Ok, maybe make them 755mm (OK I'm splitting hairs now) to account for the fact the mast is now 300mm more to leaward so you also loose a bit there and you now have the same righting moment as a 10 foot (3.1m) wide boat. BUT there is still the assumption that you can build the swing up wings for the same weight as 600mm from the front beam and 600mm back beam which I think you will be pushing very hard to do.

I looked at this a while back (when Carbon was V expensive) and decided it could not be justified. But now with the reduced cost, it might be worth it. (but then why not just go for Carbon beams!)

Making the wings swing has to happen; however as soon as you do this you then need to make sure that when they are down they stay down and locked fore/aft. Now this can be done, but adds some weight and/or string.

One very positive side in IMO is that you whould be able to design the wings in such a way as to be able to get the weight a little further back.


I still think there is a fair way to go yet with wing systems before we get any real gains.

Windage will always be a problem - more so than the front beam? - I'm not qualified to say. But the spray catching is a real problem even when the wings are in the up position - consider those times when you've had the bows under, the front beam under and some of the mainsail talking to the fishes too, would you really want some wing in there too (The wing MUST be attached / form part of the front beam as you'll want to get the weight forward too)