>>Wouter...the boat was 20'wide X 20' long...what in the world do you need to trap on a reach for? You already have plenty of righting moment...


So you are actually saying here that a narrow craft with trapezes could be just as fast on this course as their is more righting force available than is needed ? Doesn't this in a way underline the notion that going wider beyond a certain width is useless ?

Now answer the following question ; what will happen if you did trapeze off that 20 ft wide beam in 20 knots of wind and a sailarea to match your width ?

Wouter


(I see only two possible outcomes ; you dive - pitchpole and get beaten by a Hobie 14 as no sailboats sails as slow as an upside down sail boat. OR you let out your traveller and mainsheet to depower you rig which means that you do not make full used of both the available sailarea and width. At 8 knots of wind the extra width is useless as every design is stabil enough.)

Think about it.

I think I have found a better analogy :

Picture two guys facing eachother pulling on a long piece of line. Put a load on the middle of the line pulling down. If the load is small enough than the two guys are both strong enough to lift the load by pulling on the line. Than there is a load where both guys can just pull hard enough to lift it. Lets now put an even heavier load on the line. Both can not pull hard enough. Can we lift the heavier load by replacing just one of the guys by a much stronger one ?

No substitude one guy for "maximum sailforce at which the boat capsizes" ; the other for "Maximum sailforce at which the boat dives" and the load for sailarea. See the system ?

Or here another one ; some people think you can drive harder through a bend when you increase the friction tires have an the road. Others know that at some point you will just flip the car or hit the ground with you foot rest. Either way your not making the bend anymore.


Wouter