Capt. Rob wrote:
There's more to racing than going upwind, and more to even that than
simply
pointing the highest. If you think otherwise, then you have no clue
about
racing.


Hmmmm....seems few others agree with this. Even Loco and Steve have
said the higher pointing boat has the advantage. VMG across the widest
possible range is what determines perfomance. This is the essense of
sailing performance in fact. Wish I'd written that! For a boat to be
considered high performance it must have excellent windward ability, be
fast off the wind and be stable downwind. A PDQ 36 is only fast off the
wind and not in light air. It MIGHT win a race...so long as the
conditions were pretty specific to it's advantages. My C&C 32 clobbered
a well sailed Gemini even though it was faster downwind. Upwind it was
a dead duck, just like Jeff's boat would be. He already wrote that
tacking is tedious!
Get a clue...even a PDQ owner says you're wrong. The PDQ and other cats
like her are fantastic cruising boats for some folks, but sailing
enthusiasts still prefer First series boats, J-Boats, Swans, Swedens
and the rest who comprise the cruiser/racer-racer/cruiser section of
the market. They're just more fun to sail, tack fast and can go upwind.

RB
35s5
NY

You are comparing apples and oranges. Try the same comparison using
your 35s5 and a Ferrier (any size). The PDQ is in a different league.
Compare it with the Nordica.

Gaz