I found that to be true of the C&C 27 I sailed with up north. It was odd at
the time since all the fin keelers were favouring to keep up speed by gybing
downwind yet Bill kept his C&C27 wing on wing alongside my Nordica 30. I
attributed it to his skills as a sailor. He could surf above his hull speed
while I did hull speed in moderate winds. A note of consideration is that if
both of us were flying our chutes in light air... I would walk away from
the C&C27 .... probably due to my longer waterline. Also.... I recall the
C&C27 to have a lower PHRF than my Nordica 30... mine was 180.

I would still elect to gybe downwind in light air and/or high wave
heights/confused seas if I was in a rush.... which I usually am not.
Nonetheless... I would say I elect to wing on wing DDW about 90% of the
time.

CM


wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 18:46:06 -0400, "Simple Simon"
wrote:
|
| That is incorrect information for any displacement monohull where
| it is always faster to run straight downwind.
|
| Baloney! An under canvassed tank like yours or Bobadil's might benefit
quite a
| bit from gibeing back and forth rather than going directly downwind. I do
better
| going strait downwind, because I can put up the mylar main and 170 genoa,
or a
| spinnaker and take advantage.
|
| BB