Capt. NealŪ wrote in message
...
A jet fighter uses massive horsepower to stay in the air. It only needs
short, stubby wings
because it operates at very high speeds.
A sailboat operates at far lower speeds and so does the glider. The
question you
asked merely confirms the fact that the catamaran should have sails shaped
more
like those of a glider than those of a jet fighter.
CN
"Edgar" wrote in message
...
How do you explain why a glider (no engine, slow speed)
has wings with much higher aspect ratio than a jet fighter...?
This is where you are wrong. The contraption we are talking about is not a
catamaran but a hydrofoil. The only thing it is any good for is a blast
along a broad reach foilborne. If you tried to sail the thing close to the
wind it would lose so much speed it would drop off its foils and just wallow
about waiting for the helmsman to bear away and get up some speed again.
Hence it is pointless to give it high aspect sails which would increase
efficiency to windward in a normal catamaran.
All it requires is brute force from the sails on a broad reach and minimum
heeling moment. Hence they went for a lot of sail on a low aspect ratio
rig.
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