You say the "drop off" is less for a soft sail, but does that not also imply that max Cl is also lower overall?
It is more like that the soft sail cLmax varies between 1.3 and 1.4, while a wing varies between 0.7 and 1.8.
Another question: is this Reynolds related lift-boost something one could experience on an old cat like my Nacra 5.2? It would account for some experiences I have had when reaching where the boat picks up a gust and after accellerating all of a sudden the boat starts to pitch-up (where it had been rapidly going bow-down) and takes a sprint with apparently less drag and heeling moment. feels like planing in a skiff or dinghy) but I'm sure that is not it.
As said above the Reynolds effect of a soft sail isn't that strong. Sounds more like a "shifting gear" effect.
Or watch the fore-aft trim of your boat, if the bows go down and the boat accelerate, you was maybe in a stern-dragging trim before?
Cheers,
Klaus
