I suppose most have seen the A-cat wing buildt by Ben Hall after input from the Cogito team. There is a thread on it in the open forum, but it seems like there have been a bit too much F-16 talk and F-16 members being too vocal "out there" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> so I'll ask my questions here instead.

I wonder what the lift to drag ratio for a wing is compared to a wingmast with soft sail. I know the theorethical gains are on an order of 2-3, but I dont know about practical use.
In real world, how much faster would a wing make an F-16 upwind?


Since the wing dont have a mainsheet, just an AoA adjustment, would it be a challenge to reinforce the wing for spinnaker use? All forces would have to go down the stays, but since the wing have a larger crossection than a mast.. Wouter?

The F-16 rules specify a soft sail. But if the A-cat wing testing proves the wing to be both practical and robust. How about it? What are people thinking when they see this? I know Timbo is a supporter of wings <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


I think Ben Halls wing project is really cool. If it proves both fast and robust, I would be interested in playing with wings (might even have some fun with wings anyway, just for fun, when other projects are finished).