Mondo Knows Facts

Sailing distances are measured in nautical miles

One nautical mile is 1,852 metres, or one minute of latitude The unit is tied to the geometry of the Earth rather than to land measurement, which is why charts and marine speeds use it. A knot is one nautical mile per hour. Ocean races quote distances in nautical miles, so a 600-mile leg is about 1,111 kilometres. It sits in Mondo's sports collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

World Sailing

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: sailing, measurement, navigation

Sailing distances are measured in nautical miles: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
One nautical mile is 1,852 metres, or one minute of latitude. The figure is taken from World Sailing, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a sports fact?
Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.