Phil,

I'm guessing that you considered vertical movement only, and simplified by ignoring the small vertical movement of the compression strut under bow tow-in. Still, thanks for the calculations.

For comparison, it would be interesting to know of effective it would be to simply have a third bridle between the bow tips straight to the pole (not the tip).

More than 2 years ago, I asked Charlie O' how they liked the Eeeles snuffer (the one used in Athens). He seemed less than enthusiastic about it, but said it provided the best foretriangle stiffness, and they found that that was vital.
So, we know they are worried about foretriangle stiffness.

I was thinking that perhaps the black boat was simply a charter, because

• both of their boats were white 2 years ago, and their Nats boat 2 years ago used
• the Eelles snuffer,
• a different jib downhaul along the bridle to the hull
• a non-cascaded main sheet.

However, the connection to M&M design is strong, since they used custom centerboards at the Nationals 2 years ago designed by M&M and built exclusively for them by WaterRat, and Glaser's loft is near M&M in Long Beach. (Glaser is their coach.) So, they certainly may have painted their boat with the new slick black paint that Pete Melvin is using. It's interesting to see a Glaser jib on the boat, because Glaser is their coach, but Ogletree works for Ullman and I thought I saw all-Zucholli sails before. Maybe they are going all-out for weight savings, and water-shedding paint would certainly help there, assuming the paint itself didn't add weight (old paint was sanded off prior to painting).

--Glenn