Phant...wrote:
Gotcha. Most boats sail a little differently on one tack than the
other. Not usually *that* differently though without extenuating
circumstances.

Yeah, like a badly misadjusted rig or a keel that's been bolted on
slightly sideways.


Seawards are nice looking boats. I've never sailed one though.
Maybe I'm wrong but I think there are GPS's on the market that will do
what you'd like to do in real time. IOW, plug in your windward mark as
a way point and the GPS will take speed and heading into account to
figure out velocity made good towards the mark.

Yep, pretty much any GPS should be able to do this. Might have to do
some hunting thru the menus.

I don't know if you
can find one that'll take wind direction into account though so you
may need a steady wind direction, depending on what exactly you're
trying to analyze.

Just about any instrument package can spit outthat data too. You just
need a a wind speed & angle input.

Joe's right though about just getting more time under sail. There's no
substitute for that. A little high tech help here and there can't hurt
though.


The best way is to sail with a good racing skipper... or sail
alongside one in the same class of boat....

IMHO until you've learned to sail the boat well, technology is only a
distraction. Speed is not a number, just like the angle of the boat's
course to the wind is useless info without further info on the boat
speed & the conditions (for example, a pointing angle that is really
good in light air and/or chop is a very poor pointing angle in flat
water & good steady wind).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King