ABSTRACT
This study presents how to maximize the speed made good to windward: the problem mixed the optimum sail design with the optimum sailing strategy. The sail is designed to produce the maximum aerodynamic thrust subject to constraints on the heeling-righting moment equilibrium and the maximum sail lift. Then two control parameters, “reefing” and “flat”, are introduced. The analytic expression is derived for the aerodynamic contributions due to these parameters. For wide varieties of the angle between the true wind and the sailing course, the best choices of control parameters are obtained. The reefing parameter is found to be inactive; the flat parameter becomes active if the sailing course is directed less than 60 degrees to the true wind.
