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rumblefish said..SandS said..
ok well that not the prob then ..... those 40 foot dingys are still not pulling away from the jeno 36,s and the 11ton beny .... hey must have some other prob .......
Actually on a beam reach the wide 40's aren't really quick.
Too many flat surfaces to get slapped by waves and too much rudder angle needed.
A bendy 40.7 is pretty quick in those conditions and and weight actually helps to a point.
Very different to dinghies as you can't sail them flat
Kinda disagree Rumble, which makes me pause, as you seem more experienced than me. My own observations: my wide'ish 40 loves reaching, more so than running, as long as you have wind. I need 15 knots to start seeing a marked difference in boat speed to a First, as this is when the hull starts to plane.
We've held a Lyons 60 on a reach at Hammo, and will horizon a first 40.7 or Sydney 38 in anything over 15 knots reaching.
Flatter is faster absolutely, on anything beyond close hauled (where you definitely want heel), but regardless of the heel angle the dual canted rudders give excellent grip on a reach. Most skinnier boats are depowering to reduce heel /leeway and keep the rudder biting when we're still putting more cloth up. The helm is always dead neutral when reaching if you're trimmed right.
Wave slap is loud but does little to effect performance until you get really big seas where you'll feel the stern shove sideways. Until then no rudder movement is needed.
All of the above is the norm EXCEPT in light airs. Hull drag is the biggest issue on a wide 40, I think I have near double the wetted surface area of a Syd 38. Close hauled in short choppy seas and light airs is not fun, the more the wave wraps around the hull the slower we get from the increased drag.
It gets even worse the more weight you stack in 'em, even though the boat sinks less than a canoe shape hull will, due to a larger surface area, a 10mm sink adds a {}#^*?* ton more wetted surface area.
If I had to take a punt on why a wide40 is showing sub par performance , it would be because they've stacked a fair amount of weight onboard from provisioning, and the winds are lighter than optimal.
Cheers,
SB