "2010-01-23T15:27:59Z")
We were watching “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with my daughter (her first!) when I realized the windmill in which they lived turned at a good pace with no sails in the windmill blades. Is this possible, or a Hollywood oversight? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/2 "2010-01-23T15:34:28Z")
For those unfamilar to what I refer, I should add my question concerns the old-fashioned windmills, and not the more modern style windmills of today. Or, maybe they’re just windmills of my mind! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/3 "2010-01-23T16:21:32Z")
You mean like [this](http://z.about.com/d/goamsterdam/1/0/X/0/-/-/Amstel_windmill.JPG)? I’ve never seen one of those _with_ sails. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/4 "2010-01-23T20:22:31Z")
Not sure what you’re getting at. Those are the sails. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/5 "2010-01-23T20:33:56Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Those are the sails. Er, sails in this case are things made of substantial cloth that are mounted on the arms shown in the picture. A windmill without sails spread could certainly turn - albeit not particularly fast - in a substantial wind. In an analogous way, a sailing ship can move under “bare poles” in a decent wind. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/6 "2010-01-24T05:13:00Z")
Found [this photo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cassel_Nord_%28moulin%29.jpg) of a traditional-style windmill with some jaunty red sails spread. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/7 "2010-01-24T12:40:45Z")
The windmills common in the UK used wooden sails, not cloth. The last working windmill I saw, in Suffolk, had slats on the sails a bit like a venetian blind, so the sail could be adjusted. Edited to add link to photo: [Windmill in Woodbridge, Suffolk](http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/23385/wm/pd1941716.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windmill-w-no-sails/526119/8 "2010-01-24T14:34:31Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > … slats on the sails a bit like a venetian blind, so the sail could be adjusted. Looks to be a lot less work than cloth sails, at the cost of somewhat lower efficiency (due to more air leaking through).