Hi,
I have a Wave in Good Harbor Bay, Lake Michigan and absolutely love it. This is my second year with the boat. I have sailed various small boats in the years before owning the Wave, but certainly still have much to learn about sailing and handling the Wave. The boat is so much fun and quite stable in the (often) high wind/wave conditions here. Anyway, enough promoting....

My neighbor also has a Wave identically rigged as mine. We sometimes sail together. His boat seems to be faster then mine, or his technique is just better, I am not sure which. We haven't tried to switch boats yet to see if it is the boat or the captain but will do that one of these days. He is a much more experienced sailor having spent his childhood on racing yachts. But I have spent quite a bit of time following him and essentially mimicing his sail position, position on the boat, etc., as well as experimenting with my own to gain speed. He consistantly pulls away from me no matter the conditions or techniques I use. We both have spent time trying to figure out why and don't really have an explanation for it, other then out weight. I am 250lbs, he is probably 170. Could this alone account for the difference?

What techniques do people use (in terms of boat rigging) to gain speed?

In terms of my sailing technique, in light air, I tend to sit forward and heavy air sit back which seems to help some. I have even tried to sit on the leward hull to see if being on one would speed me up enough to catch the other boat. It helped some but not enough to make up the speed difference. Any other ideas?

Thanks,
-Tom