Rudder Drag

Hi,

On the main web page of Y and Y there is a shot of Anthony Nossiter sailing a FInn I think.  He seems to be trying to sail close-hauled to windward, more or less in a straight line.  He is generating a huge amount of drag, the stick is about 30 degrees off the centre-line.  I'm sure this guy is a champ so I don't mean to make any critcism of his personal style but it cant be very efficient can it ?  Is it just an old'fashioned design ?  Anybody like to enlighten a very run -of -the -mill club sailor ?

djdhi

It is a physical boat.  It is what you do.  This is what sailing is like if you are a big guy sailing a Finn.  Steering both upwind and downwind is a huge part of the game.  The key thing is getting the rudder movement at the appropriate time.  You need to see the movie to understand what is really going on, the still image is pretty unhelpful.

The design is what it is.  Not sure that if you wanted to design a boat to be sailed by big guys on their own you would come up with much different. The fact is big guys love the Finn.  I think the photo explains why.