What I am wondering is whether, within a particular class of boats, a good sailor actually has tried going straight downwind in a race just to see what the difference is.
Well, the "good sailor" part is always debatable, but I did try going dead downwind (wing-on-wing) once while racing an Isotope. Let's just say it didn't pay off.
On a Tanzer 16, however, straight down the rhumbline is the way to go.
Regards,
Eric
