"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:29:28 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:

Travleing at 6MPH and trying to call it racing is far too much of a
stretch
for me.

I understand. Racers love to talk about *fast* boats versus slow
ones. That usually means a boat that goes 7 kts vs 6.5 :-)

You can learn a lot about sail shape, sail trim, boat prep, mast
tuning and weather forecasting from racing however. Almost every
cruising boat I've ever seen could be made at least a knot faster with
a little work.



Funny you should mention that. When I'm out on the bay for a daysail, sail
shape makes little difference to me. I'm on the water, the boat's moving,
that's all I care about. Until another boat becomes a threat. Suddenly I
care about sail draft, lead position, halyard tension, traveler position...
It's not at all uncommon for Essie to go from 4 knots to 6 just because I'm
suddenly "racing." lol