Jacquie,
When younger I did a reasonable amount of sailing on square riggers and traditional vessels, although I didn't practice that much navigation – it was rather more pulling on ropes, setting/furling sail, steering, etc. However I did learn a little, even though I have forgotten most of it! Btw, I think you'll find that speed equals distance divided by time. I think either of your scenarios would be possible, although I am more inclined towards B.
I believe eight leagues works out to approximately 27 nautical miles and dividing this by 7.5 hrs, as in scenario B, would give an average speed of 3.6 knots (A knot of measurement is equal to one nautical mile per hour). In scenario A the speed would work out at just over one knot which, although still feasible, would seem to be rather slow. As you imply too, other factors have to be taken into account, including the wind direction and strength (bearing in mind that at sea it is often not constant in either direction or force), tides and currents, the amount of sail set, the ship's course, etc.
I have not sailed in the Med. but it is subject to violent localised squalls. These partly derive from variously named winds which funnel southwards down the various river valley's of continental Europe, accelerating as they do so, and those blowing northwards from Africa. These then meet with the currents of the Mediterranean which, if opposed often create rough seas. One of these winds is known as the Mistral, which periodically blows down the French Rhone Valley, into the Bay of Lyons. No doubt you will recall, that it was such a wind that practically dismasted Nelson's Vanguard just before the Nile.
A map or chart of Sicily shows Messina to be almost due east from Palermo, at a distance of approximately 107 nautical miles. It might be thought that a ship would be able to just sail along the north coast to her destination at Messina, however this would probably not be possible due to another Mediterranean wind the Levanter, which blows in approximately the opposite direction! No sailing ship, of course, can sail directly into wind and a square rigged ship can probably approach no nearer to it's eye than 65-70°, and would normally have to resort to tacking. This procedure puts the wind first on one side of the vessel then the other, on estimated 'legs' to enable the ship to reach her windward destination.
The proximity of the Sicilian coast on the vessel's starboard side would very likely also prevent a ship from doing this, and I believe she would therefore have to initially head out to sea, roughly on a course for Naples on the Italian mainland. (The positions of Palermo, Naples and Messina conveniently form a rough triangle.) At some point, she would then alter course to make for Messina. Heading towards Italy would be actually an advantage, since initially the Levanter would be on the ship's starboard beam and, from a study of the Mediterranean winds, it would seem likely that further off the coast she would be able to pick up a wind from a more southerly direction. This would bring it over the vessel's quarter, a position more advantageous for a square rigged ship.
Peter Goodwin, in his book 'Nelson's Ships', gives the sailing abilities of all of Nelson's ships in the appendices, which are compiled from actual logs. Those for the Foudroyant, whilst not exceptional, imply that she had average sailing qualities.
As said, I am no navigator, but I hope this helps. In passing, may I also add belated congratulations for your Dispatch article, a subject I knew very little about. I believe I know rather more now! I will also look out for your article in the Trafalgar Chronicle – besides that from our 'eminent contributor'!
_________________ Kester.
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