Right, and for a like reason a bicycle (an even lighter vehicle) can double it’s speed from 30 to over 60 mph by adding weight in the form of a fairing. Great designs do wonders.
Worn suspension parts, especially steering, can make a vehicle wander more in crosswinds.
Without tacking?
I could tack, from a close reach to close reach. It actually turns easily through the wind with the rudder now on the “bow”. Requires that sails have full battens which both these boats do. Obviously not close hauled.
Is it tough to keep the hull pointed at the right angle to get the track you want with the rudder on the bow rather than the stern?
We’re hijacking the thread, but I’ve never seen this done and find the idea interesting.
Turn into the wind, drive sideways.
What’s really tough is not the steerage but keeping the weight back of center of effort to keep water from rolling over stern by using tiller extension to it’s fullest and holding the boom to windward. This has to be done to get the luff of the sail as the new leading edge, to an up wind setting. You need to be a damn contortionist. the cat. is quite fast, relatively speaking…the monohull a dog. It over steers easily and makes you realize why America’s Cup boats toyed with forward canards.
But we digress…how about that Yaris in a hurricane ?
You might be kidding, but in a sense, that is what I end up doing on a motorcycle in a strong crosswind.
In strong wind, I prefer to ride without a windshield. With a windshield on the bike, the wind can push the bike all over the place. Without a windshield, the wind pushes me all over the place, but the bike stays straight. I just hold on tighter!