How Does the Minisail Sail?

Are there any clues in how the Topper is sailed competitively?

There are 2 different Minisail hulls, and the answer is slightly different for each of them!

My GRP boat, the Monaco version, can be sailed much like a Laser or Topper - maybe you'd bring it flat a little later up the wind scale to keep the chine in the water for a little longer to aid the centreboard, but it seems to sail best pretty much the same as other boats with slightly curved bottoms.

The Wooden Sprite is a little different. Not only is it truly flat bottomed (the Monaco has a V section forwards) but it is even slightly concave up near the bows. I tend to keep the boat heeled all the time upwind. I suspect once it is planing weather offwind, flat would be faster upwind, but by that point I'm heeled anyway...

This only applies upwind for either boat. Reaching and running, I'd sail it like a Laser, so only heeled when wanting to reduce wetted surface in the light, and heeled to windward downwind till it gets too twitchy, which as normal would depend on crew skill.

The heel does increase the waterline length in a scow bowed boat, but in the Minisail, I suspect the reduced efficiency of an already poor rig would outweigh this.

Would larger/better foils change the sailing style? I think the Monaco would be sailed more upright sooner, that's for sure. The Sprite? I have put a slightly larger centreboard in, but still very slim because of the case size, but I can't say I've noticed much difference. I think I'd need to do testing against a similar boat with similar helming standard to actually start to know.

The angles of heel we are talking about are small compared to the twin centreboarded Lake Scows in the USA, I think, but then the set up of the boat is far more like a normal small dinghy than they are, with the angled boards and huge sail area.

Hope this helps?

The rounded bow and long chine does influence the way the boat is sailed in both balance and trim. In waves, sailing the boat heeled will help reduce the pounding, for instance. I'm not sure that I have really come fully to terms with how the boat goes best in various conditions.

Originally posted by iGRF tbh I also think the Alto works better heeled, no proof of it since I've only ever come across another Alto once on the round island race and then we broke our boom just as I was closing, but it feels like it works better heeled than flat.

Do you have one with a sliding seat?