Wow this Forum is amazing. I haven't found any other class forum with so many postings. Anybody would think there were some frustrated sailors out there to cold to sail?

Can't help but put in my two bobs worth though. Even though I will be sailing this weekend. Jealous?

Can't make it scientific though, I am a seat of the pants sailor.
In my opinion canted hulls are trying to achieve a vertical hull in the water whilst the platform heels. Benefit? Hull shape was designed to be vertical in water? Especialy if it was designed with a flat bottom to plane, Flyer?. Leeward side of hull has more resistance to drift sideways if vertical ie. Hobie 16 hulls.

Canted centre boards is a different issue, angling inwards allows the pressure on the leeward side to act upwards as well as the normal sideways, giving some lift. As Wouter says it is questionable if it could be enough to make a difference. Altered being a modified A has canted out hulls, so actualy gets less vertical lift from it's centreboards, when the platform is heeled than your conventional platforms which cant? the centreboards as soon as you heel.

As usual all this is not new, it has been noticed before in sailing. In 1982 racing open class sailboards we found by depressing the leeward rail (heeling the hull),it would initiate the centreboard pushing upwards and with practice balancing the forces it would help lift the sailboard onto the "plane" earlier than if they were kept flat. But you are working with centreboards that were much larger as a percentage to hull size and weight than we are on F16's. So the advantages would be much harder to gain on a F16 and the angles were much greater than a few degrees.

It must be remembered here we are not A classes our minimum weight is much higher. As I have found with my altered A, it no longer acts or feels like an A, in light winds the A's get up and going much earlier. F16's will not benifit from these innovations? as much if at all, as our weight makes these improvements? far less noticeable. Anyway time to go to bed so I can go sailing tomorrow.

Regards Gary.