by Capt. Flak » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:21 pm
The EC-12 and just about all boats like her are designed to heel. The shape of the hull is designed to be more efficient at an angle. If you look at the big AC boats, their hulls have square stern sections which become long canoe shapes when they heel at their designed angle. The shape of the sails are also designed for powering the boat at an angle.
Other types of sail boats do try to have no heel, but they are designed that way from the beginning. Wind surfers for example never heel, but the sail does. The sails are designed to perform best when upright or even tilted into the wind.
Yes, you would have more sail area exposed to the force of the wind if the boat did not heel and therefor have more power, but since all that power is going to push you over and then you need more force to keep it there, you start to make the boat too heavy. Eventually, you can't make the boat go because it is to heavy. The idea is to reach a balance which is where the EC-12 is.
Joe Walter #24