Nav wrote:
Have you done any big boat sailing or been in a race in windy
conditions?

Why, of COURSE not, Navvie. Never!

But then you are a liar, so you think I must be one too...


.. Why not read the book whose URL I posted and then come back
on it.

So you're saying that you base your judgement solely on what you've read
in books?

... Better yet go back to the classic literature and look at the
tests of the Gimcrack. She was fastest at 30 degrees and was no faster
at 35 degrees. That's still a correct rule of thumb for most fast
cruiser racers today.

Not in my experience. Most boats like about 12 degrees of heel. The
Soling (a relatively narrow boat) sailors I know say their boats like
18. I would generalize to say that narrower & heavier boats like more
heel, but in cases where the keels and/or rigs get dramatically less
efficient with increased angle, it would be beneficial to take some
serious sailing tests to determine the desirable range of heel for most
conditions.

One big limiting factor is the helm. Increasing heel increases weather
helm. That has to be counteracted with the helm. A slight weather helm
is nice, a lot is bad. It's slow and it can make the boat hard to control.


Perhaps Donal would like to post the figs. for his boat -if he's got them?

Another slam dunk.

Maybe you should be less concerned with "slam dunks" and more concerned
with actual sailing? Just a suggestion.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King