It occurs to me that too many here don't have easily driven
boats and consequently don't know the consequences.

I suppose when one has a heavy, full-keeled boat like
a Nordica 30 or even a fin-keeler dragging a big, fixed
prop in an aperture the drag factor is so great in marginal
air that the boat just goes very slowly.

On the other hand if these people ever chose an easily
driven boat that has nothing in the water to hold it back
in the way of excess wetted surface or drag-inducing
drive train they would know that it takes very little air
to move uch a vessel along at a smart pace.

I stated the truth that it only takes 10 to 12 knots of wind
to move my Coronado 27 downwind at hull speed yet one
particular naysayer who sometimes motors a slug of a
cruising catamaran up and down the length of the Intra-
coastal Waterway feels this is a lie. It would certainly be
a lie for his boat which drags two props and the weight
of two motors through the water - not to mention the
weight of a stomach the size of two normal ones.

Back to my Coronado 27. Theoretical hull speed is about
6.25 knots. Running downwind in a ten knot winds would
result in 3.5 knots of apparent wind left over at hull speed.
Running in 12 knots would result in 5.5 knots of apparent wind.

While a pig of a boat with lots of drag may not reach hull
speed under these conditions, the force needed from the wind
to drive my easily driven vessel to hull speed is adequate in
both cases. This is running wing and wing with main and
poled-out cruising chute on either side both catching wind
Sail area/Disp ratio in this case is around 33 as stated on
my website. With a sail area /Disp ratio this high is it any
wonder my easily driven boat can attain hull speed in winds
slightly less than twice the hull speed?

Any naysayers need to get their heads out of their asses
and sail a real boat that has no drag from full keels,
tremendous wetted surface, two pig hulls or drag inducing
machinery above and below the water.

I hope this helps.

fin-keeler dragging a big, fixed
prop in an aperture

Never seen a boat with that configuration.


S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport