Yes the windsurfers have gone away from big heads on there sails but they also have the advantage of having a number of sail sizes to pick from, rather than have a great big draggy head on the sail, it far easier to fit a smaller more efficient sail.
We then are at a disadvantage as we generally only have one sail to pick from, in my view a slightly too big a sail for the solo sailors and about right for the two handers.
Now speaking as a single hander it would be great to have some sort of automatic feathering in the top of the sail to compensate the gusts, has it been sucessfully done, I'm not sure yet but it would be nice to think that it could be done as it would certainly make things easier.
Tapered and / or carefully constructed masts can do this.
Problem is that you then have a mast tuned to your crew weight as if it has the right flex for a 10 stone bloke, it will not have enough power for a 15 stone bloke.
Fathead sails can also have a measure of gust response depending on how stiff the battens are.
