I dont know what it is worth on the F16, but in the T we always eased the traveller about 10-15 cm before trimming the main. Then, if you were daring with the alu mast, you trimmed the mainsheet in gusts/lulls. Playing the traveller was the safe method if you could not afford a new mast.
Digression: When the carbon masts was put on the T, the traveller was eased less but the mainsheet could safely be eased more than with the alu stick.
On all other courses, cL is relevant and you can forget about L/D.
Not quite I believe
Drag is still relevant in my experience, which is purely practical and founded on just my own meager experience. The classic example was back in 2002 when the Gran Segel spis from Sweden made their debut at the worlds in Marthas vineyard. These sails had less draft than the current best spis from other sailmakers (but were also made with more panels=more stable design). The boats with the spis from Sweden were much faster than the others. I think this was becouse of less drag (and the ability to build more virtual wind). Together with Marcus we did a Tornado spi with more draft back in 2006 (right Marcus?). The spi had loads of power, but it was very slow. Drag was too high I think as it did not accelerate much in gusts (but was outright scary to sail with).
I also read about the L/D dont matter theory in one of Marchajs books, and now you say the same. Klaus, could you explain just why this is for us simpletons?
