Well, yes, since so much was destined for the south anyway and comparatively little was destined for the North. Or so the sothron economic giants like GOPConservative assure us. And one possible reason why the Yankees won the war was that they were familiar with the prevailing wind patterns of the Atlantic. Prevailing winds run clockwise around the North Atlantic so that the prevailing westerly winds are in the south and the prevailing easterly winds are in the north. So ships bound for the United States would tend to swing a bit south anyway rather than go on a direct line from England to New York. I guess that's why the southern planters stayed away from the shipping business, the fools would be trying to go west in the teeth of the eastern prevailing winds. Not very successful.
ROTFL. The Spanish first observed the Gulf Stream, and its effect on sea traffic and that of the accompanying winds were known among mariners before it was made public knowledge by Benjamin Franklin.
Since the Yankees killed their sea trade with the Morrill tariff, what difference did knowledge of the effect of currents and winds on trans-Atlantic transit times make?
It looks like your understanding of maritime currents is about as sound as your understanding of economics...that is to say, both are severely lacking.
The fastest transatlantic crossing achieved at the time was about 12 days from Britain to New York. They achieved it in the 1840's. The achieved it by steam and sail together. By 1860, steam was a norm in maritime vessles. Ships tended to have screws by then or, if not that, were at least side wheelers.