If LWL is so important how come some boats are faster than others... read on!

[jwilson]

There's a lot of twaddle talked about this "hull speed" thing! People seem to think it's like the sound barrier for aircraft, but it really isn't - see the article on Wikipedia for example : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed. When the boat reaches Hull Speed, keep pushing harder and it will carry on going faster.

Agreed ...
I have driven a moderately heavy displacement 36 ft waterline hull at a steady 12 knots - not a trace of planing or surfing, just shoving water aside on a full sail goosewinged run in about 30-35 knots wind. 30 minutes on the wheel though fighting to keep it online and I was exhausted, and finding a chance to pass the wheel on to someone else was tricky.