to give the illusion of creating energy out of nothing.

Simplest examples are how things like wedges and levers trade distance for force.

No, you can't just put up a sail and travel straight downwind faster than the wind. But you can harness the wind, send it through a multiplier where you gain distance but lose force, and turn wheels faster than the wind is blowing. You would probably be able to stop the car with your bare hands as it would have almost no "torque" (to use an automotive term), but it would have a lot of velocity.

I've no idea what that would look like, but it's at least theoretically possible.