Hi Wouter,

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Why would you want to maximize hull length in light breezes ?

Waterline length is only important for the top speed of a sail craft (F16's : 12-20 knots range), something you will not encounter in a light breeze anyway.

In light winds you actually want to decrease wetted surface area and one way of doing that is by shortening the waterline ! Many monohull yachts have specially curved sterns to do exactly that : Shorten waterline length when the craft heels over less (= sailing in light winds)


Don't want to enter again a wave drag discussion here. But I can tell you that keeping the bow down helps in light winds on my Javelin 16 and on my Dart 18. Thats not only based on my feeling but also on GPS read outs.

Cheers,

Klaus