On the same day, same conditions, which rig will "generally" point better, uni or sloop, both with boards of course?

Terry

The Uni should point better. The reason is the jib backwinds the mainsail.
If you ever sailed dinghies you would notice that a port tack often would tack just under the starboard boat. This would offer some pretty bad air to the starboard boat, which more often would just tack away.
That is called lee bowing. The leeward boat has good air, but the boat on his hip is getting wind that is headed. That is backwinding.

The same thing occurs with the jib and main. The main is always getting a bit of a header compared to the jib. That is why the sloop drives off a bit more than a uni.
The sloop is often faster, but doesn't point as well.

Rick

Thanks Rick,

That is what I have been experiencing. New to cat sailing, and I know that I have a lot to learn, but I could not get my old 5.2 to point as well as my buddy on his old Hobie 17.

Any recommendations on those light air days? How to get the old 5.2 into the wind a little closer? If it is really blowing, no problem with the extra distance traveled. I can make it to the marks fine.

I do have your "Catamaran Racing: For the 90s" and it has got me this far. It has been my text book.

Terry

Whether to point or foot is dependant on a few things -- wind, water and weight.
To point higher you need to flatten out the mainsail and have the jib trimmed to conform to the shape of the backside of the mainsail.
However, if crew weight is heavy, seas are choppy and/or wind is light, you need to power up the sail and therefore cannot flatten it.
Bit brief, but that is the basics.
Re-read the part about the Three Ws
Rick

Hi Terry,
There is one other affect that comes into play on the windward pointing angle. That affect is the change in relative wind speed and direction as boat speed increases in a given windspeed. If we are sailing to windward at 45 degrees to a true wind of 10 knots and the boat is at zero speed, the relative and true wind are coming across the deck at 45 degrees off the centerline of the boat. If we are making five knots boatspeed sailing a course at 45 degrees to the true wind, the relative wind is coming across the boat at 31 degrees not 45 degrees. Our own boatspeed has headed us by 14 degrees. If we are making 7.5 knots in a 10 knot breeze, the wind is coming across the boat at 26 degrees. If we are sailing to windward at 10 knots in a 10 knot breeze, the relative wind direction is coming across the deck at 23 degrees. Our boatspeed has bent the relative wind toward the bow 22 degrees. The point is that as boats go faster and faster sailing to windward, they are headed by their own boatspeed. A slow boat can sail higher or point higher than a fast boat. The fast boat will have a higher VMG to the windward mark and get there first but the slower boat will "point higher". The point is that pointing high is not the whole story when racing to windward.
Racing high performance catamarans is more complex, is more challenging, than racing monohulls.
Bill