Sprit, gaff, bermudan, lateen sail experiment.

Discussion in 'Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics' started by johnhazel, Apr 4, 2015.

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  2. tom28571
    Joined: Dec 2001
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    Location: Oriental, NC

    tom28571 Senior Member

    This is old and oft repeated news. Somehow, the proof of it never seems to show up on any race courses that I have been part of or seen in the last 50 years. Nature has evolved many different wing (sail) plans over the life of the planet. Some are split rigs like the dragonfly. Some have evolved small jib from the finger bone and some look like gunter rigs. When it comes to speed, all really fast ones use the uni rig of a catboat.

    Strangely enough, the fastest sailboats always use the cat rig also. The sloop is not the fastest upwind but it is the most versatile and takes advantage of of the different wind directions and conditions of a race course. Once boats get fast enough that the apparent wind is always well forward, the cat rig becomes the fastest in all directions. Witness the latest AC boat and ice boats for over a hundred years.
     
    tom28571, Apr 9, 2015
    #16
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