stribo said...Yes but landyacht sailbaords are dealing with two elements.Wind and water...
The wheel has been around since the dawn of time.Thats a long time to perfect something that is ...simply...round...

If you held your towel up on a land yacht you could beat water speeds.
You can't compare landsailing speeds to water sailing speeds , if thats what your getting at.
I think some of the finest engineers spent three million bucks on a thing called "Yellow Pages " only to be beaten by a windsurfer.. Sooo i don't think we're doing too badly.

but you want to sail faster in lighter winds,just like Yellow Pages dont you?
form reading about yellow pages / Maquarie Innovations. they are designed to sail in an optimum wind of 25knts. in that wind they are aproaching the theoretical max. to be beaten by a sailboard by a knot or 2 in almost double the wind ie not much more than wind speed, and kites in much the same . . that must be very frustrating for them. I'm guessing that at 25knts the best speed sailboarders are thinking of setting up ,not packing up.
last spring we finally managed to get sailing Data for VINDICATOR that included wind speed at the same time as yacht speed. the one day that we got data was not very goodfor wind , but in 20kph wind Bill Finch managed 124.4kph, just over 6xwindspeed. All the theoretical data I have read says that we should be able to reach 5.5 times windspeed, so we are happy because VINDI is desined for 40-50kph winds.
Since the thread is "going faster in lighter winds" think about this when your wing gets a double skin you significantly increase your power/speed/controlability........ Sailboarding materials are well up to that task.
Us lazy landsailors only have to worry about the ideal wheel diameter/width.tread pattern/compound hardness/balancing/tyre wear/expansion during acceleration.
Surface conditions may change during the day
having sorted that out, you need the right axle flex for the surface on the day. given Aerodynamics really starts to be important after 100kph. you need to get rid of every bit of drag.
then there is wing twist and the ever present problems ,seeing where your going,not hitting anything and stopping. Absolutely nothing that resembles a brake . If you reverse the wing to fastto slow down the front lifts off like a jet taking off