"Scotty" wrote:
Isn't W-W the slowest sail set one can make?


Depends on the boat, depends in the conditions.

Generally, high-powered boats will benefit from using the sails as
foils.... reaching back & forth to get downwind... for example,
catamarans get downwind fastest by starting from nearly a beam reach,
pulling in the sails enough to fly a hull, then as they accelerate and
the wind shift ahead, they bear away gradually until the windward hull
is "almost" dropping back in. Iceboats are an even more extreme
example.

The opposite of a catamaran, say Columbus' Santa Maria, will benefit
from spreading out as much square footage of sail as she can and
heading straight downwind.

A corollary is that the harder the wind blows, the less need there is
to reach for power. In 30 knot winds, even the America's Cup guys are
happy to just aim the boat straight downwind.... never seen one go
wing-and-wing but they probably would

DSK