Angus is 100% correct.
hull form stabiltity = drag
It is simply incorrect to design a model for use with one rig when 2 are avalible.
if you want to maximize performance you must use both rigs.
As Ive said before ,you must choose the windspeeed the 2nd rig kicks in at.
Graham,yes I use a “B” rig 50% of the time.last sunday could have been “D”.
waterspouts and spray lifting.
What started as an idle aside actually becomes quite intersting. As many of you will know, John McAssey and I are going to Sheboygan for a Footy regatta in mid-May taking with us (probably) a pair of Akelas and a pair of Arctic Foxes.
John Amoroso has been kind enough to ferret out some meteorological data for Wisconsin for me. My illusion that the middle of the United States is a land of dead calm has been rudely shattered: average wind speeds are actually much the same as here in the Irish Sea in summer. Plans for very tall drifting rigs have not been shelved but it is very clear that we should take B1, B2 and B3 rigs (i.e. max, medium and small B rigs). I have no idea whether an Akela wil go to windward in 20 knots, but I’m not going to assume it won’t.
Selecting the combination of rigs for the day will be make-or-break. Is it possible to get detailed (and accurate) wind forecasts in the US? Does anyone know of a srious but notsuper-technical book on the meteorology of North Amrica?
once you get into the states, - it might be hard for trouble maker like you :p:p:p:p. look up noaa.org they are the people that almost all the weather stations plagerize, and they are usually prety acurate. on their website just type in the city or area code and the site will pull up a page detailing the forecast pretty well in advance - for weather men that is - for the local you have entered…
Never trust the people who forecast the weather in the eastern US. Especially the local weather men and women. If they say one thing, expect the opposite. They are wrong 50% of the time.
What’s the difference between: Partly sunny or Partly cloudy? What’s a snow shower? They have so many different terms that mean about the same thing but, covers their arse in case the weather turns out opposite of their forecast.
Don’t forget your umbrella and raincoat…LOL
When we used to go fishing up in the Great White North (Ontario and Quebec, Canada) the weather changed everyday in the first week of June. 75 degrees, short and teeshirt time, go swimming. The next day 30 degrees, snow and wind, shiver in the boat with enough clothes on you look like a walrus.
Remember the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared.
I don’t know what it is like in Wisc., never been there. Hope it’s a perfect day for sailing for everyone.
It’s going to be 84 degrees & Sunny here in Dallas,Georgia. It’s 50 degrees out at the moment. I dread when the temps go to the high 80’s and 95 with a blarring sun and no wind. :scared:
In addition to noaa I use a site called Weather Underground www.wunderground.com It’s the same info as noaa of course but it has easy read graphics and also links to personal weather stations with some weather history. All forecasts all over the world seem to be 50% wrong. I remember a Caribbean radio station called Radio Antilles who were the only source of marine weather in the late 70’s and early 80’s. They appeared to have a taped winter forecast (E to NE 20-25knots with higher gust) which would switch to a taped summer forecast around May (E-SE 10-15 knots) which wasn’t far wrong. I guess it’s easier in the tropics. They were on Monserrat right below the volcano and now the buildings are probably under 15ft of ash.
Angus,
I don’t trust wind forecasts more than about 2 days out & even then you can be surprised. You can get historical hourly data for Sheboygan going back 35 years at: http://tinyurl.com/2o878j
Simply scroll down past the forecast & plug in some dates from past years. This will give you some idea of the range of conditions you can expect.
See you there.
Bill
Sorry Angus, here goes your edge. :devil3: Such as it is.
Here’s some links to WI wind data.
Summary - http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/milwind.html
Main page - http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/windex.html not much else useful
Ok, here’s something useful
Private weather station May 2006 , week of 23rd 2006
Be careful using wunderground’s website. Sometimes they list one location but the nearest weather station to draw data from can be quite far away. The personal stations are great though if they’re close by.
Another thing to consider at Graham’s lake is the wind direction. There are some buildings near the south end that would make for swirly conditions with a south wind. Fun for fleet racing, not so good for time trials.
Good luck with the forecasting. It’s a tricky business.
Thanks all. Very helpful.
John - forecasting is almost impossible - but let’s start from some facts! Unfashionable but frequently effective!
Detailed maps of lake area - we an get about 25" to the mile over he counter but I understand that the US is rlatively poorly mapped.
Incidentally, don’t let me give the impression that I’m going all out to win. It just seems a pity to sit in a cigar tube for 6 hours being assaulted by American Airlines ‘dining’ to find you’ve got the wrong rig at the end of the day. Always do your homework!
Angus, do you think you can go that long without “tea?” :sly:
It’s that disgusting stuff you call coffee that worries me more!
Blame it on yersef, mate. You Brits introduced the coffee market to the Colonies a long time ago.
Hey Angus, we are expecting gusts up to 75mph tomorrow and the next few days, want me to test one of your boats?
Bob
do it! i wanna see pics of a footy in 70knts!:D:devil3::lol::scared:
Isn’t 70 kts the minimum for a tornado? You’d have 6-inch waves with whitecaps! I’ve seen whitecaps with only 30 kts wind on a local lake.
Forecast 70F Monday… that’ll clear the last of the ice… ah sunny Sheboygan 
80F in Milwaukee :mad:
Did I mention that most of the lake surrounding buildings are not shown on that map? Possibly on the satellite though.
Angus… I told you to use BMI… decent meals (dinner with bottled red or white and breakfast going east) and an open free bar all the way. We are getting $447 return on tuesday… you could drink that and break even :zbeer: Darned nice english hostesses too… many of whom I recognise these days but don’t tell Jan!
Graham
Is this your lake? Link If so, where will the course be located? I’m discussing the possibility of a WI trip with my family. Still unlikely but I’ll keep exploring options.
It’s 500 miles for me. I’d go if it wasn’t suck long drive ( I hate boring drives.) A finished boat would help too. 
Indeed it is John… see the ‘bullseye’ jutting a little into the lake at the bottom? That is the double level paved area we will be using, the course will be set between there and the island. In a westerly or easterly (rare) it is quite smooth and active in there. North of particularly south are shadowed. For best footing and set up we need to use that area. When we sail our own group we move to the east side and north of the island for the best winds. There is only a narrow limestone footpath there though which we must not block… so no good fot a regatta.
Access is from the car park you see to the south through the building or around. All very civilised, in fact with the Italian restaurant balcony overlooking our base we do have to mind our P’s & Q’s quite literally.
Graham
Tomo - that looks like a lovely 240Z - one of the very few really nice Japnese cars. Give it some oil leaks and it could be an Austin Healey!
OK harwater freaks! What do the patterns of ice melting indicate?