MASTERCLASS
It’s only really developments in sail handling technology that have allowed the size of boats to increase so much: we’ve been building yachts of 60ft for decades, but they often needed a full crew to sail them. The move towards sloops and away from cutters and ketches means that any single sail is likely to be bigger too. But thanks to furling sails, electric winches, asymmetric spinnakers and snuffers, a crew of two can handle a 60-footer in largely the same way they’d handle a 40-footer.
It’s not just the boats that have got bigger. The upwind sail area
