That is incorrect information for any displacement monohull where
it is always faster to run straight downwind. It only applies to
multi-hulls and planning hulls that can, using a strong wind, move
faster than their theoretical hull speed.


"Gerard Weatherby" wrote in message ...
There's an article on sailnet (
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/a...2%20%20&tfr=fp
or http://tinyurl.com/h9z6 ) which claims it's faster to tack downwind on broad
reaches instead of running straight downwind. (Assuming you want to get dead
downwind.) Have those of you who sail found this to be true? Let's assume
there's no spinnaker since I don't have one.

S/V Cat's Meow
http://www.catsmeow.org