Mugshots....

As borrowed boats go, thats a pretty good looking one!! 

Well the article was enough to side track me from studying.....will try and scan it in and post it. Reckon both Frank and Steve are right in their own respects and I'd be more a kin to doing what feels most comfortable....(probably the reason that I've grown lazy and don't like "hikey" boats... )

Of course according to Mr. Rooster who has some research to back his claims up aswell straight leg hiking causes less damage to your legs/joints and also locks you more solidly in the boat allowing you to ahem affect its trim more efficiently with your body weight adjustments.  Check out the rooster hints and tips website and the whisperer DVDs.

Ok, deeply sorry PB , I just randomly thought I should comment about nothing in paticular :D.

There is quite a strong argument against using the straight-legged hiking technique. Frank Bethwaite carried out a range of experiments using a sailing simulator conected to transducers monitoring the performance of the sailor health-wise aswell as boat speed wise. The simulations were carried out under a wide range of conditions comparing straight legged hiking to bent legged hiking. There was no direct affect on boat-speed and sailing performance by using the different techniques.......however, on the sailor fitness scale, the sailor using the bent legged technique conserved consistantly higher levels of energy (i.e was less tired than the sailor using the straight legged technique). The article was documented in sea-horse magazine a while back and I wouldn't be suprised if it's on the Bethwaite website. Basically what it was trying to convey is that there is no advantage to straight legged hiking due to the fact that the sailor hiking with bent legs had their weight lower down so had aproximately the same righting moment as straight legged hiking without the exersion that straight legged hiking causes. Being less strained will have a positive affect on concentration levels and will also have a knock on affect to boat-handling skills.