Everybody spends a lot of time figuring out how to make their boats go faster with changes in this and that. But I don't hear much about all the little things that can be done to also reduce drag.

Sailing is like a profit-and-loss statement. Profits (speed) will increase, if we can reduce expenditures (drag).

So what are all the things, large and small, that we can do to prevent, eliminate or reduce drag, both in terms of the boat (below and above the water surface) and the stuff on the boat and the people on the boat?

I'll start. Assuming we are not talking about redesigning the boat.

Big hitters,
Reduce weight, i.e. Diet (most important)
Raise dagger boards when not needed.
Only use one rudder and one dagger board.
Lie flat on the deck to reduce windage.

Gareth

Use leech telltales on the main
Fit telltales (with windows) about 20% back from the mast
Tape over all fittings in the rigging
Put calibration marks on all adjustable rig controls so that settings can be replicated quickly

Fit slot gaskets to centreboard slots and brushes/carpet to daggerboard slots
Don't let your hulls touch anything other than water
Sail your boat so that the bottom of the transom is level(ish) with the water surface

oh yeah, get yourself a crew with an aerofoil shaped head!

I think about this all the time -- how to make my body and clothing more aerodynamic on the boat, so that I create less drag.

Not just the shape of my clothing, but whether it is loose like a drysuit or tight like a wetsuit, and whether certain materials will tend to create more drag than others.

I even used to reprimand Rick if he didn't shave his face before a race, because I was afraid his whiskers were going to create drag. But, on the other hand, maybe whiskers are good because they keep air from attaching to your face? Would whiskers be good on a hull to reduce water drag?

Me too,

Come to the conclusion............ Drink less beer

On the contrary, in order to achieve the perfect raindrop shape, like a Hobie bob, I probably need to drink MORE beer.

When I was in college, I lived across from the natatorium, and I used to watch the divers. One of the best divers on the team was the fattest one on the team, shaped a lot like a Hobie bob. He was the one who made the least splash when he entered the water.

If all the "gay" people would stop wearing their "drag" dresses when on the water, there would be much less windage holding them back (not that there is anything wrong with THAT!!)

Well, I don't worry much about drag. I know someone who coated his hulls with teflon, and someone who wet-sanded with 400-grit perpendicular to the water flow to create micro-turbulence, and someone who taped over his head outlet in attempts to go faster.

I admit that these things may reduce drag, I just don't believe that they make a truly significant difference at my level. There are other actions that are much more important. I prefer to focus on those.

For example, raising a center/daggerboard is the last tweak I make going downwind and the first one I undo approaching a leeward mark. If the wind is up, I may not move them at all. All the gain (and more) from lifting the board will instantly be lost if you forget to lower it before rounding up. Likewise, you'll lose out if you fail to maintain foresail trim while playing with the boards.

I never bother to raise a rudder because I can't measure the gain from reduced drag, but I can see the loss from neglecting other things.

I sail a lot faster if I concentrate on where the puffs are, than if I worry about my body's wind resistance.

Maybe it becomes significant in Olympic racing, but I've never sailed in a regatta where the winner's success was due to low drag.

Contrarily yours,
Eric

What? His ears, mouth, and nose?

Shhh! Don't give him any ideas. I want to crew for him again.

But I bet you have been in a lot of regattas where a loser's lack of success was due to drag -- things like dragging the mainsheet overboard or flying a pirate flag off the leech of the main, or hooking the jib into the back of the main or not having the mast rotated properly, or having a saggy trampoline.....

A saggy tramp sounds like a personal problem to me.

A saggy tramp IS a personal problem for me. I have one, and when going to weather in wind and waves, it "whoomps" up and down every time I go over a wave and the wind gets under it. That is DRAG.

I know you will have fun with this one, Trey. Nothing like a saggy tramp that whoomps up and down.

Read: NC State sorority girl!

j/k of course