On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 02:39:49 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I would have an inflatable myself if there wasn't a way to carry it on
deck for times like that or when the psychological effect of 1/8 knot
on a long beat feels burdensome out of proportion to the actual time
lost.

When racing a sailboat, 1/8th of a knot feels like a 100 mph speed
difference. We used to participate in a lot of race/cruise events
where we needed the dinghy at night. If we couldn't get someone not
racing to tow it for us, we would deflate it and roll it up every
morning. That's a major pain of course but there was no way to race
competetively while towing.

In order to get the boat to a competetive level in the first place, we
went to fanatical lengths to reduce drag. The bottom paint was wet
sanded with 220 and 400 grit paper to a mirror finish, through hull
discharge fittings were faired smooth to the hull and covered with
mylar flaps, etc. It may sound extreme but it really makes a
difference in light air. 1/10th of a knot in boat speed equates to
about 12 seconds per mile and most serious racers would kill for a 3
seconds per mile advantage,