Ray Kuntz wrote:
Andy,
Just curious, what experience do you base your statement "sailboards
can't keep up on a proper course, they are damn fast on a reach and not
in any other direction". The consensus in windsurfing seems to be that
only Americas Cup boats are competitive with modern Windsurfer "Formula"
class hulls on upwind/downwind downwind courses and then primarily on
the upwind legs.
Ray


Hmmm I seem to have stirred this one up. Apart from "popular opinion"
and the fact that all the ones I've raced against don't seem any quicker
around the course than my Solo (UK PY=1155, a tad slower than a Laser)
there's the US Sailing PY tables:


WINDSURFER CLASSES CLASS D-PN WIND HC FOR BEAUFORT RANGE
CODE 0-1 2-3 4 5-9

Div II (SA = 6m2) SB-2 92.6 98.4 94.6 88.4 (85.1)
Div IIB (SA = 6-7m2) SB-2B 89.7 96.3 92.6 83.8 (82.0)
Div IIC (SA = 7m2) SB-2C 86.7 84.4 87.3

That puts the fastest boards about the same as a 470. faster than I
thought, but still not exactly world shattering.

That race in San Francisco? Well, it's downwind.....

Andy