Do something you love and you never work a day in your life!! Ken is a true class act. Have had the pleasure to meet and sail with him. He is a credit to the sport and the industry!!
I was just made aware of this vessel Comanche recently on one of the forum discussions I am heavily involved in , Aftmast Rigs. For some reason I failed to see the development of this vessel early on, perhaps because it was a maxi-monohull rather than multltihull. The reason it now has captured my attention is its aft-placed mast and big headsail rig. I am searching for more information and details as to how this rig designed evolved? I have been a loooong time advocate of a aftmast design of my own that utilizes two headsails and no mainsail. The basic concept has to do with my belief, and aerodynamic explanations as to how the most forward headsail benefits from the 'helper aspect' of the trailing sail, which in most traditional rig designs is the mainsail. I substitute a second jib that term a 'mainstaysail' for the mainsail to be that 'helper sail'. Then I go further to place a mizzen sail on the vessel. Mine is not meant to be a racing/hi-perf rig, but rather a lower-aspect cruising rig that can be all-furling for short handed sailing. Over the years I have met with a lot of resistance to this idea, with several notably 'grips' including my emphasis on the headsails. Comanche seems to put emphasis back on the headsail, and approaches being a mastheaded rig. WOW. I want to know more about the steps of the design process that produced this rig choice. Brian Eiland RunningTideYachts.com
+brian eiland go to /watch?v=zZARRrHWlqs. from that video, its lower drag coefficient - in which i agree, she definitely keeps her bow out of the water a lot. It could be due to moving the center of mass backwards. The headsail helps to power the main by providing higher wind speeds on the leward side of the mainsheet ( i think). Her high winds affinity could be due to a much more efficient mainsail as well. The trailing edge of the main has a lot less stretch - which reduces drag.
1:16 Amazing! I didn't realize they make sails out of carbon fiber these days. They must be pretty hard to fold up and stow away? Or do they never have to change sails when they use these?