If they're so identical how come some are qui

So here's one to ponder over. There's this old wooden solo down the lake not particularly light, but when the wind becomes spectral, it is astonishingly quick, it just ghosts along and no matter how bad a start, not that the helm isn't half decent, but he just chomps his way through the fleet to the front often winning over the water against boats with much faster handicap.

Now I haven't managed to get a really good look under the bonnet so to speak, but come on you 'One Designs are everything', what's going on here?

If I were to guess I'd speculate that the wooden bottom got warped at birth in some convex way that produced a more rounded underwater shape that gives an optimum wetted surface when not ploughing through the water fast, but it's not obvious to the cursory glance.

And yes he bloody beat me again yesterday..

Edited by iGRF - 18 Jan 16 at 11:29am

Sure it isn't the driver? We've got one old boy in his 80s with a Solo who is devastatingly quick in drifting conditions. Superficially you'd think he's just sitting there doing nothing, but if you watch really carefully he's constantly making tiny adjustments to sheeting etc. I've come to the conclusion that he's just very very good at that stuff. Mind you any Solo is a very good weapon in drifting conditions anyway.

I had a very good day for the first one hour and forty minutes at the Steamer in a my Solo in drifting conditions, which for a while was being led by 4 Jack Holt designed boats, a Mirror, 2 Solos and an Ent.  

So, any idea of the numeric range of those poor tortured Solo's just for academic interest and I'll cross reference it with the number of this one we have.

I agree helm input is important, but this lake is full of quite competent helms (and even more competent handicaps)I'm also no slouch when it goes light, I learned very early on if you are to have any hope in series events then the biggest potential losses come in light winds when the number of competitors and their competency increases exponentially and it become entirely about concentration, out of boat awareness, heel to keep sail shape and to minimise wetted surface,(hull dependant). He however sounds like the 80 yr old up there, he just sits there, maybe he is micro adjusting, but it doesn't seem that way at times he even has the rig the wrong way and not deliberately so, it is the boat.

So the spanish windlass where is that applied" longitudanly to increase the rocker?

Originally posted by iGRF So, any idea of the numeric range of those poor tortured Solo's just for academic interest and I'll cross reference it with the number of this one we have.