OK then in our low speed setups it would seem the soft sail maybe a winner due to simplicity and weight over aerodynamics. But what about a hybrid mast section of a D shape with two sail baulk rope guides and a twin section of soft sail leading to a single rear section from say half way back in depth. Over rotate the mast ever so slightly and the inner panel length is shortened allowing the inner panel to cdeepen slightly giving an assymetric shape. Has it been tried and are there any merits in the idea.
There are some data about such a configuration in Marchajs book about sail performance if I remember right.
It should have slightly less drag as you assume, however with risk of the Reynoldseffect. It is actually the turbulence of the mast which off sets the Reynoldseffect on a soft sail.
Cheers,
Klaus
