I haven't been able to find proof that one setup is in basis faster than the other on the sailing I've done up till now.

Different ? Yes. Faster, differences seem to be too small to be obvious.

Take Texel rating for example

2-up light winds 102 heavy winds 102
1-up light winds 100 heavy winds 104

So on average the boats are PREDICTED to be about as fast, the average of 100 and 104 = 102 of course and at some wind force the two boats (ratings) cross.

But really 2 points on 102 is like a 70 seconds difference after a full hour of bouy racing. Or like 30 to 40 seconds in a typical bouy race. Now I can't tell such a difference from wether it is caused by the boat or by something the crew did on the race course somewhere. Also these theoretical time differences are really small when witnessed on the water. Typically boats are 10 to 15 seconds apart when you already having a feeling of being right on top of each other.

What I did find is that trimming the 1-up boat is more difficult. It is not difficult to control but rather to find the trim that really makes the boat go.

Last weekend I did a few hours of sailing in 15-20 knots. Bloody strong wind when single handing and when finding the right time (for me ; very little mast rotation, alot of mainsheet and even more downhaul) she fell in the groove and really sped up. Before she was doing alright but not special. The difference in speed was very noticeable.

I really believe that racing 2-ups and 1-up on first in wins is totally fair. Sure there will be performance differences between 2-ups and 1-ups, it simply can not be any other way. But who cares about some 1 or 2 % difference when having the corect trim can easily account for 10 to 20 % speed difference. Simply put if you are not good enough a sailor to find the correct settings than you don't stand a chance no matter what rating you are sailing off (or what configuration you are using)

We all must begin to understand that its just like the A-cats; on a F16 you are either going really fast or really slow depending on the fact wether you trim is right or wrong. The F16's don't have much middle area of "medium" speeds like some other designs have. This situation leads to the outcome where the sailors sailing with the right trim for the most of the time are at the top, independent of other factors. This seems to suggest to me that "first-in" racing between 2-ups and 1-ups is fair. Although I fully expect the sloops to have a little advantage in 20+ knots and the cat rigged setup having a little advantage in 5 knots. On the other hand ; many people will say the same about F20's and F18's in light winds and of course I recently wacked them all in such conditions just the same.

We are making far too much of little theoretical differences. By far the biggest difference in performance, and I mean by a factor of 10 to 20 relative to the other factors, is still the skill of the crew. Second are course conditions like favoured side, windshifts, luck. And dead last is design related boat speed which is at an almost neglectable level.

I agree therefor fully with Darryls comments (made on the mosquito cat)

Work on your skill in particular setup and you 'll be in front no matter whether your racing first in wins or on handicap.

Wouter