blades on Hugo Boss race boat

[ndjose]

Hello everyone,

What are the vertical blades/wings that are close to the mast on the hugo boss and other ocean race boats?

[tspeer]

Daggerboards. The canting keels have very little depth when canted, making them inefficient at providing side force. So the lateral resistance is provided by the daggerboards.

[Landlubber]

ndjose,
Unfortunately the modern boat is trying to do something we all know can't be done, there is no such thing as the perfect boat. It is horses for courses, and though many ideas are very good, many are also quite inefficient in making the boat flatter to sail or provide the required side resistance.

In the canting keels for instance, the keel cants to the windward side, which of course means that the keel foil them does not stop the sideways resistance of the boat, extra dagger boards or canards are required to assist this function.

Dagger boards come in pairs and are usually fitted either side of the centreline, in the vicinity of the mast and where only the leeward foil is used at any given time, as in the Volvo series of ocean racing boats use.
A canard is a single foil shaped board that is on the centreline of the boat normally in front of the mast.