On Oct 11, 2008, at 5:32 PM, wind2nice wrote:

> I have an airfoil profile Tom Speer designed for LYDIA, with a 0012
> flap (approximately). I'd appreciate Tom's thoughts on that foil now
> some 17 years later.

Wow - was it that long ago?

Those sections were my first attempt at seeing if I could design a
wing with specified characteristics in the presence of a flap. I
tried to reproduce the design philosophy of the NACA 6-series
sections, with a constant pressure "rooftop" pressure distribution
over the forward part of the wing section. I was able to do that.
But it may not be the best design strategy for a good performing
section. At the time, Phil was sailing Bliss, which used two NACA
0012 sections in a 60%/40% split. The analysis I could do at the time
said that combination was better than any of the sections I designed.
I've not seen anything since that I'm convinced is better for
landyachts, but I haven't been actively involved in the racing scene
for a long time to know what's working and what isn't.

I've recently gained access professionally to the state-of-the-art
multielement design and analysis tool, MSES, so I could design some
genuinely performance-oriented wing sections. If I only had the time!

Cheers,

Tom Speer