Modern sailing yachts can make way upwind, but old square-rigged vessels could only sail in the general direction the wind was blowing. When Duke William of Normandy assembled his invasion fleet in 1066, he prayed for a favourable breeze.
William’s force had been gathered at Dives in northern France since July. By early September the winds were still not ideal, but the invasion could not wait and William launched his fleet. The result was nearly a disaster. The wind veered to the west, forcing the ships back on to the French coast and wrecking several.
