OzOne wrote in message ...
On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 04:29:49 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:


OzOne wrote in message
. ..
On Sun, 13 Nov 2005 22:29:49 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:


"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
Keeping a boat on it's feet vs. excessive heeling... that's what
you're
saying right? Because zero heel may indicate pinching too much.

No. There is no such thing as zero heel--a boat will always heel when
beating to windward unless it's a small dinghy with a 300lb. skipper and
similarly-sized crew. But limiting the heel to a practical minimum will
generally allow better helm control and less leeway slippage. It also
keeps
the sailplan presented to the wind more optimally.

Rubbish!

"Rubbish" hardly makes a valid statement. If you disagree, fine--but make
your argument. Otherwise you're wasting our time and bandwidth.


Max


Boats, even large yachts are often stacked to windward in light
conditions, particularly now that the plastic sails no longer need
heel to induce some sort of shape.
It produces better gust response, and helmmovement in the gust among
other things

You seem to have read my post selectively. I commented that a heavy crew
can rail ballast a boat to zero heel. But under normal, non-drifter
conditions, when hard on the wind with a normal crew complement, a boat will
heel past the vertical to leeward. These days dinghies are also heeled to
windward for the same reason you cite. Some believe that with a low boom,
such as on a Finn, a high pressure zone builds between the boat and the foot
of the sail when stacked to windward, augmenting the Bernoulli effect and
thus the power generated by the sail. It hasn't been proven, but Finn
sailors must believe it because you see them do it when racing in very light
conditions. And they have been for decades.

Max