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How important is height?
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Jamesd View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 9:30am
you are right in thinking that height matters. especially in dinghys, ot so much in keelboats that ban hiking.

being 6'4" myself im quite lucky that im tall. however it does have drawbacks that are arent sailing related, such as banging ur head on things.
the biggest sailing disadvantage is that even though you can provide more moment, you have to be that much stronger to hold ur body out there.

my other problem is that im currently 89 kilos and realistically i cant get my weight much lower.
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Posts: 8956 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 9:43am

Have you noticed we are using kilos for weight but imperial measures for height?

At 5'5", and most of what is missing is from the legs, I find that hiking out in some boats is really hard as the ergonomics are all wrong. Laser decks especially are just too wide for comfort. This, to me, makes more difference than actual righting moment, which is going to be more related to how fit you are, and therefore how much effort you can put into sitting out by the end of a race.

Trapeze boats are a different matter, though, where another 8 or 10" in height is a fairly large % gain in righting moment for a given weight, so a 6'3" 75 kg crew is going to have more righting moment than I am.
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Posts: 988 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jon Emmett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 12:19pm
I am 5'6" and I can assure you straight leg hiking is much more comfortable from a wider deck (liker a Laser) than from a narrower deck as your weight is spread over a large area (good battens in the hikers also helps). Hiking is never going to be "comfortable" but the fitter you are the easier it will be!
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Posts: 53 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Paul B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 1:35pm
Remember that it's not strictly "height" that is the issue, it's where your centre of gravity is.  So, all things being equal, which they probably aren't, somebody who is 4 inches taller is likely to have 2" higher CofG.
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Posts: 337 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ChrisJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 1:40pm

RE:>> At 5'5", and most of what is missing is from the legs, I find that hiking out in some boats is really hard as the ergonomics are all wrong. Laser decks especially are just too wide for comfort.

At 5'18", I find Laser's are scarey things: with long legs you can get a long way out, and once out there it is VERY hard to get back in. Therefore, the tendancy is to sit up and not sit out. With a wider, more comfortable boat (e.g. RS400), with the toestraps set as far inboard as possible, things are a lot easier.

 
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 2:37pm
Originally posted by Jack Sparrow

Originally posted by Guest#260

Of course height matters but you can't alter it very easily.

However, note that variances in height are tiny compared to body weight.

There are many people who weigh 50% more than me but not many that are 50% taller.

 



No but I could be 50% smaller!

Assuming we are talking adult sailors here ...

That would be sub 3ft ... even Grumpfs isn't that stunted ...
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 2:39pm

Originally posted by Paul B

Remember that it's not strictly "height" that is the issue, it's where your centre of gravity is.  So, all things being equal, which they probably aren't, somebody who is 4 inches taller is likely to have 2" higher CofG.

Also note that woment typically have a lower CoG than men; Jordan excepted ...
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Posts: 45 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Dan Vincent Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 2:40pm

The importance of height depends on the width of the boat.  The righting moment due to the crew is measured from the centreline of the boat (if upright to the centre of gravity of the crew.

Therefore in a narrow boat such as a Fireball the crew's height is more significant than in a wider boat (such as Musto, 18 footer or Int Canoe).

 
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getafix View Drop Down
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Posts: 2143 		Post Options Post Options   Quote getafix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 5:36pm
Originally posted by Dan Vincent

The importance of height depends on the width of the boat.  The righting moment due to the crew is measured from the centreline of the boat (if upright to the centre of gravity of the crew.

Therefore in a narrow boat such as a Fireball the crew's height is more significant than in a wider boat (such as Musto, 18 footer or Int Canoe).

 



true, true, although the IC makes it a lot easier for the stumpier to get their whole weight a lot further out, the limiting factor could well be how easy it is to move around the boat (without crashing into stuff and making it go slower) - e.g. an FD or 505 provides plenty of room for the taller crew, as do cats, but you wouldn't want to be too tall in some others....
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Posts: 249 		Post Options Post Options   Quote zailor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Oct 09 at 5:54pm
Well with all this talk of tall being best its making short arses like me feel bad.

I'll go back to my low boom Europe, Short isnt all bad
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