New Laser Performance Boat?

Like we had on the Raceboards, max size sub F2.5 and smaller once railing upwind.

Next time I am trying to sail over the top of a Finn I will remember that it has a flat sheet of metal for a foil and that it really cannot point high at all........oh wait

I spent years studying fluid dynamics and foils, is it Bernouilli or is it AOA, and came to the conclusion that it's both, with Bernouilli perhaps having greater effect on slower flow.

It used to be quite important on Raceboards in the early days, because the relationship of the uderwater foil was a greater ratio in terms of size back then (5.4 - 6.3 sails). As sail sizes increased, 7.5, then 8.5, then 9.5 the speeds increased and the relationships changed.

Then fins became important as short boards raced off their fins, there was a Danish development I thought was cool called the Boe Stick, in which he put a deep narrow chord forward, then increased the size of the fin with an almost negative aft section curved to flat, so you had a bigger sideways area, but a reduced lift/drag surface. Like a Glider style hi aspect wing, with extra flat bits on the trailing edge to promote early sideways resistance during the AOA phase.

It's a field that is always changing, always developing, always fascinating, the search for the Holy Grail of maximum lift, minimum drag. Remember that Record Breaking speed machine, forget it's name, used half a foil, chopped the back off to let the turbulence create the aft section which finished the foil but had no wetted surface, that worked.

Originally posted by JimC All else being equal, the effect of apparent wind is that the slower the boat the higher it can point. Given an inefficient foil the boat will also need to sail with the foil at a greater angle of attack, which will make the boat appear to point even higher (and go even slower). So a Finn will easily outpoint a foiling Moth, but the Moth will be round the windward mark before the Finn is halfway there...

While I know this to be true it made me pause to think why it seemed odd. I think it is missing ‘for boats of equal efficiency’. A TP52 is super fast AND super high…..

Originally posted by NickA Sorry to return this thread to the boat its about 😃. But would anyone buy any boat from LPE ever again? Even in the unlikely event it's properly built, they'll stop making or supporting it as soon as sales dip.