Do you need a large crew on the rail to be fast and stable upwind on a Wyliecat (like you do with conventional sailing yachts)?
No. All the Wyliecat models are designed with light displacement balsa core hulls and decks and low center of gravity bulb keels, so upwind they carry sail well and are stiff and fast. For example, the Wyliecat 30 weighs 5,500 lbs. and carries a 3,050 lbs. lead bulb keel (a 55% ballast to displacement ratio). This ballast to displacement ratio is usually found only in pure racing boats. With sail plans that can be de-powered quickly and easily, and high ballast to displacement ratios, Wyliecats don’t need a lot of human ballast to hold the boat down, and are exceptionally fast and stable sailboats going to weather and on all points of sail.
