[quote=rattlenhum][quote=waiex191]So we tried them out yesterday. We were not even on a reach, we were just tacking upwind. The wind and boat were pretty stable, and the bow dipped.
[url]https://youtu.be/WQXUIY0gJz8[/url]
I'm a believer.[/quote]
Sorry, but that vid isn't convincing at all. Going upwind there is more pressure on the stern and little tendency to pitch regardless of those foils. The bows will easily pearl though smaller waves like that going upwind...not necessarily so when sailing off the wind with more pressure on the bows. If you pitch while truly going upwind, you're really doing something wrong.
In general, you do want weight forward, primarily to get the transoms out of the water to reduce drag. However, if you start pearling/punching too much in heavier air/bigger waves, you need to get your weight back further. Otherwise, it slows you down and can throw you off balance on the trap.
A heavy boat/crew and old/blown sails make it difficult to sail very high, so one tends to foot more toward a close reach. Doing that in heavier air with heavy/boat crew depressing the leeward hull and those blown sails all powered up opens the gateway to the pitchpole zone.
Similarly, if you can't flatten your sails enough or get all that weight back far enough when sailing off the wind in heavier air/bigger waves, you are launched into the pitchpole zone. I expect then those shoehorn foils will provide a substantial fulcrum. That said, you really haven't pitched until you pitch hard in shallow water and come out of it with a shovel full of mud on each bow tip.[/quote]
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