Theoretical Maximum Boat Speed?

Did anyone see the on-line, real time ISAF laser worlds at www.traxu.com ?? All the boats were fitted with GPS transmitters so we could watch their heading, speed, tracks etc. They were regularly doing over 6knots upwind and about 9-10 downwind. I don't know what the wind speed was. Interesting to see they mostly went pretty well straight downwind and not much curving. Maybe they were constantly planing or not many waves ?
Also interesting to see a few stuff ups - CHN woman in radials in second place at top mark then suddenly went haywire on the bear away - dropped the mainsheet ?? tangle ? Even the experts eh ?
 
They don't seem to archive the older races, but if you're quick you can watch the last (Finn) race here ....http://tracking.traxu.com/raceplayer/player.aspx

As of this (Thu) morning, you can still see the two Laser races:
http://www.traxu.com/?s=isaftracking

The interface works well and the races are quite entertaining with many lead changes. Towards the end of the Radial race you can 'see' the last place boat capsize close to the finish (my interpretation).

As has been pointed out, it's also interesting to see the different strategies.
 
what happens if you move the mast forward ? (other than the sail moving forward to :p)

Anytime you change the center of effort for the sailplan, you affect how the boat tracks thru the water due to the relationship with the center of lateral resistance. Moving the sailplan forward will cause the boat to eventually head away from the wind as the CE moves forward of the CLR
 
right, but then couldnt you make the boom longer to balance it out,:) meaning the aspect ratio is lowered:mad: which then means you have to increase the height of the sail:), which then means youd have to trapeze,:D which isnt really possible on a laser.:mad:
im begining to think they actually did think about the design :eek::p:eek:...
 
but that leaves out the fact that the Bethwaite boats were the only permitted hulls that fitted the restrictions that were introduced.

which could be something to do with the fact that the bethwaite hulls are not even class legal in the 18's anymore.... the actual underwater hullshape is now an Iain Murray one-design!! Unless I've been very mis-informed!

if you want to talk about pure boatspeed in a single-hander, I think the two fastest at the mo are the RS700, and the IC with asymmetric kite. Or you could just buy an A-class cat.

The hull shape on a laser, although excellent for its purpose, isn't really suitable for high speed, as it suffers from too much curvature in both directions near the stern, and an inherent lack of dynamic stability caused by the same. Take the example of a twelve foot skiff www.rclass.org or www.skiff.org.nz and you'll notice that for the last eight feet, there is no rocker, and virtually no taper, just a big flat planing area, slightly curved from side to side. lots of sail area, not much boat!
 
lots of sail area, not much boat!

:D that sounds exiting:D but then lasers are also exiting cept in a different way, cos there are so many lasers around it makes it more interesting. for example i know here in Hong Kong that theres only really one (maybe) 2 super high performance boats like a laser 5000 - which now has a whole in it :(
 
I took a GPS out with me the other day in about 22 knots of wind and 2 foot chop and hit 17.2 knots. I have gone way faster than that day but i didint have a GPS on board.
 

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