Thanks, Colin and other posters for your great replies.

Someone wise once said: "As in many things in life, the questions remain the same, only the answers change"... just as another wise(alec)once said "If only it were that simple"...

What's interesting to me is that so often, there is a "theory" behind introducting a new technology (ie, in the case of canted hulls the hydrodynamics should become more efficient when heeled) but in practice this might not play out for many reasons (ie, the effect of canting on performance might be influenced by so many other factors including different hull shapes, the point of sail, different wind, wave, and speed conditions, the presence of gusts/lulls making optimum heeling angle impossible to maintain, or need to sail with both hulls in the water due to insufficient wind negating the benefits on average).

So it's interesting to consider many of these issues (and more) from the "theory says" perspective, but also step back and ask those who've tried to actually compare whether in fact there are real gains made on average. I'd also be interested in knowing if these changes in hull geometry only impact performance or if they also introduce unintended side effects on boat handling (ie, helm, difficulty tacking, etc).

Also, I didn't see anyone respond to the question of what you do with the rudders when you cant the hulls? Do you cant them also? If you do, don't they act inefficiently non-heeled? If you don't cant them, don't they act ineffiently when heeled? And of course, when you don't cant the hulls at all, does this also mean that the (uncanted) rudders have some inefficiency when heeled?

If you CANT stand all these questions, you CANT possibly be interested in learning to sail better or intelligently pick your next boat...

Jerry