Old racing sails

btsunfish

New Member
I got around to some thinking today (never a good thing;)) and came up with the idea of using stretched-out racing sails on my SF. I figured that the shape would give me better performance than my current tired old recreational even if it was too stretched to be of any use to a racer. I don't race, and I figured if someone's throwing it out, might as well use it. Thoughts?
 
Putting on your thinking cap is a good thing of course, but I really wouldn't take this issue too far.

There are no solid numbers, but a racing sail might make you sail 5-10% faster (just an estimate). When you race against others, this is of enormous importance (see below), but when you just sail recreationally by yourself, who is going to notice that 5-10%? If you can get your hands on a used racing sail, go for it, but IMHO you will have just as much fun with a decent recreational sail.

Rough calculation: If a race is 30 min, 10% is 3 min at the finish. If your boat speed is 5 mph, this translates to 0.25 miles (or a 'horizon job').

Of course, a racing sail with a number looks faster to the uninitiated..... :)
And the window is a real advantage.
 

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