Shevy Gunter (drlaser web site): "Christopher Columbus out-and-out said that the earth was not flat. Then Copernicus and Galileo declared that it was the earth that revolved around the sun. Then Arvel Gentry completely debunked the popular explanations of what made sailboats go."
Now, that's stretching the story a bit, but my sail theory articles back in the early '70s made it clear that the old ideas as to how lift is generated and how two sails interact (the "slot effect") were completely wrong. They did not stand up to modern aerodynamic knowledge. In Sailing World, May 1995, Doug Logan wrote ".. the foundations of sailing have been demolished, quietly and completely, and very few understood it when it happened."
Chapter 5 of the book, "The Art and Science of Sails," by Tom Whidden and Michael Levitt is based on my material: "Many people were instrumental in the writing and production of this book. Foremost among them is Arvel Gentry.. who provided the aerodynamic basis for much of this book. What Gentry was doing seventeen years ago ... is just becoming understood and appreciated today. SAIL magazine, too, should be acknowledged for having the foresight to publish Gentry's ideas back in 1973." Most of my original SAIL articles are included in the book, "The Best of SAIL Trim."
The famous technical book on sailing by C.A. Marchaj, "Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing," page 638 says, "Many problems concerning the interference between a mainsail and jib were clarified by A. Gentry who explained correctly, for the first time, the jib-mainsail interaction effect."
I worked in the aircraft industry as an aerodynamicist for over 40 years (NACA, Lockheed, Douglas, McDonnell Douglas, & Boeing). Over the years I was involved in supporting design efforts on a number of America's Cup campaigns. I crewed on both small and big boats and still actively race my Ranger 23, Kittiwake, that I have owned since 1972.
