Stiff Finns

So, a sad arse Finn wouldn't go any faster however light you make it or
efficient you make the rig, all the time there is no shape, on that
'quadrant board thingy'.

Short answer if you want a faster Finn give the centreboard some
shaping, then make it light and stiff, the shaping would have to be
designed around how fast it will eventually go through the water. My
guess is, the reason the sad arse Flexi Finns are working is probably
down to the fact they need all the waterline length they have in the water
all the time and making them light and stiff would bounce them up and
down more. Or they derive lift off the curved hull surface which only
works at slow speeds.

Best solution?

Can them, they're old dross sailed by rich not very bright folk who know
no better, or poor bloody Olympic types forced to use them.


But then that's probably what the D1 is all about and poor Olympians will
have another 'K9' to use instead wether they want it or not.

Edited by G.R.F.

 I owned Vanguard and we built the fastest Finns until 1992.  The "softness" that is referred to is a lack of torsional stiffness between the hiking area and the mast step. The hull, and how the mast step is supported is part of the rig dynamic and has a pretty profound effect how the boat responds to gusts. We had a formula that worked pretty well,  the mast step structure was springier athwartship than fore and aft. 

The bottom of the hull was a pretty massive laminate with lots of stringers and was stiff by any standard. The Finn is a pretty heavy boat, but the maintaining the tolerances required to achieve a minimum gyradius, aft LCG and low VCG were a challenge. They weren't easy boats to build to the standard expected by Olympians and the business was made more difficult by the fact that they stayed competitive for so long.

SHC